Squeals of adolescent cheering echo throughout the house. My brother and I simultaneously yell: SNOW DAY! For a five year old and an eight year old this was a dream come true. Hustling as fast as humanly possible, my brother suit up as if we are getting ready to play in an NFL game. We have everything: boots, jacket, hat, you name it, we got it. The blunt noise of rubber soled boots sounds on the main floor of our town home. The scraping of metal shovels on the driveway resonates throughout the cul-de-sac. We work as fast as we can to make the best snow fort possible. As my friends Danny, Zach and Derek waddle over in their layers of winter gear from their houses, the many hands make light work and our snow fort is finished before noon. We sat in that snow fort till we were numb.

Snow day round 2: As the bottom line of the news scrolls across, my brother and I wait in anticipation to see if the snow day we coveted so much was here. As the T’s go by our hearts beat faster and faster. This is it. W’s are next. Wabasha: cancelled, Waconia: cancelled Watertown: cancelled, Wayzata: cancelled. We scream to our hearts content. Our mom rushes in to ask what was going on. We turn and yell: Snow Day! We rush to get all of our snow gear on because we know exactly where we were going. Hamel Hill. The biggest and fastest sledding hill in the Midwest. After we pull in to the parking lot we look up at the hill as it towers over us like Shaq over a midget. We swallow in regret and begin our trek up the hill knowing this could be our last ride.

Ding. My friends and I have made it. We arrived at Perkins after a long ride through the snowy terrain that one experiences during a Wayzata snow day. We walk in and sit down at a booth. The clock read 9:14. Our stomachs growled as we placed our orders. About 12 minutes passed and our table was filled. Blueberry Belgian waffles for me, pancakes with bacon for Zach, an omelet with biscuits and gravy and sausage for Chris, and the same for Jon. The mesmerizing aroma of this feast we were about to indulge in was almost too overwhelming. I shoveled down the blueberry Belgian waffle like a wood chipper chips wood. It only took four minutes to eat but those were arguably some of the best four minutes of my life. As everybody finished, I sat there with a smile on my face and a stomach full of waffle.