3 days packed into one, a great gift

It was my birthday weekend and the Weather on Sunday was gorgeous, so we made the most of it and put the living room on notice, that it would be lonely.  All the bikes came out of the basement and got new spring air pumped into their tires.  Amy and the girls made it with their rides in the late morning and we headed out on the trail.  We rode the bike trail up to the fishing pier to watch the anglers take casts at the walleye run.  The boats were close to each other as always and packed in about 700 of them between the bridges.  After a short hike on the fishing pier we rode back to the park and the kids played a great game of tag, chasing and darting around the toys and including others in the mulch madness.  The return trip was uneventful although circuitous as the kids weave a wander path even with in their own lanes.  The mid afternoon was filled with baseball with several that left the playing bounds of our back yard, a soccer game and a couple more bike rides for the kids around the neighborhood.  Merrick and I picked up sticks to keep the fire burning and he was tossed the matches to work on his fire starting skills. Burgers were grilled and after another helping of ice cream cake was added a short walk to our list of weekend activities.  Everyone's faces felt a little tight from all the sun and their eyelids were a little droopy from the day of fresh air.  It was a great way to spend a birthday.

Springing into a Birthday Weekend

First Bare-footing of the year

Grandprize and Merrick scout a trail at Osprey Point

Sophia and Grandma avoid a Mouse we kicked up in the field on our hike

The weather turned in a stellar performance in honor of Merrick's Birthday Party and it felt like spring was here to meet the seven year-old the way he deserved to be greeted.  Full of sun and warmth with the promise of great potential.  Friday night was pretty relaxed, with some cards at the kitchen table, in preparation for the weekend, Sophia had gymnastics and Merrick and I shot buckets, not in honor of March Madness but rather to pass the time and a couple of quick games of PIG quickly turned into a soccer game instead, which matched much of what was taking place under all the other hoops at the Y.  We meet Grandpa and Grandma back at the house to start the present opening and story telling.  We did head over to hike Osprey Point for the first time and were impressed with the area and great proximity to the house.  Saw several deer, multiple times, as well as a scurrying raccoon.  We scouted a couple of places to drop a line later this summer as well.  Merrick's Party was at the indoor soccer complex where the kids play in the winter.  It was the end of his spring break so it was certainly nice for him to see his friends after the week hiatus.  There was pizza and brownies and the kids ran around until sweaty in the face playing dodge-ball and capture the flag.  It was a great party and he was very appreciative.  The weather just kept getting better and by the time the party was over we headed home to clean up some of the winter yard debris and the kids even went sans shoes for the first time this year to feel they mud and grass on their toes.  The weather is supposed to hold for another day before dropping off again, but it was certainly nice to feel the temporary warmth and know that the seasons are about to change.

Smarter than the staff!

Merrick came out victorious in his "smarter than your teacher" assembly.  It was phenomenal to watch him answer with such authority and confidence and pump his fists after getting his answer correct.  It was additionally sweet for him as his challenger was the school principal!  On top of the dad pride, their PTO also raised over $15K in pledges for this event.  He is already talking about practicing for next year.  I just can't help but think that it is good for his educational future to be in front of the whole school with such confidence and success.  His question was about the story glove, a concept his grade uses to help retell a story and report on a book.  The whole event was a blast and I give credit to his school and teachers for putting together such a positive event for everyone.

A Bunny and the Blizzard

 

Merrick started off the week with a red plate type of day.  He scored an impressive 80/80 on a school trivia contest and will be able to challenge the teachers at his school in front of packed house.  He is quite excited and I am quite proud.  The weekend also found us back at his school for a Mardi Gras fundraiser.  His room was hosting one of the two cake walks and with such collections of baked goods to be had the kids walked in circles until they took home a vast amount of refined sugar and flour.  Interestingly enough we had started the morning early with a doughnut run in which the baker also gave each of the kids a cookie and a cupcake....so Saturday pretty much ran on the far side of the healthy diet but was rounded off by all the smiles.  Sophia had gymnastics before the fundraiser and Merrick and I did hit the gym to play 'hoops' while she worked on her flips.  After couple games of PIG we did take over the entire gym space so we could play soccer.   Friday evening did find us a whole rabbit richer.  With a house full of kids a rabbit came bounding into the back yard looking to for a friend and warm place to stay for the night.  She wasn't hard to catch and spent most of Saturday wandering freely in the kitchen or just stretched out in front of the heat register.  I did ask her at one point if she was an outside rabbit and she just wandered over and laid down in front of the heat register like an old lab....I took that to mean she spoke English pretty well.  Sunday found at the season opener for the arena football team, the Blizzard.  Ella sang before the game and then we all watched what would become our second favorite Resch center sport after the Gamblers.  The game was fast paced and a good way to spend an afternoon with harsh winds and snow that was too icy to ski. We did hit Cook's Corner for some fudge, just in case the kids were running low on refined sugar and then it was back to reality as we prepared for the coming week.  Merrick cranked out some math homework and Sophia started the online portion of her hunter education classes.

