More Snow Play

It seems that all we do lately is play in the snow.  I guess that shouldn't surprise me or anyone else, given our surroundings.  But lately I feel as if I am taking the same picture over and over again...snow and more snow.  Don't get me wrong...I am enjoying it.  I am not much of an "outdoorsy" person, but I love being outside in the snow.  I have started cross-country skiing, which is good exercise, but fun to do as well.  Adam loves the snow also, and this past weekend he enjoyed building a fort with his Daddy on the side of our house.  It is mostly gone now, since yesterday's snowstorm gave us another foot or so on the ground.  We recently bought him a pair of training skis for him to learn how to balance and move around on them.  We want to take him to the mountain soon and have him take a ski class.  There are a few that are just for kids his age.  He took to them right away and was eager to be pushed around the yard on them. Maybe we will be out on that mountain sooner than we thought?  We are not the only ones having fun...Buster itches to go out and run around in it everyday.  He is getting to know the other "snow dogs" around us and it's fun to watch them play.  Bailey on the other hand couldn't care less about the snow...she takes care of business and then is ready to be back in the warm house.   Here are a few shots from the past week...

Buster is now a snow dog!

Adam wading through the fresh powder

On skis

Amanda and Shane

Adam playing in his snow fort

Snow Play

Today was a beautiful day.  While Shane was digging out the backyard Buster was having the time of his life leaping around in the snow.  Adam played in the snow with his sand toys from Qatar.  We tried to make a little snowman, but the snow here is way too dry for that.  So what did I do?  Take pictures, of course!  

Buster making tracks

Using his sand toys in the snow...

Playing in the snow

Buster loves the snow!

Digging out

After a few snowstorms, our backyard was nothing more than a big pile of snow.  Shane decided it was time to dig it out and make it easier to get around back there.  It was a gorgeous day to do it...no wind or snow and plenty of sunshine.  I helped a little bit, but Shane didn't want me to mess up my back, so he did most of it himself.  What a sweetie!  

Shane shoveling, Adam playing and Buster supervising

Proud of his "fort"

Amanda helping out

I had to share this!

My friend Kim sent me this.  She came across it in her Mom's Conway Twitty collection and of course thought of me. Enjoy!  

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

A bit of trivia:   Conway learned Russian and recorded this song in 1975 for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.  It was played by the American astronauts to Russian cosmonauts as a gesture of goodwill. 

Lenin Square

We went to Lenin Square today to check out the ice sculptures and the Christmas decorations. Russian Orthodox Christmas is tomorrow (Jan 7), so technically we went on Christmas Eve. The ice sculptures are done in both Lenin Square and Victory Square for the New Year/Russian Christmas celebrations.  It was pretty cold out there today...around 10 F when we left the house.  In addition to the ice sculptures they were offering pony and sleigh rides for the kids, but Adam wasn't interested...at least not until we were on our way home and he asked to ride in the sleigh.  Crazy kid!

Christmas tree in Lenin Square

Amanda freezing her butt off!

Adam with Father Frost

Statue of Vladimir Lenin

People put Kopecks on the sculptures...not sure why

Adam

Memorial for the earthquake victims of Neftegorsk, a small village on Sakhalin Island

Sakhalin hasn't let go of their communist roots it seems...

RIP Miss Lucy

My Mom lost one of her dogs today, Miss Lucy.  She started having trouble breathing and after many tests run it was found out to be carcinoma of the liver.  Rest in peace, Lucy...we will miss you.

New Year's Day in Sakhalin

Our big activity on New Year's Day:  shoveling snow!  We finally got to the shed in the back, which was a real task since we haven't shoveled back there since it started snowing Tuesday night.  After we finished shoveling, we pulled Adam around on the sled.  It proved pretty difficult in the areas that were over 1.5 feet, but we waded through it anyway!  Happy New Year to you all!

Adam helping Daddy shovel the walk

Amanda in the snow

Adam trying to wade through the snow

Sledding down the street

Attempting to sled through the deep snow

So pretty!

All the snow got caught in his sled