Remember that snow we were so excited about?

The kids were so excited to get out in it they could hardly stand it. Unfortunately the snow was accompanied by the usual gusting West Texas wind, so we suggested they wait a little while to see if the wind would die down or it would warm up a bit. Adults can be so stupid sometimes!

As can be expected, a revolt ensued, and although I thought I had a pretty good eye on my kids, a few minutes later I turn around to see Nate coming in through the back door, wearing nothing but a diaper. "It's cold out there!"

That was the moment I realized my children are Californians. We're used to being able to wander in and out of the house, half-dressed, no matter the time of year and we've seen so little of cold weather and snow that we don't even realize that the two go hand-in-hand.

So the adults stopped being idiots and let the kids get bundled up and go outside. Mind you, the Utah and Michigan cousins had little interest in this, but their lack of enthusiasm served as no warning to my uninformed kiddos.

Fortunately the girls have decent winter coats, given to us by a friend who probably buys her kids sweaters too. And socks. Okay, we own socks. Half a dozen pairs each that occasionally get worn. I digress. Here the girls are, ready to go:

Getting started

Nate, however, did not have a warm winter coat passed on by a generous friend. He had his hoodie, which he doesn't even wear in central Cali most of the time, and a pair of giant gloves that didn't stay on him for long.

Literally less than 5 minutes after going outside Nate came back in the house screaming. He had fallen/been knocked into many a snow drift, he was cold, and apparently his hands were hurting like nobody's business. I stripped him out of his cold, wet clothes, wrapped him in a blanket and held him while he cried and daddy fetched him the band-aids he insisted his hands needed.
He didn't ask to go out again!