To Get to the Snow:

1) Inventory your snow clothing supply

2) Make a list of needed items on your iPhone, because it's so cool to type on that cute little yellow "paper"

3) Try to ignore all the whining: "I don't WANT to wear snow pants!"; "I don't WANT to go to the snow!"; "I don't LIKE those boots!"; "I'm hungry!"; "When are we leaving?"

4) Be thankful your neighbors went to the snow two days ago and give you hot tips on location for sledding along with clothes the kids can borrow

5) Go to Goodwill to get bargains on needed items (no luck)

6) Go to Target to get bargains on needed items (no luck... however, while searching for gloves, I discovered they now sell "keypad sensitive" gloves. Just in case the weather dips below forty degrees and I need to text people. Do they sell tiny cute sweaters for the iPhone as well?)

7) Go to Big 5 and spend a freaking fortune on needed items for probably two short hours of snow fun

8) Scold self for not attempting to borrow needed items much sooner than right before the trip

9) Check local paper for possible part-time job to help pay for items purchased at Big 5

10) Drive to Mount Charleston

11) Begin twitching when the road block comes into view along with the "Chains Required" sign

12) Brainstorm alternate activities that will compensate for not making it to the snow

13) Call NHP to see if other, further canyon is also road blocked - it isn't

14) Head up the road to other, further canyon. Everyone has to pee.

15) Observe blizzard, and snow rapidly piling up on roadway

16) Find campground. Stop. Pee (flushing toilets! praise Jesus!). Pay fee to stay in campground area where there is a snow play section. Total cost of this precious family outing has now risen sky-high.

Time to sled. Make snow angels. Climb in and out of a snow tunnel. Eat clean snow. Listen to the sound of rapidly falling snow hitting our hooded heads. Try to make snowmen but it's too powdery. Wonder why family fun has to be so darn difficult. While lying in the snow making a snow angel, look up at the sky and notice a small patch of blue between all the falling flakes and relish that moment of peace and beauty and the oh-so-brief realization that it was worth the monumental effort to get here. They'll remember we took them and I'll remember that single second when I wasn't worried they would break bones on the sled, crashing into a tree, or get frostbite, or ever stop whining.

Afterward, drive down the mountain. Snow ceases below five-thousand feet. Re-entering the city, we saw a rainbow.