Day 1: Light snow fall. It was a little disappointing that we could still make it out of the house without emergency provisions. Dad went to work, we went to the mall to shop and drink Starbucks.

Day 2: Heavy snowfall. We had several inches of quality packing snow. What better thing to do than go swimming in it? This has become one of our favorite “winter in Seattle” experiences. It is just awesome to swim in a warm pool with snow falling on your head. We had a mini snowball fight in the pool, and made a mini snowman that we watched melt in the pool.

Day 3: Ice storm. There is a decent coat of ice on top of the snow today. Our snowman’s hat solidified and even taking one step outside is unthinkable and irresponsible. We plan to hunker down and pack for our road trip tomorrow (by which time the roads are supposed to return to normal).

Congratulations to Clayton Ingalls of Brecksville, OH for making the Deans List at Ohio University. I’d like to think we Clayton Ingallses are a bright bunch.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Since moving here I’ve had a number of offers to teach me to surf.  I have made at least a small effort to accept each offer.  Yet each time the offer has just fallen through.  Not this time.

A couple of families from church converged on the beach so I could finally learn.  After a 5 minute lesson on how to get up we took our boards out to the water.

With a little push from behind I caught my first wave on my first attempt.  After that I was on my own.  Over an hour or so I caught 6 or 8 waves.  Another beginner ran into me once.  By the end I was absolutely exhausted.  But it was a lot of fun and with my giant beginners board made it a little easier than expected.  Or maybe I’m just a natural.