Last week, the snow storm brought a little extra work and a lot of fun family activities. I realize as I get older, I view snow in a different way than I did when I was younger. Nowadays, a snow storm brings more work.

Thankfully, I have a child that makes me appreciate the joy that snow brings. When it starts snowing, our daughter watches with excitement and anticipation of fun outdoor activities.

When our daughter sees snow, she wants to be out in it. I love that about her. She loves to walk through the snow to see how deep it is. She explores to see if we can find animal tracks in the snow. This quickly turns into her trying to catch the snow as it falls.

Our daughter sees the snow as a wonderful opportunity to play. Last week, she started off making snow angels. This was often interrupted by the dog and turkeys walking up to her to see what she was doing.

After she perfected the art of making snow angels, she wanted to have a snowball fight with me. Her idea of a snowball fight is her throwing snowballs at me. I tried to point out to her that it is not really a snowball fight unless I through snowballs at her. Somehow, I lost that argument and I ended up just being her human snowball target.

Next, she wanted to sled down our hill. Now when I was her age, I spent many hours sledding down our hill with my brother and sister and neighborhood friends. Back then, the hill was somehow more like a mountain. We would fly down the mountainside at a great speed. Several times I think I came close to breaking the sound barrier. Back then, it would take great effort to climb back up the mountain with my sled.

In the last 40-plus years, that same mountain has turned into a small hill for me. But to our daughter, it is still a great mountain that she flies down with her sled and complains about the long walk back up. While I cannot explain how that mountain has turned into a small hill, I love that our daughter shares the joy I once had sledding down it.

After sledding and making more snow angels, we went to our playground. She enjoyed going down the slide that was covered in ice and snow and playing on her snow-covered swings. Next, she had to make more snow angels.

We did this routine several times a day, and she loved each and every moment. At the end of our last day with snow, we watched and laughed at our dog and turkeys “playing” together in the snow. “Playing” is how I think our dog sees it. Warfare is how I think the turkeys see it. But, they do this every day.

While “playing,” the dog runs at the turkeys, the turkeys make a loud gobble, gobble, gobble sound and jump and run at the dog. This usually goes on for five to 10 minutes. But watching them “play” in the snow was great entertainment for our daughter. The dog’s nose was covered in snow and both the dog and the turkeys were making the snow fly all over the place. I think we all had a good time, but the turkeys may see things differently.

I am thankful to be able to watch our daughter enjoy time outside playing in the snow. I am grateful to be reminded that while snow may bring additional work, it is also a great opportunity to have fun and be reminded of the fun many of us had when we were younger.

Randall D. Fuller is judge of the Domestic Relations Division of the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas. Judge Fuller is a life-long resident of Delaware County.