We woke up this morning to our first snowfall in Vienna of any real significance.  By the time Benjamin got up, there was more than a dusting on the rooftops, and our terrace, which is pretty sheltered, but not enclosed, almost had a covering.  Our rosemary, basil and cilantro plants (or rather, the pots the plants lived in when it was summer) had about an inch in each, as did the table where they sit.

Benjamin was thrilled.  He wanted to make a snowman.  So, after he was dressed for school, boots and all, he and I went out onto the terrace to make a (very small) snowman on our table.  He insisted we give it a “beak” (nose) and arms (we used dried basil and rosemary stalks), but he really wanted the eyes to be made of snow, so they were a bit hard to see.  Given what we had to work with, it was a pretty good snowman.  Liam and I cuddled up in the living room and Dan and Benjamin headed off to work and school.

The snow fell all morning, but the temperature was just at the freezing mark, where sometimes the snow accumulates on what it lands on, and sometimes it seems to turn to water and melt what’s there.  When Benjamin got home, he checked on our snowman, which had fallen over (I went out and fixed it) and he told me all about the snowman he had made at school.

At first, I thought he and Dan had made a snowman on the way home from school.  But, no, he and his classmates made the snowman while they played outside in the garden.  It was surprising to me that the kids went outside to play in the wet, cold, slippery snow — I don’t know whether that’s typical at home.  I’m very glad I bundled him up in his big coat, warmest hat and snow boots this morning, but I’m even more glad that they did go outside to play in the snow.  What a great, fun opportunity to take — to go out and frolic in the snow when you’re 3 years old, with your 3 and 4 year old friends, and to build a big snowman, all together.

I was a little sad, this morning, that I didn’t get to keep B home today to have a snow day.  I was really hoping that his friends at school, and his teachers, would be as excited that it was snowing as he was.  It sounds like they were.  And I’m so glad I didn’t keep him home with Liam and I today (we didn’t do anything exciting) — I wouldn’t have wanted him to miss his chance to play in the snow with his friends, and build a big snowman, with a carrot for a nose and everything.