The Fifty-Eighth Day of Winter

I did it! I found a winning combination for biking in 19 degrees! (and sunny. Never underestimate the power of sun.)

Of course I have to wear enough layers that you can't tell I've lost twenty-five pounds in the last three months (okay, some of that was a nine and a half pound baby).

But still! I felt very successful as I comfortably biked around the lake polka-dotted by ice fishing parties.

I felt so successful even, that we deemed it a perfect day to take the kids to the zoo. And we were so excited to be out in the sunshine on a glorious family Saturday, that we took a small detour to take a group selfie on the frozen lake across from the zoo.

We were doing just fine, too, until the wind picked up and our exposed skin began to ache with the inconvenience of existence.

So we hightailed it as quickly as we could across the parking lot and into the heated South American exhibit. I've always thought South America was a fabulous place to defrost. And while we visited with the stingrays, piranhas, and macaws screeching loud enough to cause SmilesBabyGirl to burst into tears, we enjoyed the sensation of having ears and cheeks and noses.

And then before we hurried back to our heated car, we just had to stop and say hello to the polar bear because it seemed fitting.

We were in good company in our decision to enjoy the glorious sunshine today. Everywhere we went, there were people ice fishing, ice skating, ice hockeying, ice sailing, ice wind gliding, etc., etc., etc.

Oh, another ice-related activity of choice today: washing the salt-grime off cars. The line at the carwash stretched around the parking lot and backed up traffic on the street. Today is a good day to be in the carwash business, but a bad day to be washing cars.