You might think living in subzero temperatures for most of the winter is terrible…and there are days when I’d wholeheartedly agree with you. Days when it’s gray and slushy and gross and I’d sell my soul for some sunshine. There are days when we’d to when we’re so desperate to get out of the house Matt would even go look for modern bedding and paint samples to redecorate our bedroom. BUT, if you’re 8 years old and love to be outside, there are days when Ohio ain’t all bad.
You drive by the local pond/lake that’s a hop, skip and a jump away from your house and see that the green flag is up. The green flag that means it’s safe to go out on the ice. The green flag that means….ice hockey!! It’s enough to make an 8-year-old boy quake with excitement. What’s even better is if you have a Mom that’s willing to load up the hockey goals and sticks, pick up three of your best buddies, drive you all to the ice and sit in the freezing cold and read while you enjoy yourselves.
If your parents are feeling really nice, they’ll even brave the temperatures, drive you up to “The Hill” and taking you sledding. The hour it takes to bundle everyone up, load up everything in the car and drive to the hill is worth it when they hear the screams of joy coming out of everyone’s lips.
See…Ohio ain’t all bad.
Elastamom's Excerpts 
Ahhhh to be a kid again and not care what the temperature is. Just to enjoy being outside and having a blast! You’re a great mom for braving the cold! The hill is great on days like today!
Our living conditions aren’t any better. Snow upon snow. I am anxiously awaiting summer.
Great pictures! I had no idea you could go on the ice at the lake- not that I have ice skates or anything anymore but it’s still good to know 🙂
Great sledding pictures! We still haven’t went sledding yet this year 😦
Awesome sledding adventure! We don’t get enough snow in DC (last year was an anomaly) to sled, so me and nephew boy don’t get very many chances to go. 😦
Oh, and I love Olivia’s hat. It’s perfect for her.
Oh that last picture is perfect for framing! Look at those rosy cheeks!
You are an awesome parent! I love Olivia’s sock monkey hat.
I love it! It amazes me how at 29 I am freezing outside while scraping my windows on my car, but at 2 and 4 my girls can stay out there for at least an hour and not once complain of being cold.
I remember those days in Michigan. We had a sledding hill that ended in a little pond. The goal always was to make it past the giant trees and slide onto the ice and of course — not fall through. LOL Those were the days!
Great shots of the kids. They look like they are having a blast.
You are the coolest mum in the world, ice hockey and sledding! It sounds like fun to me. Fantastic photos too.
You are an awesome mom. I HATE being cold, so my girls are very lucky to have an awesome dady who loves going outside with them in sub-zero temperatures (anything below forty degrees is sub-zero as far as I’m concerned) and play with them.
Freezing temps aside, I agree with you that Ohio isn’t so bad. 🙂
What a blast!
That looks like a ton of fun! Yep, Ohio is all good!
That looks fun. When my daughter went sledding last year in Flagstaff, she loved it. It’s an excursion for us, but for Ohioans it looks like it just part of the routine.
Ohhh I love how the ice skating on the lake reminds me of the olden times that you hear in Christmas songs!!! I didn’t even know that this was still possible. How and who does the green flag? That seems soooooooo awesome!!! Sledding is probably one of the best snow activities too! Those smiles are priceless, so stinking cute! I can’t get over Olivia’s hat. It rocks!!
I MUST have a sock monkey hat like Olivia’s for Julia…Sock Monkey is her FAVORITE toy/friend. In fact whenever she needs to go potty she tells me “Sot Muntey go bap-room.” then she takes him in, sets him on the counter, sits down and GOES POTTY!!! Amazing…she’s eight and after all this time all we needed was “sot muntey”!!!
This is way off the subject, though…I envy you your snow!!! And you ARE an amazing mom! Thanks for my daily dose of inspiration!