Winter Fun

This winter has been quite mild to say the least. We had to take advantage of any snow we had.  Erin had a couple of good "snow playing" days sprinkled throughout the season. On the most recent, I grabbed my camera and headed out for a minute.

They made a fort with her swimming pool.

Snowman!

Erin and Mommy made a small snowman last week. The first of the season!





Then Erin made her very own "snow duck"



Then it was time for a snow angel

Snow Day!

South Bend set records this past weekend for snowfall in 24 hours. We had almost three feet of snow at our house! I couldn't BELIEVE the amount of snow that had accumulated from the time we arrived home Friday night to when we woke up Saturday morning (at about 7am!)  Click here for the story on our local news.  You couldn't keep Erin inside. We got her all bundled up and played outside and shoveled the driveway for the majority of the day.  There was no way we were going ANYWHERE even after we shoveled the driveway.  Our street didn't get plowed until late evening on Saturday.
The View Out Our Back Door (Before we shoveled a path for the puppies.)

It was still coming down!

Ready to Play in the Snow!

We couldn't have gotten into our shed if we wanted to!

The snow is up to Erin's Armpits!

The Puppies Loved Playing in the Snow (Peyton More So Than Kramer)

F

Flinging Herself into the Giant Snow Piles

Making Snow Angels Every Two Feet

She was so light, she was actually making snow angels sitting up at an angle.

Whew!

Shoveling the Driveway (If you can tell, the shoveled snow almost covered up our lamp post)

Erin Made Herself a Snow Seat

Me Standing in the Middle of the Road

Then I tripped and fell face first into the snow

Playing in the Snow!

A few weekends ago, we all went outside to play in the freshly fallen snow.
Trying on Mommy's Hat

Peyton LOVES the Snow!

Chasing Peyton Around in the Snow

Sledding with Daddy

Being Chased By the Puppies!

Making Snow Angels with Mommy

And Daddy

Warming Up with A Cup of Hot Cocoa

And Coffee for Mommy

Snowball Fight!

Erin loves to go outside and play in the snow.  I have actually found her outside with no shoes on when I left her unattended for a few minutes (doing laundry or upstairs or something not Home ALONE!)  She loves to make show balls (or make other people make her snowballs because she isn't very good at it yet.)

Watch out Dad!

Mom I don't know why you want me to wear gloves! It is way easier to collect snow and pack it into a ball without them!

Watch out Craig!

Blindsiding Some Poor Unsuspecting Soul

Isn't She Adorable?

Cutting Down Our Christmas Tree

A few weeks ago, we made our annual trek down to Hensler's Nursery to pick out our Riesenberg Family Christmas Tree!  Two cars, four dogs, eight people, two trees later, we found our tree and had fun in the snow.
Erin Not So Sure About Mrs. Clause

Kramer really liked the animals and tried to get in their pens with them (and was successful with the horses. I however couldn't get a picture of it because I was too busy trying to get him out before he got stomped on.)

On the Train

The Riesenberg Family Christmas Tree

Erin even sat on Santa's lap this year and No TEARS!  Just a terrified look. A step in the right direction!

Mommy and Erin

ERin and MAry Jane