NEWS FLASH!!!

IMPORTANT NEWS FLASH!!!!

THE VIRGINIA CATES ARE NOW BURIED IN ABOUT 3 1/2 " OF SNOW!

A HUGE STORM BLEW IN AND HAS DUMPED SNOW ALL OVER THE LANDSCAPE. IT'S A HUGE WINTER WONDERLAND!! SO FAR, THEY HAVE BUILT A SMALL NORMAL FORT THAT LOOKS AMAZING AND HAS MANY PLACES TO STAND, AND THERE IS EVEN A PLACE FOR SNOWBALLS! THE OTHER FORT WAS BUILT WITH THE LITTLE KIDS IN MIND, SO IT HAS TALL WALLS AND A ROOF BUILT OF BAMBOO POLES LAID ACROSS THE TOP TEPEE-FASHION. IN THE TIME THEY'VE PLAYED OUTSIDE SO FAR, IT HAS ALREADY COVERED THE AREAS THAT HAD BEEN STRIPPED OF SNOW WITH A THIN COVERING.

PICTURES TO FOLLOW:

YOU CAN SEE THE CLOSER FORT A LITTLE IN THIS PICTURE. IT'S COVERED BY BAMBOO POLES.

IT'S STILL SNOWING AND THE CAMERA LENS GOT WET.

YOUNG RESIDENT BRIAN CATE SAYS OF THE SNOW, "I THINK THAT IT'S BEEN REALLY FUN AND WE MADE A COOL SNOW FORT WITH BAMBOO FOR THE ROOF. I THINK IT'S REALLY COOL BECAUSE SNOW DOESN'T REALLY GET THROUGH, AND IT'S REALLY WARM."

MIRIAM, HIS YOUNGER SISTER SAYS, "THE SNOW FORT'S REALLY COOL AND I LIKE HOW IT LOOKS. RACHEL AND LAURA'S LOOKS REALLY COOL TOO. AND I WISH WE HAD MORE COOL FEATURES THAT WOULD MAKE IT EVEN MORE FUN TO PLAY IN."

SAYS RESIDENT RACHEL CATE,"OUT THERE IT IS SERIOUSLY COOL. THE SCARIEST PART ABOUT IT IS THAT IT ALL JUST CAME ON US. WE WALK INTO CHURCH AND THERE'S NO SNOW ON THE GROUND. NOTHING. WE WALK OUT, ONE HOUR LATER, AND THERE'S ABOUT 1 1/2 INCHES ON THE GROUND. AND IT ONLY INCREASED. INSANELY."

RESIDENT LAURA CATE ALSO AGREES, BUT ADDS, "WE MADE A MAGNIFICENT FORTRESS THAT KEPT EVERYONE WARM. IT'S BEEN SNOWING ALL DAY. ALL DAY! I EVEN HAD SNOW ON THE TOP OF MY BUN! RACHEL WAS LAUGHING, SO I ASKED HER WHAT IT WAS, AND SHE SHOWED ME A MIRROR."

DEREK CATE, MAIN BUILDER OF THE SNOW FORT IN THE PICTURE, SAYS, "LOTS OF FUN. WET, BUT FUN."

Yeah, we got a lot of snow and we're having lots of fun. Good thing tomorrow's a Teacher-Work Day(School'll probably be all-out canceled because the roads are covered). Sorry I couldn't get a picture of Rachel and Laura's fort (it was WAY too far for me to walk to in my bare feet. I just stood on the deck for the other pictures.) But I'll get a picture tomorrow in the morning. They're predicting that it'll melt tomorrow, but they also predicted we'd get 2-4 inches, and we have 3 1/2 or 4 (Mom says we have 5) and it's supposed to snow until 10 tonight.

-Becca