We’ve had multiple days of snow over the past week or two, but we’re not letting the white stuff keep us down by any means. On Saturday night, Nate and Lexi invited us over to celebrate their son Gabriel’s second birthday. Nate grilled up some hot dogs and some steak butchered from a family member’s cow, which was quite delicious. We had some Orange Cat Cake (designed by Donna, naturally), and Gabe opened up a handful of presents.

Our combined herd of kids had fun playing throughout the evening as I caught up on some classic Mega Man 3 with Nate, reminiscing about how awesome (and difficult) some old school games could be. I’d let my kids experience some of that on Sunday when dad and Uncle Jonny dropped by to watch them play Donkey Kong Jr. for the first time ever.

It was a balmy 41 degrees on Tuesday, so we decided to take the kids down to Memorial Park for some sledding. Much of the snow had already melted, but the park had several hills facing different directions, so there was still plenty left for a few good hours of fun. We usually only come to Memorial Park for the Fourth of July concerts, so it was different to see the place covered in snow (instead of people) and the trees bare enough to give us a view of some lovely Happy Hollow homes. We had a few good hours of sled time before heading home for some shrimp po’ boys and red beans and rice for mardi gras.

The next day was both Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day. I got up early enough to make a heart-shaped breakfast for everyone before heading off to work. Then during lunch, I met up with Vivian and the kids at Five Guys with a vase of roses in hand for a little Valentine’s Day lunch. That dinner that night, I brought home some beef pho and banh mi from the local Vietnamese Asian Restaurant for dinner along with a few special treats for the kids. Hannah also made some adorable little “cards” for mommy and me, completely unprompted, which was wonderfully sweet. We finished off the day with a giant “cookie” Vivian baked for me, which we ate while watching When We First Met, a romantic comedy on Netflix that was much better than the reviews would lead you to believe.

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone, and welcome to the season of Lent! Now let’s get our fish fry on before April First rolls around.