North Carolina Winters

Is today really January 7th? One would not guess it from the amazing weather we have right now. But I guess in NC anything is possible with each season. Last winter was FREEZING! It snowed a few times and now Gabrielle, poor lil' thing, does not understand it when I tell her snow is not the "norm" for where we live. She is only 5 and pretty much every winter she can remember has involved snow. She has experienced more snow than I did all of my 18 years growing up on the coast of NC. Naturally she equates winter with snow. But this winter, so far anyway, the weather has not been any where close to a slight possibility of snow. Today we had a gorgeous day of sunny and high of 67 degrees!!

My plans for the weekend involved catching up on some cleaning and finally putting away Christmas decorations. Well, my plans were foiled the moment I stepped outside to take out a bag of trash. It was way too beautiful a day to spend it inside cleaning, packing up decorations. We opted to spend the day outside!

First of course I had to get the girls dressed and their hair brushed which is when Samantha, being the "big girl" she is, decided to help Mommy out by combing her hair for me. It did not end well...

Fortunately after a while of turning the comb this way and that, pulling on this piece of hair then that one, I finally freed the comb from her hair and after several sprays of detangler managed to get it pulled back in a ponytail. Off to the backyard we went.

Once Ed arrived home from work, he loaded the cars with the girls' bicycles Santa brought them this Christmas and we headed to Joyner Park.

The park was busy - I don't think anyone wanted to waste the day inside if they did not have to - but the park is huge and there are over 3 miles of paved paths I believe so finding a good uncrowded spot for the girls to practice riding was no problem. The girls had only had two opportunities since Christmas at riding their bicycles. Our driveway slopes about half way down it so even on those two opportunities they only had a small circular path in which to learn to ride a bike.

There was definite some hesitation at first but once Gabrielle got the courage and confidence she was doing great and having a blast! Samantha was having fun as long as someone was pushing her but it did not take long for that to take a toll on mine and Ed's backs. I think we will have to get the tricycle out for a while until she gets a better grasp on pedaling. 

I love this next photo. The expression on Gabrielle's face is absolutely priceless. At this point she had a completed a small lap without any help and was so proud of herself. I was so proud of her.

 Here is a cropped, close up of the photo above so you can see her face better.

Gabrielle is a child that requires a lot of encouragement when it comes to something new. To be honest sometimes I get easily frustrated with her and I'm probably too hard on her at times when it comes to her cautious and timid nature. She is a very creative, artistic little girl and while she loves to play outside and run and swing she is not the active type as far as sports and those types of things. To get past her fear of falling and failing took quite a bit - but she did it! And she left the park fighting for more time and wanting to ride "just a little bit longer." 

This afternoon was filled with memories this Momma won't ever forget.