Easter holidays are upon us, so we packed up the kids and flew to England for a few days to see grandma and granddad. Barcelona before we left was a wonderfully spring-like 17C (63F). England when we arrived was an inappropriately winter-like 2C (36F). In fact, just as the plane touched down at Stansted Airport, a very light dusting of snow began to fall. Jan and I were in shock. The kids were ecstatic.
It continued to snow gently throughout the night. When we awoke the next morning it was still snowing but none had stuck to the ground. So it continued to snow. Sometime around lunch we noticed the ground outside getting whiter. And it continued to snow. Just before dinner, about 24 hours after we had landed in England, there was about an inch of delicate snow covering the Fens. The kids were in heaven.
We rushed out into the back yard and the kids and I inaugurated spring with an all-out snowball fight. It was their first snowball fight ever. They were mad with delight. Then I nailed them in the head with a snowball. They were still happy.
It wasn’t the first time they had seen snow. Both Emily and Sebastian have been skiing in the Pyrenees, but the snow was never right for packing. So this was monumental. A trip they will not forget for a long time.
And speaking of skiing, here’s a video from our last ski trip where Emily explains how Sebastian didn’t really enjoy his first ski lesson, demonstrates her understanding of ironic timing, and then skis off without a second thought.