On Sunday, Feb. 13th, Gosia and I went sledding, or tried to, on the hill behind the house. We then decided to drop that idea and try to make an igloo. While building, we noticed these kids gradually get closer to where we were working. We didn't think much of them, and as the wind started to blow and the snow began to fall, Gosia and I decided it was time to go in and warm up. We first took a few moments to enjoy the quiet protection of the roof-less igloo that we managed to build. Then, all of a sudden, we heard a noise against the wall of the igloo...the boys we had noticed earlier had the nerve to throw snow balls at us! Well, we weren't going to let them get away with that, so we started throwing snowballs back at 'em. The only problem was, they were on a hill above us, and we were below with only the measly protection of our ice walls and the wind and snow in our faces. We had a tough time managing to get a snowball on target. So, I decided I would move up the hill and try to scare them down the hill. Well, that worked and we basically switched places and they were now in our igloo and we were above them with a much better advantage. We were able to throw big bunches of snow that landed right on target with the help of the wind. It was great fun, and Gosia and I managed to stay quite dry, yet the poor kids were covered with snow. We finally decided to "wave the white flag" and the two boys and us started talking. They were very interested in where we were from and one spoke quite good English. They thanked us for the fight as Gosia and I headed home, and then I decided to ask them in for hot chocolate. They gladly accepted, so the two boys, Mathias and Stefan, ages 11 and 10, joined Gosia and I for hot chocolate and chocolate cookies. It was quite fun and they were very polite, friendly boys! Here they are taking a few runs down the backyard slopes after enjoying hot chocolate!