Snow Memories

My girls and I went Christmas shopping this past weekend. Being alone with them in the car opened up some interesting conversations to say the least but somehow we started talking about snow forts. I suddenly got really excited to tell them about the incredible snow forts that my dad provided every year after a big snow storm. Wow! I had nearly forgotten how much fun and how many hours my sister and I would dedicate to these ice castles!

After a big snow, dad would take the tractor with the skid loader on it and create two gynormous mounds of snow; one to the south and another to the north. My sister and I would lay claim to one of them and commence the creation of the most awesome fortress' imaginable (or at least in our minds). It was always a contest to see which one of us could be the most innovative.

I remember building steps up the front and hollowing out the center to create a wall to dodge snowballs from the "enemy." It was also a necessity to have an exit in case of emergency which was usually a slide down the back for a quick escape. We use to spend hours out there playing and being ornery. We would plot sneak attacks and bomb each other with a barrage of snowballs that we would stock pile. Eventually we would lose feeling in our toes and hands and have to go inside to thaw out with hot cocoa.

I know lots of kids build snow forts and what we did wasn't rocket science by any means. It was just something special that our dad did for us every year without saying a word.