Snowmen in July

Today was one of those fun family days. Kevin had a little job he needed to take care of for work so after church we loaded up the kids and headed for the hills, Mount Harrison to be specific. We enjoyed looking at all the wildflowers, visiting the fire lookout, and taking in Lake Cleveland (and yes, halfway up the hill, the whole Harrison/Cleveland thing finally dawned on me and I am reminded that sometimes place namers do have a sense of humor)

The last thing we did was find ourselves a lingering snow bank (yes, we were that high elevation-wise) and drop ourselves in it. Nothing beats a snowball fight wearing shorts and having it actually feel good. Well, that is until your daughter lands a snowball down the front of your shirt anyways…

 

The kids made a few startling discoveries playing in not-so-fresh July snow. Did you know July snow is cold? Emilie was just shocked by this finding. It also seems July snow is much more slippery. That may have something to do with the 70 degree air temperature and the fact the whole little field is rapidly melting away. Oh, and thanks to Disney, and a little film called Frozen ‘it’ got said eventually. Yes, that phrase that will be heard henceforth after every single snowfall. “Do you want to build a snowman?” (Bonus points if you sing it)

 

Yes, we did build a snowman. Jack insisted we had to take him home with us. I tried to explain what happens to snowmen in summer but I was met with the stubborn resolve of a five-year old that this would not happen to HIS snowman. Sometimes, you’ve just got to teach through example. I carried said snowman the 1/4 mile back to the truck without too much issue. Then I tried to explain why water was dripping off my hands and noted that I couldn’t have water dripping in the truck. Jack informed me we could just put him in a bucket. Unfortunately, we happened to have a bucket in the truck so in he went.

 

By that point in time Jack had dubbed his snowman Olaf (and you thought it was just little girls that get obsessed with this movie…HA). I was told I could be Queen Elsa, Emilie could be Anna, and Daddy could be Sven (lucky Daddy). All the way down the mountain ‘Olaf’ continued to sink lower in his bucket. There was a bit of drama when his eyeballs slipped off because when Jack went to put them back in their place Olaf’s whole head fell off…whoops.

Jack finally came to terms with the fact snow melts in summer as he watched his snowman disintegrate. However, he kept that bucket of Olaf slush until we got home so he could ‘bury’ his frosty buddy in his strawberry patch. Aaaahhh, the hard-learned lessons of youth.