It's my birthday week and that means a weekend at the cottage. There was a bin of Blake's stuff in our room. The kids started pulling out the toys which lead to Scott reorganizing the whole thing. There was literal garbage in the bin. So, I figured it was best to, well, throw the crud away and get the good stuff sorted. A remote control for a car that doesn't exist. A brush. I was soon told by G.G. that I wasn't allowed to go through Blake's bin. But I did anyways. Everyone but Gail knew that Blake would never look through the freaking bin.

Below freezing temps means ice molds.   I'd make more but I know it will just warm up soon.  After a week of single digit temps the forecast was set for temps into the 30s and then 40s. Boo hiss. Meadow finally decided she was brave enough to get her ears pierced. We made an appointment at Rowan at the MOA and she actually went through with it.  Makes me want to get my ears repierced.  Wait you let your ears close up? Sometimes I miss things. Yeah, when I had babies that pull on things.  For breakfast the next day I made a pancake bundt.  Theo couldn't wait to eat it I guess. 

For Christmas Chelsea got Meadow a trip to The Fire Art Studio in Appleton to paint her own ceramics. We finally got them back and they are so cool.  My favorite breakfast.  Theo's favorite breakfast. They're all really into breakfast. After we got back from our holiday travels we filled the ice rink. The weather was finally getting cold enough for it to freeze completely. Scott resurfaced the ice to get it ready for us.  It took about a week to freeze. You really want temps below 15 degrees all day. We were mostly dealing with temps in the 20s and 30s during the day until a deep freeze set in. Funny how it felt so much bigger building it.  Perfect for the kids. A bit small for adults. Was still fun to do a few loops.

Meadow requested big pancake. I asked if she wanted regular or chocolate and she said both.  You outdid yourself, breakfast chef. We used to go to the Roberts Bird Sanctuary seemingly every week before our last move. So, now we have to make an effort to make it to Bokoblin Woods as we like to call it.  I think we need to go on more adventures.  Yeah, we can't do that when you always need to go for walks. Or maybe we can... Since it's full of moblins and bokoblins, the kids needed to bring their master sword and bow.

This year was more house projects and adventures. January  Scott's birthday at the cottage. Looking good at 37. Think I may have put on 10 pounds since then. That's life. February - the snowiest winter ever Brooke don't mind, I'm doing the snow blowing. If we've learned anything a year later, maybe somewhere between a deluge and no snow would be nice. March - backpack camping at Tettegouche The hike in with a very heavy sled? Not my favorite. Snowshoeing up to Mount Baldy? Priceless. April - we refinished the 3rd floor Rather I finished rehabbing the attic. Only one gas leak near catastrophe and it's looking great. May - we got all new furniture in our house I became a Facebook Marketplace antique sleuth. June - canoe camping on the Cloquet River. Paddling along the river was great. The mosquitos on shore were out of a horror film. July - exploring our own city I know, I know, Brooke was digging never being home, but Summer in Minneapolis is pretty great. August...

We followed my parents up to the cottage. We were getting hungry for lunch and Scott found a place about halfway. The Old Town Hall Restaurant and Bar  in Townsend along WI-32. It was a bit early for dinner, but all the adults went with the fish fry. Theo was in much better spirits after being sick so long.  Once the cottage was heated up we decorated the gingerbread cookies. I went upstairs to pull out all the Christmas bins and found that a sneaky child was hiding and eating candy sometime over the summer.  Tree skirt or skirt? No snow, but plenty of ice.  Strangest winter ever. An extreme El Nino if there ever was one.