Does this look like rain to anybody?

I think our local forecasters need to look out the window, because I haven't seen any rain today since about 9 AM!  Plenty of the white stuff, though.  We still made it to church and back, and Esther and I got some outdoor playtime after her nap.

Meanwhile, it's a good opportunity to post some older pictures of Esther in the snow.  I think I've covered the traditional activities--shoveling, snow angels, sledding, and snowman building--plus pushing a toy truck and looking for animal tracks--in previous posts.  But Esther is nothing if not creative, so besides those stereotypical pursuits we have:

Digging with a trowel (she also spent a long time one day "cooking" snow with a trowel, but I didn't get pictures of it)

Climbing snow mountains

Writing/drawing with a stick (which reminded me very much of the Chinese grandfather I saw one frigid winter day in the square near the university where we taught in China, guiding his grandson to practice painting characters using a long paintbrush and water--which froze on contact and looked quite lovely).

Sucking on an icicle

Riding her tricycle through the path Daddy made

We're all looking forward eagerly to the spring, but...it's been a fun winter!