Skip to main content

On the Third week of Advent...


Dec 17 We Made Chocolate Truffles
Meadow requested we light the Swedish candles during breakfast.

We had chocolate big pancake with chocolate syrup. It was basically cake.

It was delicious.

I have a Tea Cakes and Candies pan that I bought many years ago that I have yet to use. I decided this year I was finally going to try making chocolates. 

I had planned to do this at the cottage, but they don't have a candy thermometer. I needed one to temper the chocolate first.

Since this is a metal pan and not flexable like candy molds I was nervous that it wouldn't work. I did a half batch as test.

Not exactly perfect, but it worked! Meadow was excited that they were little Bundt pans.


Dec 18 - We make a Christmas Gift
Scott saw a snowfort kit at REI recently. We both thought it would be a great New Year's Christmas gift. While trying to find it online we found a tutorial on how to make your own snow blocks.

We used a different size board than what the instructions called for. We cut all the pieces and realized we didn't do our math right to adjust to their directions. Our mistake turned into three different size containers.

They didn't look too bad.

Dec 19 - We Drank Hot Chocolate
Yup I had nothing else planned for today.

No other plans are needed when hot chocolate is involved. 


Dec 20 - We Went Ice Skating at Holidazzle
After a few weeks of sub zero temps the weather turned to a balmy 30 degrees. I suggested we do something outside. Ice skating seemed like the right idea.

Technically this is just Winter Skate at Loring Park since Holidazzle is closed during the week.

I thought the rink would have been busier with the mild temps, but I'm not complaining.

Meadow refused to skate with her buckle on skates.

Her straps were also not staying on since her boots were too big.

Since she was refusing to skate we decided to go after 15 minutes. When we were in the warming house she said she wanted to try different skates.

The Minneapolis Parks are awesome and have loaner skates at their rinks. The closest skates to her size were 4 sizes up from her and single blades, but we thought whatever she wants to try them. As soon as we get back on the ice she was an old pro.

I guess she saw everyone else on single blades and wanted to try too.

Now we need to find her new skates before New Years.

Dec 22 Candlelight Dinner for Winter Solstice 
Being that it is the darkest day of the year I thought we could light all of our candles and have a candlelight dinner for the Winter Solstice.

It was beautiful.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Japan Family Trip - Part III: Exploring Asakusa, Akihabara, Ginza, Yanaka and Tsukiji in Tokyo

After being away even for one night it felt strange to be back in the busy city. We arrived at  the end of the line for the Tobu Nikko line,  Asakusa Station .  Then we had to walk over to the Asakusa Line which took us most of the way to our aparthotel in Asakusabashi. It may sound confusing, but Google Maps never lead us astray. We made it onto the A line train for a short ride to  Asakusabashi. The kids look pooped. Eventually we followed the road next to the Chuo Sobu Line. Restaurants and cafes are tucked into many of the railways. A clever way to bring some life to what would otherwise be a desolate space. Our last stay was at the MONday Apart. The Asakusabashi Akihabara location. We were starting to get used to slipper life. In Japan you separate your trash into burnable trash and plastic garbage. We decided to get dinner nearby at Pizzeria Buono Buono, but when we arrived there was a note on the door that they were out of pizza dough for the night. ...

Japan Family Trip - Part II: Exploring the Shrines and Wilds of Nikko

We had originally planned on taking the bullet train down from Tokyo to Kyoto for a day or two. While being epically fast, it was a bit spendy for the four of us.  After talking to Brooke's coworker we settled on a two day trip to Nikko and its World Heritage Sites to break up our week in Tokyo. This turned out to be an amazing decision. The town is teaming with beauty from ancient shrines to epic waterfalls and some of the best meals we had on our trip. Kyoto didn't seem all that appealing to me when I started researching which location to go to. I too am glad we chose to head north to Nikko.  When we booked our Tobu Nikko Spacia X tickets I upgraded to the premium seats thinking that we'd be sitting facing one another. Instead we ended up with 4 individual seats, two in the first two rows and two in the last two rows. It turned out just fine with the kids sitting in front of us in two groups. Meadow and I were seated at the front of the car. Once in awhile we'd pas...

Stillwater Waterfall and MN River Valley Hiking

  Scott had to take some sunset photos in Stillwater.  A fall color aerial 360. I hadn't been there in awhile so we tagged along. We left as soon as Meadow was done for school and headed for the St Croix Boom Site. I had heard there was a hidden waterfall and wanted to check it out. There's not a specific trail to it. From what I read you go down the stairs and take a left following the river.  I think it's an old state trail that isn't maintained and has way too much graffiti.