Yesterday Aidyn, his grandma, and I ventured to the snow in Pinecrest. All bundled up in layers and Aidyn in his snowsuit, we traveled for approximately two hours east until evidence of snow lay on the side of the highway. After finding a secluded campground in the Stanislaus Forest, we exited the car and proceeded to play in the snow. We touched it, clomped in it, and held it in our hands. Aidyn and I made a tiny snowperson before our fingers froze off. We had a ball throwing snowballs at Grandma (playfully). The sound of a snowball thwumping against someone is the funniest sound ever! Aidyn ran and danced in the snow, rolled in it, and even made snow angels. Our fun in the snow had us all dreaming of renting a cabin there for an entire weekend.
After we warmed our bodies up with the hot chocolate I brought, we decided it was time to grab something to eat. We drove through the quaint town of Mi-Wuk Village and eyed a little place called Andy's Mountain Grill and Deli. Upon walking to the door, we were asked by a regular if we had ever eaten there before. "Best place on the mountain," he assured us. Immediately we noticed that they served 'Chaka Burgers' and promptly ordered some. Best burger ever.
Once we were ready to go home, Grandma suggested we go through Twain Harte, a town she had heard was beautiful and we had seen signs for. We took the turn-off and drove into Twain Harte, and it was, indeed, a beautiful, green, little town, like a hidden place of magic. Scenes like that continuously inspires us to live in Gold Country!
All in all, I am fortunate that Aidyn explored snow in such a hands-on way.
Earlier this week, we had took in some snow-related books that may have inspired Aidyn to do as much as he did in the snow. First we read a classic by Jack Ezra Keats entitled The Snowy Day. We then read White Snow, Blue Feather by Julie Downing, a sweet story about a young boy's exploration in the snow. Next Aidyn "read" The Snowman to me. Famously known as the story without words, The Snowman is a story of pictures, and Aidyn told me what was going on in each little picture, and it sounded like a sweet story in his personal interpretation. We also wove in our ABC's with Zooflakes ABC which is an alphabet book with pictures of zoo animals as snowflakes. We had fun identifying each animal, and Aidyn announced that the iguana was his favorite!
We have also been counting things as we come across them to practice number skills. Aidyn can successfully count items up to twelve and, if assisted, can go even further. So far it has been a fulfilling week!
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