I’m still getting used to this whole “winter” thing. Truthfully, it’s been pretty mild here in CO when it comes to the cold and the snow, save for a week where we had single digit temps. Most of the time it snows a tiny bit overnight and then melts within the next day or two, and temps are sticking around the 30s, 40s and 50s during the day.
So it’s been kind of nice to be eased into living and driving in the snow, but I’m still learning how to be out and about – especially with the kids – when it does appear.
We decided to go to Zoo Lights this past weekend at the Denver Zoo, since it was only going to be happening for a couple more weeks. Leave it to me to pick a night when it is supposed to snow and drop to the 20s.
I knew it was going to be cold, but heard that it was supposed to snow late at night and into Sunday morning, so I figured we would be fine. [ side note: weather forecasters here are kind of terrible and the 5-day looks different every morning… ]
So as soon as we showed up at the zoo at 6:00 p.m., the flurries began. I had already figured it would be cold, so I put hats, gloves and snow coats on the kids, as well as 2 pairs of pants. We also brought the wagon and two blankets to cover them up. I felt totally prepared. And then it was snowing.
But since we had driven all the way there and bought our tickets, we decided to stick it out for as long as we could. We did a lot of walking and looking at lights, and that about sums it up. Long story short, the kids were fine. They didn’t complain about the cold once and had a great time; mostly because I bought them some kettlecorn and poured it on their blankets… they pretty much spent the evening ignoring the lights and shoving popcorn in their mouths; which began to get soggy as the snow accumulated and melted on their laps. I managed to get them to look up approximately twice for some terrible photos (and I think one or both of them have popcorn in either their mouth or hands).
I learned that being stuck out in the snow gives me an “oh well” attitude, which means I spend all kinds of money to try and improve the situation. I figured we might as well try and enjoy ourselves, right? I bought the kids ridiculous glowing necklaces for way too much money, as well as the aforementioned kettlecorn. The Mr. and I bought hot chocolate and he added a shot of Peppermint Schnapps to his (the Denver Zoo really knows how to keep parents happy).
He and I are the ones who suffered most as we walked around the zoo with snow pelting our faces. Truthfully it wasn’t all that bad, though all of our hats, gloves and coats were soaked by the time we got to the car. Oh, and the next day I woke up with chapped cheeks and weird red blotches all over my face… that was a bummer. But unless I wanted to don a ski mask, I didn’t really have much of an option for prevention.
And did I mention we ended up stopping at McDonald’s so the pregnant lady could get some french fries and a McFlurry on our way home at 9 o’clock at night? Don’t worry, the Mr. ordered an entire meal too. The kids, meanwhile, were passed out in the backseat. It was more money spent, but it was delicious.
So, to wrap up… things I learned from this winter excursion:
- Don’t do Zoo Lights in the snow; it’s really cold, you’ll have day-after winter burn on your face, and you’ll spend all kinds of money.
- When the kids are passed out late at night in the back of the car, you will most likely stop at McDonald’s for ice cream because you know you can eat it without having to share.
- The batteries in those expensive light-up necklaces burn out pretty fast (especially when you leave them on all night because you were too busy carrying your sleeping children upstairs to think about turning them off).
- Despite their shortcomings, winter adventures can be an awful lot of fun.