The weather on Facebook will be decidedly chilly

It's finally here. The snow. I've felt like I've been on tenterhooks since November just waiting for the snow and the massive dip in temperature. There's been snow apparently everywhere. It's sparked monumental amounts of weather-moaning on Facebook. German-English relations have become a little tense with the Brits moaning about how cold it is; how they can't face another cold day at the office; how they are just frozen to the bone, and their German-based friends scoff that it's practically summer in the UK where they are still enjoying temperatures in single figures. Not like us! With our -10's!! There are still tables and chairs set up outside the cafes! Don't you have 3 Euro IKEA fleece blankets in lime or red?

Yup. We have had a little bit of snow. A pitiful icing of the stuff. But we are going to "kick the arse out of it" as Stevie would say. We have the woolly knickers, the snowsuits, the nth pair of gloves next in line to be lost at school, and by god, we are going to get some wear out them if it kills us. Don't talk to me about sledges: if we get any more snow (enough that looks like it could last until March at least) we may consider upgrading to wood. God knows, it's far superior for sliding on this half-snow, half-grass that we're having to make do with.

I blame the big boys with the adapted skateboards for cutting up the 'piste'. They have been taking the wheels off, and screwing on lengths of metal tubing to make some approximation of a snowboard/giant ice skate. I would have thought it would have worked with out the piping, but they must know better. It's nice how the grown-ups who've been snowboarding are trying to pass on tips to help them. "You need to put your weight further back on the board. All on the back foot". Except it's a skateboard, there's nowhere further back for their weight to go. And... whoops! Flat on their backs they go, and all the parents get to snigger at the teenagers for a change (it's almost as if they planned their revenge!)

I've enjoyed the snow. I've had two days of sledging, but yesterday Stevie started talking about us going to the open air ice rink today. Last year was horrendous. There are no supports for the little kids to use which means that after an ice-skating break of at least 15 years, we need to attempt to remember how with the added complication of having to hold a small child upright between our legs. Talk about sweating (not to mention shattered) after 2 minutes. I am thinking of coming down with a mystery virus in about 10 minutes time once Stevie gets up out of bed...