The kind of experience that comes around once every 23 years

Well, we didn't make it to the ski slopes today. The roads were a bit treacherous, so we stayed home.

Remember what our back yard looked like a week ago? This is how it looked when we woke up yesterday:

I was so excited when I looked out the window! K and I gobbled down breakfast, then headed outside to play in the snow with Piper.

She's quite the snow bunny! What's funny is that she hates rain and will absolutely avoid going outside if it's raining. Snow, however? She loves it! K and I took turns taking video of her frolicking around in it. She's such a dork.

Obviously she's not frolicking here; she's sitting. The frolicking was on video, though, remember?

K and I made snow angels (mine's on the right),

and then K tried to help Piper make one.

(Turns out she sucks at them.)

We decided to venture out to see how things looked beyond our neighborhood. With K's SUV, we knew we would be OK in the snow, so off we went! The highways were covered in snow. Other than that, they were empty.

That exit sign really had writing on it. I just blurred it out so the stalkers can't find us. Not that it was our exit, and not that I have stalkers -- that I know of. You can never be too safe!

We headed to our favorite beach because I wanted to see what it looked like covered in snow. First, though, I'll share a couple pictures of how it looks not covered in snow.

I took these pictures Jan. 5. This is actually my favorite place in all of Virginia. It's a private beach on the post where K works. On nice days, we love to have lunch on this bench.

This is what "our" beach looked like yesterday:

The wind created a cool mix of sand and snow on the sidewalk.

When we got back home, I made us some snow ice cream. My friend Danielle mentioned that she had done that when OK got hit with a ridiculous blizzard at Christmastime. Evidently her family had always done that when it snowed enough. I thought I'd give it a shot.

I found a recipe online that involved a gallon of snow, 2 cups of milk (or more, if needed), a cup of sugar, and a tablespoon of vanilla.

The website had said that snow ice cream isn't about making creamy, gourmet ice cream; it's about the experience of making it. Still, I thought it was pretty dang good! For extra awesomeness, I added chocolate syrup to mine.

K, on the other hand, took one bite and made a face. He asked if I'd be offended if he didn't eat it. I guess I'll just have to hold my hopes of making that a fun tradition for another 15 years or so when we have kids. Oh, well ...

By the end of the day, we were surprised at the amount of snow that had fallen:

Since we're so close to the coast, it's rare for weather like this here. In fact, according to our local weatherman, snowfall like this hits every 23 years. It had been 21 years, so it was only a little early.

It makes me feel lucky we got to experience it! Definitely made for a pretty cool Saturday!