El Snowman de Dulce

We made our first snowman last week. Not having much snow in the valley the last several years here in Boise I enjoy any chance to play in the white stuff in my own backyard.

There wasn't much snow on this day so we had to shovel the snow into piles and then 'carve' the piles into snowballs. We also didn't have an coal, corn cob pipe or top had so we had to settle for some old hard candies from the candy dish, a pixie stick for a pipe and a marshmallow mowhawk. I think it turned out pretty well actually...

Pixie Stix pipe

Snowman building fuel

Winter Aglow

If you're in the Boise area and you haven't done so already you should check out the Winter Garden Aglow down at the Idaho Botanical Gardens off of Warm Springs Ave. It's become somewhat of a tradition for la Familia Hanson. Even when the boys where young they loved seeing the lights and taking the climb to the top of the the small hill over looking the city. If you children are really small I'd recommend bringing the backpack carrier as opposed to a stroller. It's easier to navigate some of the trails with a backpack and the kid will probably stay warmer too.

They even offer free apple cider or hot chocolate and depending on the night there's a good chance you'll catch some local musicians playing Christmas carols or even Santa Claus himself (which although la Familia Hanson doesn't believe in Santa it's still pretty cool because the guy in the red suite hands out free candy canes!). All around it's a good time.

The candy cane guy