Snowy Memories and a Close Second

When I was a girl growing up in Ohio,

I hardly remember a winter when we didn't have plenty of snow.

Our home was close to a small lake and ice skating...well...let me re-phrase that...

...trying to ice skate with my brothers and sisters was the high point of my winters.
~
I thought I had some old photos of us kids down at the lake skating
but one of the other siblings must have them in their collection. 

 All I found was this old photo of me and my sis, Barb, all bundled up...

...we even took a selfie...lol!

And why was I hugging a tree?? Really?
~
We would gather up all of the other neighborhood kids and have a blast.

Have you ever played a game called Fox & Geese?

It's where you make a huge circle in the snow with your footprints,

then with more prints, dividing the circle into quarters like pie.

The center point, is where "home" is.

Whoever is "it" chases the others around the circle,

 with everyone having to stay in the tracks until they reach the center safe zone.

Whoever either falls down or runs outside of the tracks is tagged...

...and then they become "it".

The deeper the snow, the harder is it...and the more fun!

~
Of all the fun snowy memories, making snow cream was one of the best.
I will never forget the excitement to see a fresh, untainted blanket of snow,
knowing that my dad or one of my brothers would don their coats, gloves and boots...
...along with a big bowl and scoop and fill it up with that lovely white stuff.
Mom took over after that, adding just the right amount of cream, sugar and vanilla,
and sometimes cocoa powder when one of us asked for chocolate.

Last February, we actually got enough snow for me to make a batch.
Here is a photo of some I made last year, right before Valentine's Day...
You can read all about it here.
~
It seems we get most of our snow around the middle of February...
...that is if we get any worth mentioning.
I do realize many of you have no trouble getting more than enough every year :)

 ~

This past Christmas while visiting Adam and his family in Tennessee,
my DIL found store-bought snow cream at Kroger, made by Purity Dairies in Nashville.
I was pretty excited but then quickly realized we wouldn't be able to get it in our area.
~
So, a few days ago, I needed a few groceries and stopped at Lowe's Foods.
I usually don't shop there but it is right across the street from where I work.
On a whim, I went to take a peek in the ice cream section.

Looky, looky, looky!
Thank you, Mayfield Dairies!
It may not be quite as good as the real thing...

...but it's a close second!

Now...if we'd just get some snow....