A Week in VB's Wacky Weather

I've lived here basically my entire life (minus the four years I was away for college), so you would think by now I would be used to the roller coaster that is Virginia Beach's weather.  But last week may have just about taken the cake.
On Monday, it was about 65 out.  The boys were out of school for MLK Jr. day, so my sister (who was also off) and I decided to take them down to the MacArthur ice skating rink.  It was actually the last day the outdoor rink was going to be open, and the weather could not have been more perfect for it...at least according to my standards!  Plus, the boys had a blast!  True, they stuck to the itty bitty toddler rink and didn't let go of us and/or the rails the whole time, BUT they loved it!

Colton even asked to go back the next day.  Luckily it was closed because the temperatures had already begun their plummet.  By Tuesday evening (just 24 hours after it was 65 if you're keeping track), it was in the 30's here!  And the temps continued to fall  And then it started to snow!  Snow in Virginia Beach is a once-a-year at best kind of thing, so it was actually pretty exciting...enough for me to even kind of ignore the fact that it was in the teens when we woke up Wednesday morning (50 degrees colder than just 48 hours prior...again, in case you're keeping track).  

The boys saw a few flakes falling before they went to bed, but the bulk of the white stuff fell while they were asleep.  Needless to say, they were super pumped when they woke up and saw the 3.5 inches or so that were on the ground.  To preface this video, Colton had already looked out his window to see the snow, so that explains a little as to his questionable enthusiasm!

As I mentioned, it was freaking freezing, so I wasn't in a real hurry to get out there and play.  To keep them at bay for a bit, I made them some snowman pancakes.

Honestly, I would have been perfectly happy staying in all day, but the boys were so excited to get out and play in it.  So I put on my good mom pants and headed out with them.  My mom and sister braved the roads to come over and join us.

Being the true Virginia Beach boys that they are, they lasted about five minutes out there.  In fairness, it was bitterly cold...and we really do not have the proper attire for it if you can't tell from the above pics.  We went inside to warm up with some hot chocolate (Colton's favorite part of the day!).

But when their good buddy, Grayson, came out across the street, they decided to bundle up and give it one more go...yes, with sand buckets because that's how beach kids do snow!

But that only lasted about 5 minutes as well (thankfully!)!  Have no fear, though...we found other ways to take advantage of the snow without actually having to brave elements!  

We painted the snow by spraying food coloring on it.

And we made snow ice cream.

 

It was so bitter cold that we really didn't make it out to play in the snow much more.  Josh did take the boys out for a bit on Saturday once the temps had warmed up a tiny bit, but that was about it!  

And now that we've checked snow off our winter bucket list, I am quite happy to see it finally melting away.  Seriously, being stuck inside with these guys for just one day was enough to make me crazy...so much so that we braved the roads the next day (and yes, they were pretty bad...our city just isn't equipped for this stuff like our Northern neighbors!) to meet some friends.  And now, there are some reports that we could get 12 inches or more later this week!?!?  I may honestly lose it if that happens, so keep your fingers crossed for us...