Beast from the East

At the end of February, we were hit with the Beast from the East, a weather system that brought subfreezing temperatures from Siberia. At the weekend, Storm Emma came up from the south, hitting the UK and Ireland. I believe that the worst of both was expected in Scotland and southwestern England and Wales.

Our snow first came overnight on Monday. It wasn't bad though, and the roads were clear. It snowed on and off throughout the day, but really only accumulated on the grass.

Tuesday evening, and throughout the night, snow was falling heavily.

By Wednesday morning, we had maybe six inches, and it was still snowing. Our school wasn't officially closed, but they did send an email that basically said don't feel obligated to bring the kids in. So my kids happily put pajamas back on and we settled in.

By Thursday morning, we had gotten another couple of inches, and school was officially closed. The kids were initially disappointed to miss World Book Day, but that disappointment didn't last long. We did (briefly) play outside on this day.

Thankfully, school was open again on Friday. The main roads were clear, and it had stopped snowing.  The sidewalks were still full of packed snow, though, so we didn't get out much.

There was some snow on and off through Saturday, and then on Sunday we started getting messy half snow/half rain.

It was gloomy all day, but it didn't make the roads slick. Over the next few days, the snow melted, and we hoped that the Beast had passed. There was one last gasp the following Thursday. It snowed heavily and fast in the morning. I did drive the kids to school, but it was slippery, and the drive home took 20 minutes instead of the typical 5. But by the time school was out, everything had melted.

Morning

A few hours later

Overall, being snowed in for a couple of days was inconvenient but not too bad. Some other parts of the UK had it a lot worse- trains and flights were delayed or cancelled, and there were major traffic jams. Parts of continental Europe were also hit harder, even in places where residents are more accustomed to wintery weather. I'm glad that it's over, and I'm hoping that spring conditions are right around the corner.

Holiday Wrap Up

Just a few bits and pieces to finish up our Christmas and New Year season.

Harlow Carr had a special Holiday Glow throughout December. We took the kids one evening during their school break, and luckily it was the day before we got a decent amount of snow. (I'm sure the lights looked beautiful in the snow, but it was cold enough without it!)

The kids were really excited to be in the gardens after dark, and they loved the lights.

It didn't take long for the cold to set in, though. And the cries of, "I'm hungry!" We gave them the few snacks we had brought, and those were gone in a flash.

So we quickly walked through the rest, and hurried back to the car so we could get home and get everyone fed. In all it was a good time, but we may wait to go back until the kids can handle it a bit better.

The next day, the kids were thrilled to wake up to a few inches of snow!

Of course we had to go out to play. We dressed the kids warmly, and said we were going to the park across the street. So much excitement caused us to linger outside the front door for a while.

Tasting the snow

Do you want to build a snowman?

Rolling a ball down our hill

Finally, we made it to the park. We let the kids set the pace, and slowly wandered, throwing snowballs along the way. Matt decided to see how big of a snowball he could make.

He let the kids help until it wasn't very safe

Taking a break

Finished! A couple of teenagers rolled it just a bit further after we walked off.

Snow angels!

By now, we had spent about an hour playing outside, and my feet were freezing in my wellies. (I sold my snow boots before we left Colorado; I didn't think I'd get much use out of them!) So I took Miles and Clara home, while Matt and Lily walked into town to get Five Guys. We spent the rest of the day inside, and by the next day, much of the snow had melted.

Our New Years Eve was very low key. We stayed home, and had a festive dinner of appetizers (spring rolls, cheese sticks, Indian selection, and cheese toasties to name a few). The kids watched all of the countdowns that Netflix had to offer (in the morning), and were in bed at their normal time. I even went to bed just before midnight, so that's how exciting we are.

The remainder of the school break, we hung out and played with new toys and games. It was a nice break, but I was ready for the kids to go back to school by the end. And they were ready to see their friends and get back to their routines.

And with that, I think I'm caught up with real life again!

Thoughts on Snowy Weather

We've had a lot of snow lately. Well, compared to the typical amount of snow this area sees.

Last week we had three straight days of crap weather. On the first two days, Matt had a hard time just getting out of his parking space to drive to work. (He had parked facing uphill, and each time he tried to get into the street, he would start sliding backwards. He ended up just turning around to go downhill, and taking an alternate route to work.) I don't like driving in bad weather anyway, and after adding in my UK driving anxiety, I decided to walk the kids to school.

On Wednesday, the walk was no problem. The kids were excited because of snow, and it wasn't extremely cold. After that, everything went downhill.

Yes, we did move from a state in the US that gets much more snow than our current location. Here are some differences:

• Colorado is prepared for snow. So when bad weather hits, you know that most of the streets (and even bike trails) will be cleared. Here, they'll put down grit, but there aren't plows going around making the streets safe to drive on. 
• Sidewalks are even worse. No one shovels their sidewalks here, so you just have to walk through it until everything melts. On Thursday, there was a decent amount of snow and slush on the ground during our walks, and I got quite a workout pushing the stroller through it. 
• Since neither the streets nor the sidewalks are very safe for travel, and this is unusual weather for the area, you might think that school would be cancelled for safety reasons. Wrong. I'm actually curious to know what it would take to cancel school here (but I don't want to find out).

Here are a few pictures of our walk from that second day.

 The temperature got high enough that day to start melting even what was on the sidewalk, and of course once the sun went down, it all froze. On Friday, the roads had maintained enough heat to be decently clear, but the sidewalks were solid ice. Matt drove the kids to school that morning, and I made the mistake of walking to pick Clara up at midday. We made it safely, but it was cold and took forever. Did I mention that I sold my snow boots before we left the States? I didn't think I'd need them!

I realize that this entire post sounds negative. But I'm keeping it real, and it was a very grumpy three days.

By the end of the weekend, the snow and ice was gone and things were back to normal. Now I'm back to my positive self and crossing my fingers that we can get back to the rain!