The View From Minnesota

It's true what they say: it's cold in Minnesota. Lucky for us, over the 9 days we were there, it snowed about 10 inches, giving us a very white christmas.


With nowhere special to be but home, this winter wonderland was a delight- one that we enjoyed mostly from inside.

Snowy Day is one of Clio's current favorite books, and we did try out her new snow pants for a little backyard adventure.



She wasn't so into the snow itself, but thought the shovel was pretty cool. She also spotted the swing we mounted under the deck for her birthday party, and as an equal-opportunity swinger, thought it would be a good idea to check it out in spite of the snow and ice in the seat. (I guess that's what snow pants are for, huh?)

Of course, what comes with snow and cold but the occasional runny nose? We're not actually sure if the weather or teething is to blame, but during our first few days, Clio's nose and cheeks got so raw, I had to slather them with vaseline on a regular basis. Clio actually thought this was great, and would point to her nose and say "nose," which usually just means that she is identifying a body part, but somehow she created new intonation to mean "I need cream on my nose, please." The only bad side-effect? Her hair kept getting stuck to her face, so we had to try pigtails, which she hated, but I kind of loved.


(more on the resulting haircut, later.)

Luckily, she got two fabulous hats for Christmas, a cool bear hat that Uncle Derek picked up in Japan (he liked that wearing it backwards created "two people" - except, of course, that one of them is a bear)

and a gorgeous hand-knit vision in orange from great-aunt Molly, which Clio repeatedly took on and off for the next two days.


Due to technical difficulties, it has now taken 3 days to actually load all of these photos. I just re-read this post and discovered that it is pretty boring. I'm rusty, I guess. But it was great to hear from several of you that you have missed reading Clio Confidential on my little hiatus. Once I sort through the 400 pictures from our trip (that's right, 400 pictures in 9 days), I should be able to put together a few of the better stories. Bear with me!