Colder Than Colder Than Cold

Throughout my 13 years of elementary, middle, and high school in Madison, Wisconsin, we had a total of five "snow" days. Two of those cancellations occurred not because of fluffy white flake accumulation or dangerously icy roads, but because of frigid weather: daytime temperatures chillin' between -20 and -25 degrees and windchill temperatures dropping to between -40 and -50 degrees. I remember feeling so disappointed to be home yet unable to go outside and truly enjoy the day off from school. Thankfully my mom helped us bundle up in layers...and layers...and layers...until we could safely stay outside for 20 minutes at a time. Not the best scenario, but better than nothing.

I honestly don't think I had felt temperatures that cold since those two snow days...at least until last week.

Temperatures in the 20s greeted us when we landed in Wisconsin, and from that point forward the mercury slipped lower and lower until it eventually bottomed out at -23. Not one to stay inside all day no matter the weather, I bundled in layers...and layers...and layers...and walked the 2.5-mile loop near my in-laws lake home every day. But Tom and the kids? Not so much. Will and Tom joined me for the walk once and the kids went sledding three times (for only 20 minutes at a time) but there were stretches during which they didn't go outside for more than 48 hours.

BUT...

No trip to the snowy white north would be complete without making our traditional swimsuit snow angels. We waited for the warmest day (you know, -2 degrees), warmed up with a little yoga, and went for it. Participants this year included Tom, Will, Hallie, my sister-in-law Chandi, and my three-year-old nephew Forest, who insisted on joining us but had absolutely no idea what we were doing.

Cheers to another year of keeping the tradition alive, even when the degrees were against us.

If you're interested, here are a few past posts about our swimsuit snow angel tradition:
Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland
Snow Angels
Frozen Football
Oops, We Did it Again
Meanwhile, Up in Snowy Wisconsin