Snow and Forts and Dragons, Oh My!

We gathered at my grandparents' home today to celebrate Eli and Sophie's 17th birthday. Grandma e-mailed ahead of time to have the kids bring outdoor clothes because Grandpa had a surprise for them. I thought maybe it was new kittens or some other farm animal. We spent the drive down guessing what it might be.
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I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story! Captions are beneath pictures.Family relaxes in the living room after lunch. Grandpa and Jeremy visit. A SNOW FORT was the surprise! Grandpa hollowed out a pile of snow and the kids could go in and out. There were paths to run around on the lawn and the patio. Temperatures were excellent (40+ degrees) so it was good weather to play outside. Morgan peeks out of the North Pole. Madeleine stands beside the Pole. Isaiah greets TJ and Lady. Isaiah Morgan and Maddie go to visit the horses. The horses stopped eating their hay to come to the fence. They're accustomed to seeing the kids with corn or some other offering ... or they might just like the kids. Scene at the barn Isaiah Proof that there is indeed grass in Nebraska Noah climbs a snow hill. He's king of the mountain! Madeleine looks a little like a vampire with those two front teeth not quite grown in. It's cute. Here's Baby and me with a month to go. Morgan was fascinated with this drop of sap that had frozen on the tree outdoors. Noah, Maddie, and Morgan run around in the trees. Ross (neighbor) crawls in the North Pole. Jake, Eli, Leighton, Dad, and Grandpa look at Jake's pictures. Jake just returned from a two week vacation to England, his first airplane trip and his first trip overseas. Jeremy played outside for a couple hours (maybe more) with the kids. They built a fort around the North Pole complete with snowballs and a stockade from which to throw them. They also constructed a snow dragon to battle. The North Pole and fort are on the right, the dragon is on the left. I turned the brightness down so that detail could be seen. My grandparents work in the kitchen. My grandpa made this kitchen for my Grandma after he retired. Jake tells stories about England to Eli and Dad. Eli tickles Maddie. Brie takes pictures of the Snow Dragon. This is Jeremy's healm, complete with snowballs. The fog has just begun to roll in. Morgan made the smiley face. Grandpa brought red food coloring out for the dragon's eyes and mouth. Pinecones make its teeth, and it's got leaves for plates on its spine and pine needles for spikes around its head. Fog rolled in later in the afternoon and made for some very pretty scenery. Visibility was less than a mile and being outdoors was almost magical. It has been foggy like this here in Nebraska all week!