All this reading and singing about the holidays has been a bit confusing for my 3-year-old.

Christmas in Vegas means lights on palm trees. There is no snow. We have no chimney.

My mother was reading a book to my daughter when she saw a little girl wearing mittens.

"What are those?" my daughter asked, pointing to the mittens.

I think she had a pair as a baby, but it just doesn't get that cold here and when it does get chilly, we're really not outside.

I bought her a pair of pink mittens and brought them home.

She was thrilled.

"Can I put them on right now?"

Sure. Knock yourself out.

She wiggled her fingers into them and proudly wore them around the house. She doesn't know they are to be worn outside when it's cold. To her, they are a novelty.

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Then she heard all the talk about Santa coming down the chimney.

We don't have a chimney. Our fireplace is really just for decorative purposes and can be turned on with a flick of a switch. No chestnuts will be roasted on this fire.

I eliminate talk of chimney Santas and stick to the basics.

I grew up in the Midwest, where we always had snow and ice. Now I realize my children will never know how cool snow days are. Seasons are almost nonexistent here. What is fall? What is winter? It's really about the same.

She wanted to know why the leaves were on the ground. We explained fall, but where were the other signs of it?

One day we drove further up, closer to the desert mountains, and I started seeing patches of white on the ground. I couldn't figure it out. She could tell I was puzzled, so she was too.

"What IS it?" she asked.

"Is it trash? A whole bunch of trash?"

I pulled over and we got out of the car to investigate.

Could it be? No!

Snow?

It turned out to be hail gathered in clusters from the storm the night before. Exciting nonetheless.

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My husband took her on a trip to Colorado to visit her Grandmother and she actually saw snow for the first time that she can remember. She was unsure of what to call it, so it is now referred to as "snowgrass."

Then I heard that the pavilion up the street would be the site of "Winter Fest" this year. And there would be a snow play area for kids!

In Vegas!

We loaded up and headed for the snow.

It really was very sad. There were two tiny areas marked off by hay bales, one for kids under 5 and one for older kids. Families waited in long lines so their kids could play in the fake snow, which was really crushed ice that the organizers kept having to break up with large sticks.

This was crazy.

Kids were going nuts. My toddler got hit in the head with a snowball. Finally, the organizers limited the play area to 15 kids at a time.

My daughter wanted to go in again, so we got in line.

No need for a sled. No need for a hat and maybe not even gloves. Jackets were few.

The temperature? 67 degrees.

We made it up to the front and she got in to play.

"Look Mommy!" she said, holding a bit of ice up to my face.

Snowballs flew, kids slipped and fell. The mood was so gleeful it was as if these kids had never seen snow.

Oh I forgot. Most of them probably hadn't.

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asap columnist Angie Wagner is an AP national writer.

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