Snow!

We were uninspired on the topic of menu for last night's dinner. We hemmed and hawed for a bit then Jeremiah turned to Kate and said "Kate, would you like to go out to dinner this evening?" Her eyes widened and she smiled. "Where would you like to go?" Much wider eyes and bigger smile. "How abooooout [she was savoring her moment to choose]....Mezcalitos?" Great food within walking distance? Good pick.

It had gone from a beautiful sunny day to dismal and gray, but we were certain the rain would hold off so we began to bundle the kids for a ride in the wagon. Then Kate changed her mind (shocking, I know) and announced "I want to go to the place where we get the french fries!" This is the Brickstore. We are unable to turn down a request for the Brickstore. So we headed to the car. Kate and I were the first ones out the door. From behind us we heard Sarah say "It's raining." I dismissed her comment but as I began to head down the front steps I realized...it was snowing. It almost never snows here, we usually just get rain or ice. But it was snowing in that serious way - the tiny flakes hurrying down from the low-lying clouds in such quantity it almost just looked foggy. "It's snowing!" Kate and I called simultaneously.

I thought Kate was going to explode. "It's snowing it's snowing it's snowing!" she sang, rushing down from the porch and spinning around in the driveway. Sarah stood on the porch, all bundled up and wearing a pair of my gloves because we couldn't find hers. She looked hilarious with her Micky Mouse-like hands poking out of her jacket sleeves. She giggled at the snow. "I told you it would snow in Georgia!" announced the triumphant Kate. "I'm so happy!" she continued gleefully, "I've been dreaming of snow." I had to scoop both kids up and place them in their carseats because they were not about to stop trying to catch the flakes on their tongues. "You dreamed of snow, Kate?" I asked, buckling her seatbelt. "You made it snow with your powerful mind!" She laughed. It snowed the entire way to the square. The girls kept up a running commentary on the weather without pause.

It was about 5:45; we were eating crazy early so we could get home and get the kids to bed on time. To our shock the Brickstore had a half hour wait at this ridiculous hour for dining. So we ended up at Mezcalitos anyway. The snow had gotten the girls so excited that they performed through-out dinner. We tried to convince them to settle down but they weren't having it. Sarah wouldn't stop singing Old McDonald and Kate could not be made to stop saying "don't talk with your mouth full" with her mouth full. The snow had long-since turned to hard, freezing rain by the time we got home but the happiness it brought the kids was so infectious that even the nice couple next to us at dinner, who I worried we were disturbing, engaged the kids in conversation and laughed at their silly jokes.

Sometimes I find the effort involved in getting the children put together, out the door, and fed at a restaurant all too taxing. Last night, though, I had to admit that if they hadn't been with us, we would have commented on the snow and, as it turned to rain, forgotten it. We'd have had a nice dinner out, probably at a normal hour, but the high-energy level of glee would simply have been absent and despite the fact that I was mildly embarrassed by their disruptive dancing and singing, I had a much happier evening thanks to Kate and Sarah and the snow.