Wow. I have never experienced so much snow. There are two camps here in DC–those that hate the snow and those who make fun of them. I loved the snow the first time (in December) and liked the snow the second time early February and was pretty tired of it by round three last week.
If you are a DCer, then you have seen these events. We have had many friends and family ask how we are doing, so I thought I would share some of our experiences.
The storms in a way simplifies life: you either stay in or go out. For the most part we stayed in for about three days. Jonathan spent hours shoveling two foot snow so that we could get to our car. DC law also states that residents have eight hours after the snow storm ends to shovel the sidewalks surrounding their property. Many times sidewalks where cleared after the second storm just to have trucks pile more snow on them! Even this week there are tractors and frontloaders working 24 hours a day to clear roads around the city. I never thought I would see so much snow piled up. Some of the snow banks are 8 – 9 feet tall!
Many of you wrote and called us to see if we had enough food. Yes, I did my time waiting an hour to check out at the supermarket during the prestorm rush several times. Then Jonathan thought of getting Chinese food feast so that we didn’t have to cook: Brilliant. So, yes, we had plenty of food and haven’t gone to the grocery store for about 10 days!
Today we got our second mail delivery today in eleven days. I don’t know what happened to the mail delivery in all weather idea. They would have had to have snowshoes!
Our trash hasn’t been picked up in three weeks because the trucks can’t get through the alleys. It’s piling up on our porch. It’s piling up on every street corner all over the city. Public works instructed DCers to put their trash on the front curb. You can imagine what a whole city’s trash on the curb looks like. They also suggested “holding onto recyclables” since recycling pickup is also suspended (almost 4 weeks). Where shall I “hold” my recyclables?? Against the few green bones in my body we have had to throw everything in the trash for the porch.
We (and our city) are finally starting to recover, however there are lingering problems that the city is going to be plagued with for months. One of which are the terrible road conditions after the snow, melting and refreezing in the asphalt. There are potholes as large as three feet wide and deep enough to swallow tires. Another issue is ice! Sidewalks have been shoveled with varying degrees of attention. Walking two toddlers 1.5 blocks from school was pretty tedious. Caed did fall at one point, but he is so close to the ground it didn’t even phase him! (I am sure that it helped that we were moving slowly) Parking anywhere in the metro area is complicated. Huge snowpiles take up the majority of the lot. Drivers are creating places to park that are barely legal. Parking in residential areas or downtown is hard too. After folks clear out their spot they want to keep them! Everybody is using funny things to save their parking spot–chairs, workhorses, brooms, tables. I even saw a bookcase.
We have had so much fun during this time too. I thought that being cooped up with together would make us go absolutely mad. We may have had a bit of cabin fever, but for the most part it was nice to do crafts, watch movies, eat good food and go sledding. We also did “snow cream” for the first time! We took clean snow and added soy milk, vanilla and sugar over the top. Think Hawaiian Shaved Ice Cake batter! It was a welcome treat after we got hot and sweaty from playing outside.
If any DCers are still reading and have other funny experiences, I would love you to post a comment.
More photos are posted here and I will also post some videos later on. Love to all
It was dress up day at playschool this morning! Aliyah and her friends had so much fun. We went upstairs to “trick or treat” at our church offices and then had lunch together with a few of the families. Very sugared out this afternoon!
Aliyah’s playschool had special visitors a few weeks ago! Beekeepers Nathan & Andy came to talk about bees, their homes and how they communicate. It only lasted about 4.5 minutes before they were ready to go to the park. Nathan & Andy did a great job interacting with the very quiet and interested 3 and 4 year olds.
Lauren, her three kids and Aliyah & I packed up a few weeks ago for a quick morning at the zoo. I am not sure how many animals we saw, but they had fun using their imagination while climbing on the statues!
Surprise! I’ve actually taken the time for a post! I’m about four months behind, so I’ll just jump into the most current activities in our lives.
Fall is our favorite season here in DC. The mosquitoes are gone, leaves are changing, pumpkin ales are available…but our favorite is our family outing to Butler’s Family Orchard.
More photos are at our gallery, but here are our favorites.
We are so happy to be back and living in DC! I do have fond memories of our time in CA with family! Here are a few random pics of our gallivanting around the great state in May
Sliding with Nana
College friends who now have kids! Castenadas, us and the Gerlings
Every summer this tradition gets more exciting. Downtown Silver Spring, MD has a great open air mall with a fun mosaic fountain that is open for kids to splash in. It’s a big hit with the community and has tons of squealing kids running and sliding around in bathing suits and sopping-wet street clothes.
We also purchased $15 worth of ice cream at Cold Stone. Aliyah was SO excited about her sprinkles AND Oreos! It truly was a miracle on earth. Although when we got to eat it in front of the fountain she was so excited about the water that she lost interest in the ice cream and Mommy had to finish it by herself.
Aliyah had her first dentist appointment! We prepared by reading books and studying friends’ pictures (Thanks Violet & Grace!) Aliyah was really brave and actually loved the time in the chair. We had a sensitive, funny, gentle and instructive hygienist — Ms. Melody at Dr. Adly Wilson’s office in Greenbelt.
I was so thankful that Ms. Melody took the time to show Aliyah all the instruments and told her what was going to happen for every step of the cleaning. Dr. Wilson came in afterwards and was equally as congenial.
Aliyah has never shown a strong desire to dress up in girlie clothes. However, Mommy maybe might have created an opportunity for two adorable girls to accidentally find their way into a bag full of dresses. Lauren and her sister, Heather gave us a beautiful dresses that Aliyah and her 18 month old friend Bella loved trying on the other day.
Yes, that's a Cinderella dress to match the Cinderella doll
I know. I know. I have ardently argued against the princess theme–especially princess clothes. I guess I caved and now these adorable dresses are back in a dark corner of the closet to be pulled out again for special occasions…like the next time another cutie little girl comes to play…any takers??
