Bears want more...

After a few months of being snowed-in (the tent in the basement could only help for so long), we finally got a reprieve from the weather. Today was in the 40's, so the girls & I decided to burn-off some couped-up energy by transforming the 2'-3' of snow deposited in our front yard into art.

Our plan was to build a snow-horse, a snow-cat and a snow-farmer (mainly to complete with a snow-Statue-of-Liberty erected down the street), but we quickly found that the snow wasn't packable. It was frozen and brittle. You couldn't create a snowball, but if you put a shovel into it, you could create brick-like chuncks.

I was fearful that Isa & Lucy would mutiny when they found they wouldn't be creating a Calvin-and-Hobbs-like diarama. To divert their attention, I began stacking the bricks to create a snow-fort. I wasn't too hopeful that this would manage the girls disapointment, but to my surprise, Isa said something like, "cool... an Iglo". Whether that was real excitement for the project, or excitement about watching dad try to construct this structure (my life will really be in trouble when Isabel figures out how to manipulate my Chuck-Griswold-like desire for perfect family outings)... regardless, with the gauntlet thrown down, I went to work...

(Oh... about the title... the girls began pretending they were bears, even down to the strawberry treats they enjoyed after 'waking-up' from hybernation. So... this is more a refernce to the children's book of a similar title... and less a reference to the Chicago faithful who are likely debating the benefits of benching Grossman vs. finally paying tribute to Boilermaker-turned-NFC-football-saviour, Kyle Orton)