Snow Day(s)

The kids were pretty psyched to learn that we'd be getting a for real snow storm about a week after moving in. They had survived their first week of a new school, and thankfully had been happy with it all. I was pretty worried about them after dropping them off for the first day. Fortunately, they came home with smiles on their faces and had already met lots of the neighborhood kids.

So, when we heard about snow coming, we did what anyone would do...last minute trek to Target for sleds. We had to be prepared. School was even cancelled before we went to bed on Monday night. We woke up Tuesday morning to crying kids..."there's no snow". Well, school was still cancelled. Sure enough, about 10am the snow came, and came, and came. The kids were itching to get outside. I held them off as long as possible. We needed enough to build up in order for sledding to be a possibility. There's this great hill directly behind our fence that all the neighborhood kids like to use.

After lunch, I gave in and we all bundled up. We went outside and the kids ran for the hill with their shiny new sleds. Remember, I am new to this neighborhood, and don't really know the landscape yet. The girls went down. Then Neil wanted to also. He went once, and had a blast. I watched him that first time from the bottom.

Then I decided to hike up the hill with them for the next round. I made it to the top just as Neil was plopping on the sled for a second run. Before I made it all the way up, he was headed down the hill. I didn't really think much of it, until I stopped to watch him go. My world stopped in that moment. I saw directly in his path a giant slab of concrete, that covers some kind of drain. I had no idea it was there. I didn't remember ever seeing it before.

I felt sick as I helplessly watched him spin around on the sled backwards, facing me, as he slammed head first into it. The sled went into that gap, so the only thing that stopped him was his head. As I ran down the hill to him, I thought for sure I would be calling 911. It was surreal. 

It was such a violent impact that I was sure I would be looking at major damage. I was trying not to freak my girls out as I quickly determined that he was alright enough to move him. I ran him inside and tried to get a better handle on his injury. He never blacked out, but he was very unsteady and couldn't maintain his balance. He would not sit or stand. There was no blood, but a goose egg was already forming. I think his fluffy hat, and coat hood are what ultimately saved him. I loaded everyone up and drove through the storm to the ER. After observation and a neuro check, we were able to go home. We didn't even end up needing a CT. Besides a giant lump on his head, he should be totally fine. 

That was by far the scariest moment of my life. It was all slow motion as it happened and I couldn't sleep or close my eyes without seeing it replay in my head over and over. I am so grateful that he's ok because seriously, it could have been so much worse. I am still trying to process it.

Here's a view of the lump before it got big. It was double that size at least.

So....that sorta ruined our snow day. The girls were able to go back out and play once we left the hospital, but Neil and I were done for the day. Fortunately, school was cancelled the next two days as well, so we had plenty of chances to go out and play.

I didn't want Neil to have a fear of snow or sleds, so I encouraged him to go out and play the next day. Eventually he agreed to go out. We started out with just playing and walking around. By the end, I got him onto a sled that I could pull around. He even enjoyed it, but he made sure to stay far away from the hill. Poor little guy. 

We ended up with about 6 inches of dry fluffy snow. We couldn't make snowmen out of it because it was just too powdery. The girls did get to try out a snowboard, and they did really well on it. I was impressed, although pretty nervous about it after Neil's experience. The last few days have been just downright cold here. Like 10 degrees, windchill -5 cold. I am so glad I bought this new fluffy coat for myself, and I think I have cured Neil of his hatred for coats. He now willingly puts it on. :) 

I love these kids more than anything. I'm so grateful for small miracles. Hopefully next week will be much more uneventful and boring.