What an Amazing Winter Weekend

 

What an amazing weekend, maybe it was the cabin fever left from the polar vortex or the recognition that the winter months are fleeting way too fast but either way we lived outside and packed in plenty of fun.  Friday Sophia had a friend over and we did the traditional Little Caesers pizza and early morning pancakes but also headed over to the ice rink for a some skating.  I managed to only pack a single skate, fortunately they rent skates so I plunged my foot where so many others had been before.  We skated for more than an hour and Sophia was a rock star not wanting to leave even after everyone else was satiated.  Merrick too showed improvement since our last trip out and clearly the summer roller blading and another year older certainly helped out.  After Sophia's friend left on Saturday the three off us headed out for a quick ski and although the air was brisk we quickly warmed up as we kicked and glided across the newly waxed skis.  We headed home to pack and meet the TR tribe down south.  We headed over to a great sledding hill in Mishicot.  Sophia was impressed with the idea that we could park at the top of the hill rather than starting at the bottoom and having to walk up as is the case with the two hills we use around here.  One of the sleds was less than cooperative so the two oldest hiked to a family friend's house looking for a new sled.  After a long time over there, long enough for a couple hot coco's, they returned with two more in hand for Merrick and Grace.  Amy and I drank most of them as all four of them headed over the castle structure at the park to play with their imaginations in new setting.  We returned to huge lasagna meal and then geared up again and the kids donned their headlights as we set off into the hiking trails of the State Park.  The snow was crunchy and the sky was wonderfully clear with a derth of constellations visible through the leafless trees.  At one point we did have to grab kids from the ground and toss them into the woods as a couple of snowmobiles unexpectedly came down the trail.  By midmorning we found ourselves on the lake jigging for panfish and watching tip ups for northerns.   It was the innagural trip for the new ice shack and it was well used through out the day to get out of the wind and snack on kit kats.  We pulled three notherns through the ice from the same tip up.  It was really exciting and two of the three where around 24 inches with good girth.  No keepers however as the size limit on that lake is 32 inches.  Keepers or not it was a riot.  The kids did spend some time generally running around the ice and pulling each other in the sleds before we wrapped it up and headed to the pizza place for a 'shore lunch.'