Snow Day

Seriously.  This created a remote learning snow day off of school. 

They don't go to school; how can there be a snow day.

 

While We Wait for Spring

Alida Skis

And Ben Skis Too!

Skiing to the Beach in March

Mid March was (sigh) still perfect weather for skiing in Wisconsin.

 

And the lifts were open, so off we went.

Nicholas may have first tried to put on a pair of skis that belonged to a man with a thick Russian accent, who was not a gentle soul. But Nick wound up finding the correct pair. We have a way with the other skiers of different ethnicities.  We've taken to packing our own lunches after getting into a bit of a row with a gentleman over open seats in the cafeteria last time we were there.

And, my crew was off. 

 

And, first time ever that we've found a single hotel room that had enough beds for all of us, never mind that Patric and I wound up in the bunk beds in the loft after reaching bedtime before the children.

 

 

 

More on the beach in a little bit. 

So Cold

When you can write in the frost on the inside of the windows, you know it is a little cold.

Never give up though.  You can still practice your volleyball skills after you put on your snow pants and boots.

I Hear It Was Cold

Recently, I was fortunate enough to be here,

when the forecast at home was to be ridiculously cold.

 

And I may have been doing this, when the heater failed at home.

 

I definitely wasn't there when the pipes burst and flooded the main floor.

 

I may have been sitting on my balcony watching the sunrise where I was.

Sledding

The good thing about the North, they just cordon off places and accept that the kids are going to wreck the place during the winter.

 

Ben wasn't happy that I told him to just wear my snow pants when his from last year wouldn't fit any more.  But I'll be he didn't mind when his super long legs didn't get snow on them.

 

It's a little more formal than our backyard, homegrown launching pad, but not much.

When Life Gives You Snow

Make a snow hill of your own for sledding.

 

Then double up the fun.

 

Flashback Friday

February 2015

Tank tops and T shirts around the fire in Alabama.

 

Wetumpka was hit by a freak January tornado last Saturday, and they are all in our prayers.  The church across the street from ours was destroyed during the event, and we know the people of that town will pull together and get through it.

 

Ben's opinion: Maybe God just wanted more of those people to go to our church.

 

Not quite the same sort of situation during a Chicago February in early 2019.

Rumor has it, we're headed back to a less snowy climate in 2019, and we're pretty excited.

Not Groundhog Day Yet

But it has felt like it.

After treating three with a bad cold, it got me.

And so I earned a few days on the couch with some favorite movies.

 

Not one power outage, but three successive ones over our recent cold snap.

Wherein we figured out that we could use our hotspot to make internet and stream a movie.

And a fire would keep us warm.

 

And our November snow, which was pretty absent during December returned.  On the first of four days that I woke up not feeling worse than when I went to bed, I finally got out of the house in this.

After a Week of Thanksgiving Vacation, a Snow Day

Because we hadn't had enough snow up to the day of leaving for Thanksgiving, the Monday after we were dumped on.

 

But the girls took advantage of the snow day to make me a birthday treat!

Fireplace Season

Before the furnace was serviced recently, it was having a bit of a hard time keeping up with our snowy mornings and cold evenings.  So we tested out the fireplace, which radiated more warmth than we were expecting. Cozy.

Or, a little too warm, if you are Alida, who did a quick clothing change and was comfortable.

Let it Snow!

No 1: a full 10 days before the average first snow here.

 

 

Not many days later, snow No. 2

 

Snow No 3 on a Saturday morning could not be left alone.

It was Nov 17 and by the end of the day, we had reached the average November snowfall with many days to go in the month.

 

Cartwheel evasive maneuvers by Ben during the snowball fight.

 

And I'll take the simple joy.

 

Mid-April

And we are tired of being cold.

Always, I Open My Mouth

We joined the Boy Scouts Sunday for skiing one last time before the end of the season.

And I think we're getting the hang of it!

Ladies

These hats,

 

Still make us smile

Spring Fever is Beginning now

And when we returned home late Sunday evening, we did not have to meet this.  This was mostly gone.  Although the records are in, and February 2018 is on record as one of the top 10 snowiest in history.

 

Not having to shovel was good.  Because when it was the boys' turn, it took them two hours to do the drive.

I'd look out the window and they would be shoveling.

Later, I'd look out the window and Ben would be shoveling and Nick would be hitting him.

I'd look out the window and Nick would be shoveling and Ben would be laying in a snow bank.

I'd look out the window and they would both be gone, disappeared.

I'd look out the window and they would be shoveling.

 

Eventually, they got it done.

Waterparks

When we weren't in the snow, we were here.

 

My personal favorite--the waterslide that shot you into a funnel, which you turned through like going down a toilet bowl.  Then you actually went down the drain and flooded out into the landing pool.

 

We slept well over the weekend.

Day 2: Tubing

And on Day 2: We took our time getting out in the morning and chose to tube for the majority of our day.

 

Pushing each other off the top for a good start at things.

 

Getting ready to go with mom and dad (the added weight can't be beat).

 

 

Seriously--we knocked through barriers, and if you can hear Patric we overtook the boys.

If You Can't Beat the Snow

Go Skiing

Two and half hours to the north and we found the perfect spot for a long weekend.

 

And even this guy lost his inhibitions for a few hours.

And all that gear for deer hunting came in quite handy. 

 

Ben--after finding the poles, just making it out of the shed was a task.  Probably because putting your skis on right there isn't really the plan.  But who could wait?

 

After ski school--still all smiles.

 

Then we hit the lifts.

 

Alida, just like riding a bike, preferred to be alone for a little bit while she figured it all out.  Then she arrived as if skiing since she was three.

 

Ben will tell you he loved it, and he loved falling down the most.

 

Elaine stayed close, as she prefers her dangerous activities to be controlled.

 

Nick--always doing things his own way.