Packing a lot of hours into a Week

The camera on my phone is a nice way to catalog a week that moves by so fast that is blurs together.  A quick review of those images reminds me of how much we pack into a week and likely how much more is being forgotten and gobbled up in what is becomes the everyday life.  The kids didnt have school on Monday, honestly Amy and I don't know why..but they were home all day and in charge of dinner.  I stepped into the house to the wonderful smells of an italian meal, started at about 2pm, formally dressed wait staff, a bottle of wine and a collection of new magazines on the table.  It was a relaxingly nice way to start the week and the kids were uber excited about the meal they had made.  Amongst all the homework projects and school research that has to be done we sneaked in plenty of laughs and smiles.  Grace also had time to remind us that busy or not there is always time for Jello!  Ella finished up her basketball season on her home court and even had a buzzer shot from way out.  Although it fell short any buzzer shot is exciting.  Sophia had a her last gymnastics meet before state and placed 2nd on bars.  We made a trip back up to the Door for some over night fun.  We searched for the cairns that we had stumbled on last summer and hoped to see some lake ice formations, but sadly found neither.  The weather had melted all the lake ice and seemingly destructive persons had ruined the awe inspiring beauty of the cairn field.  Showing yet again that the work of many can be easily destroyed by so few.  We hiked a bit and then hit some local pubs for lunch and found a couple of new hats along the way as well before heading back to the hotel for a few hours in the pool.

Crivitz Cold and Cheers

We headed north on Friday night for what has become an annual invite to the Cabin in Crivitz.  The weather was as cold as the quality of laughter, friendship and conversation was good.  We filled up our bellies with pizza on Friday night and didn't really get close to hungry the rest of the weekend.  The fire was stoked and the warmth inside was mad better knowing it was blustery outside.  We headed into the woods on Saturday to mark out a trail for deer stands that will be cut later this spring and kept a keen eye open for recently shed antlers.  Along the way we found a cool hollow space from an uprooted tree, it made is perfect earth dome and while it is swampy in the summer it was froze up perfectly solid this time of year. There was enough room in it for three kids at a time.  The rest of the hike was spent beating the forest with sticks, collecting sticks to use as magic wands and climbing on snow covered trees. We were only out for  an hour or so and then the kids returned to the cabin to read and continue playing the variety of games they brought.  Plenty of laughs over Apples to Apples an the perpetual 'hide the picture' game. We were home early enough for Ella and Sophia to make a nice dessert and Merrick and Grace to play outside.  I still haven't heard exactly how the swing broke, but maybe when they hit their thirties.

Two 'cross and One Down

Thursday it was hoops for Ella and a hard loss on the hardwood but she played a good aggressive game. The rest of the weekend was like a crossword puzzle clue: Two 'cross, one down.  Friday was just Grace and the parents.  Ella was at a sleepover, so we hit a new set of cross country ski trails north of town for some night sking.  The trails were recently lit and the setting was beautiful.  Grace had to remind Amy to challenge herself as the little speed demon passed. Without any steep cliffs for a sense of danger we choose instead to look for wandering bears.  Grace wasn't about to be the slowest on the trail. We topped it off with a stop at a fancy pizza joint for some wood fired pizza and comically huge bowl of fries.  Saturday we grabbed Ella and hit another trail that was new to us for some more cross country skiing the trail wasn't as nice but the weather was amazingly beautiful and we soaked in the UV.  Sophia had an early morning gymnastics meet in Sheboygan and she placed on bars as well as took number one for the team competition.  With the snow gear loaded up we headed to Kewaunee and Winter Park to do the downhill tube runs.  We could have done the hills in our tshirts but our lift tags were already attached to our jackets.  The temps had to be pushing 50.  It was enough fresh air that the eyelids were growing tired and the idea of cooking at home lead to a detour to a local pub for an early dinner. Nobody made it to the end of the Superbowl, but it was a great weekend in the outdoors.