Well, we made it to spring...not that you would really know that by being here in MN.
Here are a few fun facts for you about this MN winter we just survived:
50: total days with lows below zero
17: consecutive days of subzero lows
21: days with lows below zero in an average year
May 3: Last snow of last winter
Nov. 3: First snow of this winter
6: More weeks of snow than usual
9,361: Minneapolis cars towed for snow-related violations
23: days with wind chill warnings
-25: temperature at which wind chill warnings are issued
6: weather-related school closings in Minneapolis and Rochester
7: closings in Duluth
700: frozen home water pipes in St. Paul’s Regional Water System
159,463: heating failure service calls to CenterPoint Energy
225: frostbite cases at HCMC (Jan. and Feb. 2014)
95.7: percent of Lake Superior iced over
61: inches of total snowfall as of March 19
24: inches of snow at its greatest depth, Feb. 21
The funny thing is, spring could be two more months of these above facts...
Health-wise, we actually had a great winter! The only illness we dealt with was one bout of croup for each kid, and one run-through with that nasty 24-hour stomach virus around Christmas. I was especially thankful to not deal with any coughs/head colds while pregnant (which, granted, certainly can still happen...5+ weeks to go here...), because man those are miserable when pregnant.
Sadly, Jonas, Finn and I felt not-so-hot this first day of spring. Jonas and I felt lethargic, with sore throats--the lethargy for me is hard to distinguish from regular pregnancy exhausting, but the sore throat was certainly clear. Finn also felt sick--he was pretty cranky and emotional, and took at 2.5 hour nap in the middle of the day, which he NEVER does unless he is sick. He seems much better today, though, so that's nice. I don't think any of us are near death's bed for sure, but we certainly don't feel like our normal selves either. Layla seems totally fine so far, so fingers crossed for her. (This "illness" we're all dealing with actually isn't very surprising to me, coming back from staying in a hotel and swimming in chemical-and-pee-infested waters so much...gross, huh? The things we do for fun in the frozen tundra!!)
So, maybe by May it will actually FEEL like spring, but I guess for now we just have to trust that it is!
