Today was a big day. It snowed, like for really reals, and for the first time in my 35 years on this planet, I was actually prepared. One might even say over-prepared.
Last night, with the threat of snow looming large over the Richmond area, Alastair and I trudged over to REI, braving Short Pump traffic at its worst, and got all manner of snow stuff: 3 different pairs of gloves for him (one for sledding, a pair of mittens for cold days, and a pair of gloves for when he bitches about mittens), matching balaclavas, new snow mittens for me (because I've finally decided to be done with cold fingers), and snow pants & gaiters. It was a pricey trip, but well worth it, since his grandparents bought a house at Wintergreen and he'll likely be spending a fair amount of time in the snow over the next few months.
We also managed to pick up another Zipfy mini-luge at Target a month or so ago. If you don't know what a Zipfy is, you're missing out. These little sleds are seriously fast, pretty easy to control, and light enough to carry up a hill dozens of times before being "over" the whole snow thing.
So with Zipfy and snowmobile/sled in hand, we trudged over to Bryan Park this afternoon for a couple hours of bliss and sweat. And for the first time ever, we both stayed dry. I didn't even realize that was possible until today. He had one wet wrist, and that was it.
And we totally rocked the park with a new trick: he'd start out in my lap on the Zipfy (no easy feat--they're barely large enough for one), and about halfway down the hill I'd scoot backward off the sled and give him a quick shove. His butt fell neatly onto the seat and he completed the run solo. We did it over and over again to laughter and cheers from the other winter frolickers.
Then we came home and took a much-needed nap. Because snow is awesome, but damn is it ever exhausting.
