Skiing canceled due to snow

We were going to go up to Mt. Hutt for another ski day.  The kids liked it so much last time that we had designated Monday, August 15 as our ski day.

The weather had a different plan.  It snowed.

Now you might think this would be a good thing for skiing.  But not when the snow paralyzes an entire country - so roads, mail, schools and even blood donation centers get shut down.  If you remember my photos from our trip to Mt. Hutt, those are not roads that you want to drive in bad weather.  Double, shoulderless, twisty, 500 ft-drop-offs with no guardrail.  Eek.

In fact, this is 'the storm of a lifetime' for New Zealand.  The North Island is getting snow for the first time in 40 years.  There is more snow in Christchurch than there was in the 'big storms' of 1992 and 2006.  (That should give you a good sense of how often it snows in Christchurch.)

In fact, I started to try to get the car out of the driveway to go pick up milk at the grocery store and almost got stuck.  So, no driving for us today.

Instead, we are tromping through the snow to the dairy (aka - Convenience store) to load up on more milk so we can make more hot cocoa.  And we are making snow girls.  Lots and lots of snow girls.

Snow Family

Putting on the final touches

Backyard snowgirls done!

This does bring to mind my own memories of being a little girl in Washington State and having snow days.  Going to my friends house and playing in the snow forts or snow tunnels that our brothers made.  Neighborhood-wide snowball fights.  Snowdrifts taller than me.

And most importantly, coming in afterwards for hot cocoa.

This is not an experience we get often in Texas.

But still, I'm certainly glad we were trying to ski today and not fly back to Texas.  It's not supposed to be better tomorrow - but I'm hoping it will all be cleared up by Monday!