LEXINGTON, Ky. – Below freezing temperatures mixed with a late season snowfall in parts of Kentucky didn’t stop families in Lexington from taking advantage of sledding.
As winter comes to a close in just a week, today’s snowfall might be the last chance that families like the Riggs family are able to enjoy sledding on that white stuff we call snow. No matter the age, sledding is enjoyable, even when temperatures are below freezing.
McKayla Riggs, her husband Darren, son Jack and cousin Lindsey Thacker all took advantage of the hill on Richmond Road at the intersection of Shriners Lane in Lexington.
“Here we go baby," said McKayla Riggs.
Riggs knows the best strategy to sledding is keeping your feet inside the sled. At the bottom of the hill is her three year old son Jack, cheering her on and throwing snowballs for maximum snow day enjoyment.
“When he went to bed last night that’s what he said. He said he could not wait to do it [throw snowballs] more than anything else. He said he wanted to throw snowballs at Dad and we had to be sneaky and not tell him,” said Riggs.
It wasn’t too long before McKayla’s husband Darren caught on to what his son Jack was doing, then the snowball fight began.
The Riggs family is actually from Tennessee, but they’ve been in Lexington for three years due to McKayla's job with the United States military.
Sledding for the Riggs family was a no-brainer, and this was their first time of the season doing so after not having luck finding a sled.
“We tried to sled earlier in the year but we didn’t have the sleds because we waited too long to buy them and they kept being sold out. Once people got them in, it didn’t snow for a long time and then today was a surprise,” she said.
The day was a nice surprise for everyone in Kentucky as it is just a week until the first day of spring. Riggs says having a strategy is important for safety.
“I like to keep the feet inside so you don’t roll off and you don’t accidentally kick the person who’s throwing snowballs right at you,” she said.
Riggs says her family will be stationed at Patterson Air Force Base after finishing her gynecologic oncology fellowship at the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center.