There was sitting and watching tv and movies.
There were games set up to entertain the children.
This picture showing the game my sister set up for her niece and nephew.
Yes, it looks similar to beer-pong. However, our game had no beer.
Jillian helped feed Maizy.
Many family dinners.
Ninja Turtle costumes made from toilet paper and throw pillows.
Our view from the deck of the cabin.
That's Lake Blue Ridge.
This is before the snow storm.
As part of the tradition of the birthday weekend, we go out for a drive/picnic one day. Mind you, it is always in January or February, so our picnic is often eaten in the cold weather.
Our first stop was suppose to be the fish hatchery. On our way, our vehicle started having transmission issues. Then, suddenly, Jared wasn't behind our car any more. When we turned around to go find him, we discovered that he had blown a tire.
My sister is holding up the rear door because the springs are broken and will suddenly give out, slamming anyone's head who's in the way.
We then discovered the spare was flat too.
How many people does it take to change a tire?!
Maizy was freakin' out, so we put in the backseat of our car with the kids.
Once it was decided that his car would have to remain by the roadside, we continued on to the planned activities. However, we found out the fish hatchery was closed on Saturdays. And the road to the rope bridge we hoped to go to was closed. By this point the snow started falling. The weather forecasts were calling for up to 2 inches, so we weren't really worried.
Here we all are, on the bridge at the beginning of the closed road.
We used it as a photo opportunity.
Family of four.
Landon was stinkin' excited about the snow.
Jillian was ..... well...... cold.
Cutest kids ever.
Again, Landon super excited, Jillian, tolerating the ordeal.
And please check out the snow.
It started falling fast, and accumulating quickly.
We leave the bridge and start finding that the roads are already covered in snow. We're out of cell range for quite some time. When we finally get back to an area with coverage, we discover the weather forecast is now calling for four to six inches of snow. As we are driving back, our car continues to have transmission issues, which somehow Josh fixed by turning the car off and on and messing with the gear-shifter-thing. We then continued on to the cabin while my dad took his car to find a tire store to fix my brother's tire.
THEN, we come up on a giant hill and traffic is stopped because of an accident.....snow related. We pull over in a parking lot to wait. I am hungry, the kids are hungry, and I have to pee. As we wait and Josh makes friends with the grandmothers who pulled over next to us, we realize that our engine is now over-heating. SERIOUSLY?! So now we have to go find a place to get some anti-freeze to try to keep our car from dying so we can get to the cabin before the full six inches of snow falls.
So we find an Ace Hardware without driving too far. While Josh was in the store, Sarah and I noticed the following sign.....
Just in case you didn't know, you can't bring a loaded fire arm into the Ace Hardware.....but you can buy a gun and possibly the ammo inside.
So then we finally get going. Our car is no longer having transmission issue or over-heating. We make it to the bottom of the road our cabin is on. And our car isn't making it up the first hill. We were sliding everywhere. Our four-wheel drive wouldn't kick in so we had no hope of making it up the gravel road and the snow. My dad finally pulls up and we get the kids, my sister, Sarah, me and the dogs into his car with him and my mom. Jared, Josh, and Arthur pile into our car to go retrieve Jared's Jeep now that he has a fixed tire.
Took them forever to get back with all the snow. My dad's car almost slid off the road over an embankment on our way up the cabin road. But alas, we all made it back to the cabin before dark and without injuries or wrecked cars.
This is the view from the back deck when we made it back.
Us, playing the snow,
as we waited for the guys to get back from the Jeep rendezvous.
The next day the kids really like sliding down the hill on their bellies.
They built a snow man.
"The Originals" as my brother likes to call us.
Note the snowball in his hand.
My mom went sledding.
She screamed the whole way down the hill every time.
My sister, wearing plastic bags on her feet. It's a trick that Nana taught us all. They help protect your feet when you don't have snow boots on.
We all had dry feet!!! It really works!
Jared attempted to drive out. It didn't work.
Eventually the snow started melting, and we really tried to leave.
But the two-wheel drive vehicle just couldn't make it. Jared had to tow Sarah's car to get it started up the first hill.
Note the amount of snow on our side of the mountain versus the snow in the valley picture above!
Faces of frustration and defeat.
Erin and Arthur had made it out of the driveway and along the road, to the steep steep hill.
Only to find the hill completely covered in ICE. They walked back to the house. Eventually the took shovels, sticks, and rocks and broke up the ice on the road so we could all drive down the hill.
No lie.....sticks and rocks.
I suppose you could say we were desperate to leave.
My dad's packed bag on the porch. He packed it the first morning we were snowed in. Silly man.
I decided to clean up the cabin while the rest of the cabin-fevered family used primitive tools to break up the ice on the road. Any other moms have to vacuum like this? With children running all over and playing jump-the-cord while you vacuum?
That's the kind of thing that will become legend. I guess you guys didn't kill eachother -- that's good. With so many mishaps, it would have been easy to have a blowup! Great story!
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