Snowpocalypse 2016 was definitely one for the record books. About a week out we knew there was a nor'easter headed our way, but the snowfall predictions ranged from 3-12 inches. It was all feeling a bit like deja vu and the "Storm of the Century" they predicted last January. But since I had planned a karaoke evening out with my friends on the 23rd to ring in my birthday and the new year (feeling better now), I was watching this storm's progress with some unease. I wanted to embrace the idea of a snowy night out in the city, but little by little the forecast intensified. And then Friday night I found out Nacho wouldn't be returning home for the weekend. His flight back was cancelled and they were saying Sunday morning at the earliest. I wanted to scream. Maybe I did. That basically put the nail in my coffin, and though I tried in vain to get a sitter, I knew it wasn't going to work. The tide had turned so I pulled the plug on the girls night out. I put the girls to bed around 9 p.m. and was heading that way myself an hour later. I was beat.
By 5:30 a.m. on Saturday I woke to see a light dusting of snow starting to fall and then fell back asleep. A few hours later the girls got up and it was starting to look like a real snow storm. The winds were blowing but nothing like they did later. The real heaviest part of the storm wouldn't arrive for a good 4 hours more, but still it felt like a beautiful dream for those first few hours. I invited our neighbor kids to stop by and that helped the girls not fight so much with each other. If we were going to survive this day snowbound at home, we were going to need some diversions. We watched lots of TV and played dolls and dressed up. It was a day of anything goes. By afternoon, I thought it might be time to get outside and see the snow from ground level which proved challenging. The winds were really whipping and the snow came at us horizontally for much of our 10 minute walk. I originally thought to walk over to P.S. 150's playground, but we couldn't make it off our block. It was pretty miserable with the wet snow hitting our faces. The girls' cheeks lit up bright red and after a few times of jumping waist deep in snow drifts I pulled them back inside. Then it was time to trade off and let them hang out at Skylar's place for a bit. I enjoyed the quiet and made chocolate chip cookies to deliver to friends in the building. The day was winding down and it couldn't come soon enough.
When I heard that the elevated trains (including the 7) were shutting down by 4 p.m., I knew that karaoke night never would have happened anyway. That was some consolation. Seeing a bunch of friends get out for a night cap despite the weather didn't help, but I can't blame them. If Nacho had been home, I would have been right there. Oh well. The next day promised to be mild and I knew we'd get our chance to get out and enjoy the snow. That should cheer me up. We woke up and had a nice pancake breakfast before we hiked all the way to Doughboy Park up the hill in Woodside. Seeing lots of friendly faces out and about was wonderful, and the hill was just as packed as I expected. But still...wow. It was a busy place and no space was sacred. Pepa got nailed from some kids sledding right into her and lots of little ones seemed to have no clue how to navigate or slow down. God that makes me nervous. The girls really hung in there and we made a few good sled runs before calling it quits (and almost breaking Carolina's ankle by hitting the iron fence). We took our energy over to Sunnyside Gardens Park where the kids could play in the snow without me fearing major injuries. Carmen and I ordered some pizza for the kids and then realized that maybe it was getting a bit too cold to eat outside. So over to the Gardens we went looking for shelter, and we found some at Amanda's even if we weren't part of the snow crew already in progress. The kids ate and gathered their energy for the long walk home. Making it back in one piece with two relatively happy girls was a victory. Seeing Nacho arrive by 11:00 p.m. was also a welcome relief. The 2nd biggest snow storm in NYC history wasn't so bad after all, even if it did bring an incredible 28+ inches of snow. In fact, I might be ready to do it again before spring.
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