It's Finally Backyard Rink Time!

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.

The temps were well below freezing with the wind chill, but we didn't mind.

Hot cocoa and skating, what could be better?

Meadow is always wanting to bake something.

I spent the rest of the night making one of my favorite meals with Theo. Chicken Mole. I made them into enchiladas this time around.

Sometimes the kids remember they have a dresser full of costumes.

It's that time of year when we can't see out our windows. Though since getting our windows rehabbed this summer they seem to fog and freeze more.

The interior windows are well sealed, so moisture is getting trapped on the storms.

The Packers were playing the Cowboys in the first round of the NFL playoffs. So I had to make taco dip.

We had frozen pizza after the Packers blew out the Cowboys.

Game day dinners are the best.

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Sisters, a Brother and Walking Chicago

Summer always seems to mean one thing: weddings. Whether I'm shooting or attending, we're bound to end up at a few every year. This time around we were heading down to Chicago from my big sister Katrina's nuptials. I feel like all our vacations are centered around a wedding or something wedding related. I wish we could go on a vacation without having to worry about being somewhere. It also means a few repetitive trips down I-94. There aren't nearly enough unique stops off the interstate. One outlier is Foster Cheese Haus , the only organic Wisconsin cheese shop I know of. Run by the folks behind Castle Rock Organic Farms , we always try to stop by. Unfortunately for us they were closed on Wednesdays, but at least we got to spy on their darling garden out front. Brooke and I arrived in Necedah. We decided to stop at Brooke's sister Brittany's home along the way to cut the ride in half and get her dressed hemmed. ...

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Chicago Chrismukkah + Michigander Xmas

Before heading out on our trip we let the kids open their Christmas gifts from us. A knitted sweater for Theo and a kitty dress for Meadow (I fixed the straps for her) both made by me. I wanna a sweater. Scott got them new compact sleeping bags. We all got smaller sleeping bags this year and we'll now have a lot more room in our car. This year we had talked about hosting my family at the cottage. Then meeting up in Milwaukee, then meeting in Chicago. But in the end we made stops in Chicago and Lowell this Christmas. We left on a Sunday which was nice to have a few days to prepare. On the way down to Chicago we stopped at our favorite roadside restaurant, Foster Cheese Haus. We had plans to break up our drives so we didn't have to rush like we normally do. We had made it just before the cheese haus was set to close for the winter. Just not enough folks stop here in winter and snowmobile season is becoming shorter and shorter this far so...

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