We couldn't wait to get back to the cottage again.
If it was up to me, I'd never leave all winter. But, alas, like usual our next visit was on my birthday weekend.
Theo's breakfast of choice.
My mom bought my dad another waffle iron so he can have three irons going at once when cooking for all of us.
This one's kind of crazy, but it does the job.
It was a windy day today so we had to get the kites out.
Who wants to start a Three Lakes winter kite festival?
I think we'd have to start it.
There was enough snow to go snowshoeing this time.
Even Theo was interested in snowshoeing. Our little boy is growing up.
He was sinking in the deep snow, so i brought his out and he loved them.
The kite Brooke got for cottage Christmas was pretty cool.
I talked Scott into bringing his skis too.
I tried them out on the lake and remembered I do not like classic cross country skiing. I need to sell them. I wouldn't mind trying backcountry skis or skate skis, but this is just not for me. And it also means less snowshoeing (even though Brooke won't admit this).
I went with Mike to order more propane for the cottage. I think we could've done this over the phone, but Mr. Mike is old fashioned. The propane company was also selling some random stuff like coolers.
OO I want that couch.
I had talked about going to the Brew Station this afternoon along with Brooke and Mr. Mike. Mike, said nah, until we were picking up a liqueur next door. Then he's, like, "Lets go get a beer."
They said they were just going to town. I've been wanting to try this place too.
I felt kind of bad, but knew we'd be back soon.
We came back with everything for taco dip.
Our original plan was to go back up to Land 'O Lakes to ice skate and have dinner at the Twilight Supper Club. The weather had other plans and it ended up being a blizzard outside.
Honestly, during the day I started thinking that I wasn't really in the mood for a full-on supper club.
I remembered that Braywood had outdoor igloos so thought we would detour there.
This fit the bill.
The igloos were all booked and the bar area was packed. So we ended up down in the new dinning space.
I remembered this place being dim and cozy. The new owners added too many bright lights. Scott even asked our server if the lights could be dimmed.
I thought the bar was fine, but this room definitely was way too bright.
I wanted this cup, it's from Discover Wisconsin. I couldn't find it anywhere online.
The igloos were reservation only. Next time.
These guys are worse than me with their phones when we go out.
We were all hungry, but their kitchen was clearly going as fast as they can with a big crowd.
My mom and I went with an non traditional fish fry. We got a baked fish on a bed of wild rice pilaf. It was so good.
The Wisconsin Burger had cheese curds on the burger, but the fries were the star of the show.
Mike went with the classic fish fry. I think everyone agreed the food outweighed the overly bright lights.
Only in Wiscosnin.
When we arrived the bar was packed with snowmobilers.
It really cleared out by the time we were leaving.
The remodel wasn't our cup of tea, but they did do a good job and had this cool old sign on display.
We thought we'd get a night cap at Tiny Tap. While walking in to find a place at the bar a patron stopped us in our tracks and said kids were not allowed. Huh? Since when?
I call BS. We'll have to try another time.
The Brew Station it is.
I told you we'd be back before you knew it.
Any place that has games and free popcorn is a win in my book. Sorry Tiny Tap you're cancelled.
That's a bit extreme. We'll just have to have an adults night in Eagle River some time.
The Brew Station has a great list of rotating taps and like a brewery you can get small, medium and large pours.
The kiddos shared a Sprecher Orange Dream Soda.
We all loved the wall of vintage beer cans.
Saturday morning Meadow wanted to play Wii Fit and gave Theo a lesson. How are Wii Fit and Wii Sports so timeless?
Meadow said she'd make my (honestly complicated) mocha bundt cheese cake. She ended up needing my help and at some point I took over.
Then he complained all day that he had to make his own birthday cake.
Meadow was busy trapping squirrels.
It's been a long time since we've made this. It was not easy to stick the crust against the sides and a hand mixer isn't exactly great for mixing up cheese cake batter.
The colder temps mean I can make more Ice Bundts.
I had made a frozen wreath with pine branches and cranberries. My dad said there should be one for birdseed. I said there was and went into town to get gelatin to make one.
I actually brought my drone with me after the local chamber asked me to take some winter drone shots.
You can't fly more than 400 feet above the highest point within 400 feet of your drone. You can barely see the dog head and it's back from across the lake.
We're always surprised how few ice fisherman are out on the lakes.
Theo hung out with me while I flew the drone.
Mike finally got trail passes after I tried to get us some last year without luck. He also fixed his Yamaha V-Max after it wouldn't start last winter. After, unexpectedly, spending Friday getting that sled to turn over, we got out on the trails for the first time in a decade.
You need:
1 cup milk
1/3 cup sugar
A splash of vanilla
A pinch of salt
Stir together
Add 8 cups of clean snow
Out on the trails Mr. Mike got a little turned around in a few places. Can't blame him after a long break from trail riding (thanks Scott Walker...).
Mike had his map with him, but needed to check at a few junctions.
I'd later find out that the Polaris app has great GPS mapping and ride planning. Just need to get a rig setup to mount our phones.
We basically took a big loop around Thunder Lake into Sugar Camp via the chain of lakes.
Eventually we made it back to town.
We stopped by Pine Isle for an end of ride drink. It was packed with snowmobilers.
After a round of drinks it was getting dark. I'd never rode out on the trails after dark before.
Back at the cottage Theo was getting piggy back rides from G.G.
After a dinner I cannot recall, it was cake time.
I was clearly very excited.
I also got to open up the random wrapped snack bin. I thought it was a big container of nuts, but it was Utz Pub Mix. This is the stuff.
I was told that I need to make crepes since I didn't last time we saw G.G. and Grandpa.
Mike and I had to pick up drywall for the big attic room.
Even though it was in the single digits snowmobilers were out on the trails. Wish we could do another ride, but we had to get back to Minneapolis.
Comments