Melting!

For the first time since 1952 (so it seemed), it was not painful to go outside this weekend.  As a result, we spent Sunday doing absolutely nothing but sipping on hot chocolate and Bailey's (well, at least for the adults) while sitting around a makeshift fire in the backyard (our fire pit is buried in two feet of snow and I'm far too lazy to do that much digging).

Our chairs sunk deep into the snowpack (making sitting somewhat uncomfortable) and we had to endure an occasional stray snowball thrown by the Boy, but it had been five months since we sat around the fire and we enjoyed it immensely.

Of course the ashes have now made our pristine white backyard look like someone spilled a large bottle of India ink in the middle of it - a big black stain on a bed of white.  But I honestly couldn't care less.

The snow was perfect for snowman building...

"Olaf" the Snowman.  His life was joyous, but brief.

The Boy and the Girl look happy in the picture, but don't let that fool you.  About an hour after I took this the Boy beheaded the poor, unsuspecting snowman.  Fisticuffs ensued.  The Girl won in a three round bout.

On Saturday, the dingo "celebrated" her first birthday.  The Girl absolutely insisted  on making a "cake" for the dog, so we had to improvise:

It looks remarkably like a turd, but trust me, it isn't.

The Girl rolled up her sleeves and made a "cake" out of canned dog food and liver flavored icing with a candle to boot.  Yes, it was gross and smelled bad; but I admired her determination.

Happy birthday, Lulu!  Look out Girl, that dog will chew your eyes off.

All things considered, it was a fun, non-productive weekend.  The weather is beginning to instill hope that Old Man Winter is starting to lose some steam... although I'm not so easily fooled.  The boys basketball tournament is on the horizon and traditionally winter sneaks in one more sucker punch around that time of the year.

But for now, we'll take what we can get.

After her "birthday party" and a day running through the snow, the dingo was so tired that she fell asleep with her favorite ball still in her mouth.