A Batch of Bouncing Birthdays

   Another year has come and the April birthdays have started.  Merrick headed off to Sir Bounce-a-Lot and Grace followed up the next day with Air Extreme.  Two days straight of bouncing and boinging all over.  It is little wonder that Monday has arrived with sore knees for this aging and proud dad.  There were cakes and pizzas and a moon like gravity all weekend long.  Merrick hit a hundred ticket game and scored another thousand on the birthday wheel....for this great fortune he cashed out with an inflatable microphone.  The birthdays came at the end of the kids' spring break so it was a nice chance to see their school friends again too.  Grace's party came complete with wall to wall trampolines for flips and some crazy dodgeball battles as well as a 20 foot jumping platform and rock wall.  We survived without any sprains but I don't think the weekend missed any planning for next year's parties.

March Madness

March has about passed and left it madness in the rearview mirror.  It came in like a lamb and with temperatures pushing the high fifties the last of the winter snow disappeared.  Merrick and Grace would get off the bus after school and walk home in the only remaining threads of snow left, with their winter jackets slung over their shoulders.  We headed to the far corner of the state for the final gymnastics meet and Sophia was able to take fifth place on the beam at the State meet. The "hoops and Ladders" was in response to the kids seeing the neighbor boys shooting buckets from their roof.  I convinced them that starting from the ladder might be a better way to work up the the roof.  Merrick got a bird house made but the weather cooled before we could get it painted.  We also got some raised gardens built and a little yardwork done before the last big snow storm of the year came.  It was enough snow to close schools the day before spring break giving everyone an extra day off.  Blizzard one day and 40s the next required a swimsuit snowball fight and the kids ran around outside for about twenty minutes in the six inches of wet snow.  The swimsuits were pulled out again to head to the water park after an Easter weekend complete with egg hunts and ham.  With three snows on the robins tail we can finally start turning our attention to the coming of spring and tulip bulbs we planted last fall.

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.

Surprise Snow

 The forecast is calling for a big dumping of snow this week however much to our surprise we woke up last week to about 5-6 inches or unexpected greatness.  With a fresh blanket of snow on the ground the kids were able to play in the backyard after school and actually have something to do back there.  This weekend was warm and after a family trip to TR to plan for even warmer weather we headed out 'early' on Saturday morning to fish with the neighbor kids.  We hit the ice with a crew of eight and pulled in only a single bluegill but plenty more laughs.  The kids ran around the fresh ice snow playing soccer and cut the pie and we set up the new Christmas present ice shack.  It has sense been returned as it snapped a rod putting it up.  All six kids hung out inside of it for about 45 minutes snacking and gossiping at one point Sophia gashed her hand pretty good but we rubbed some snow on she wore my larger sized gloves and then was fine to play cut the pie some more.  It didn't seem to hamper her social engagement of a sleep over any.  Sunday morning with our belly filled with cinnamon rolls we headed to Webster hill but it was wore down to the dirt so we trucked it over to Triangle and hit the big hills for awhile before Ella had to head off to a birthday pool party.  A little domestic errand running and then as the rain picked up we decided it was time to head back outside to build some snow forts and a small snowman army in preparation for the big snow storm and hopefully snow day to come.  With the zipper clunking sounds of jackets and snow gear in the dryer it is time to gear up for the week to come.

Pagophilic dreams

  Ella hit the hardboards on Thursday for her first Basketball game and they had an outstanding victory.  The weather was mild and we spent plenty of time outdoors.  Friday night did find us indoors however, Grace and Ella had sleep overs and we took everyone over to Lambeau for a dinner before heading across the street to the Gamblers game.  We were also able to hit both of the pro shops, but didn't buy any team swag.  The Gamblers won the game and scored a powerplay goal which lead to everyone getting a free ice cream sunday at Culvers, so our trip home was slightly detoured.  Saturday we hiked at Fonferek Glenn and after crossing a frozen river and glissading down a decent grade we were able to get behind a frozen waterfall.  It was really beautiful and after traversing the iced over river about four more times we came to an eye in the sky arch about 60-80 feet up on the limestone cliffs.  We found a really great fort built by some local kids but then headed back home for some lunch and quick nap before setting our skis to the trails.  Ella was pretty tired after the sleepover and stayed home but Grace isn't one to miss out on an adventure.  She has really improved and by our count hadn't been on skis for two years. We rounded off the weekend with a trip to Triangle Hill for some serious incline sledding although the show was thin the laughter was great, Hot chocolate was promised all around but by the time we got home we were sidetracked on another idea....might have been supper.