Another Winter Trifecta

Our tribe of six started off the weekend with cast iron fired bacon cheeseburgers and from there it just kept getting better.  We had to pack in a little extra fun due to day light savings time arbitrarily/legislatively 'stealing' some of our time.  We loaded up the skates and hit the ice rink.  Sophia and Ella had a couple of sore ankles when it was done from low rider socks  but certainly worth it over all and Sophia was last off the ice.  We skated all but three minutes of the open skate time.  Sophia skipped gymnastics and with the Saturday sun greeting us over muffins and fruit we headed south to the water park.  We unfortunately were greeted with signs that the park was at capacity and would issue any day passes, we had great parking but it now meant little.  Fortunately when talking to the lady at the counter she was able to wink and nod with a toungue in her cheek and find some room to squeeze us in.  It was a riot, tube rides, lazy river and a madhouse of houses and sprinklers.  Topped the evening off with some pizza and heavy eyelids.  The trifecta of of events concluded with what is possibly the last ski of the season.  We had waxed the skis earlier in the week and Merrick took time to learn the subtle obligatory art of waxing.  We hit a new trail in the Point beach system and it was a great trail with undulating little hills and a tight trail for classic shuffling.  Merrick had a bit of melt down but we made it back and even had a little time to explore some of the pack ice that is stacking up along the shore line.  They kids played a little more in the woods but it was eventually time to head home and start getting ready for the upcoming week.  Last week was a busy week for everyone too, Merrick even requested to stay late at the Y program and I had to come back and get him later....so he could pie his teacher in the face!

Winter is Waning

 
 
The season of snow is about to turn to the intermediate times of slush and slop and we are doing our best to enjoy the snow while it is here.  We were lucky this week with nearly a foot of new snow dropped over the weekend, but warm temperatures today certainly put a serious melt on what has become a very thick snow pack.  Valentine's day has come and gone and Merrick had to leave his party early last Friday as he was not feeling well.  He slept hard and rebounded strong for Saturday but we still took it pretty cool.  Sunday morning was in the single digits and windy, but the sun was so brilliant and the skies the color of blue birds that we had to hit the sledding hill.  We hauled the sleds and snow boards over and even found some old friends on the hill.  Back home we were trying our hand at some home made fruit leather from the last of past season's strawberries.  It turned out pretty well and Sophia took it to school to share.  The temps were cool, but not so cold that the kids could pound on each other in the back yard in the late hours of the weekend.  By mid week the temperatures were hitting the low forties and forecasting rain.  We gave two solid nights of fort building and a small force of snowguards tucked in around dinner and homework.  Sophia went the classic route with charcoal briquettes, while Merrick gave a nod to dried fruit and used raisans for his facial features.  We are able to back out for our postparandial strolls and plenty of pushing each other into the snow banks  It is a great time of year for the smell of wet mittens and kid sweat....almost like a parental potpurri.  With everyone's bellies filled, washed and wore out we have been finding some time to route on team USA in whatever sport the Olympics are broadcasting as we curl up under the blankets shoulder to shoulder and munch a night time snack.

winter life

We were graciously invited north for a cabin weekend.  It took our tribe two vehicles to get all the winter gear up there and even stopped for some great burgers on the way.  Life is life and sometimes it is important that we get reminded as to how great it is and how relatively good we have it.  While sitting at the restaurant our hosts informed us that although they had already made it to the cabin that the pipes had frozen and therefore there was no running water.  No worries we just grabbed a couple of gallons of water.  Water goes fast when it doesn't flow freely from the tap.  It was still an enjoyable evening around the fire with good conversation and plenty of laughs.  The morning however found us very low on propane for cooking and heating and it was certainly time to head back home.  We arrived home in time to unpack and have a little lunch before heading back out to snowshoe for a couple of hours.  It was enough to put us all into a relaxed state and gorgeous temps to traverse the frozen creeks and steep hills of the nearby topography.  Sunday's temps were in the single digits and while not cold for what we have become accustomed too it did seem brisk enough to not push too hard when the kids decided to play around the house rather than hit the ski trails.