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.

Comments

Backcountry Camping with Kids in Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Day 1 Back in May I stumbled upon Theodore Roosevelt National Park. I had no idea there was a National Park in North Dakota and that it was the northern end of the Badlands. Usually our summer vacations coincide with Scott's work trips. Since he didn't have any this summer I thought we should take advantage of actually taking a vacation. What, my workcations are always classics? I suppose a second real vacation this year wouldn't hurt. We definitely have more time than normal. As long as we took Covid-19 precautions and avoided people. We finally settled on a time to go. Blake joined us so we borrowed our dad's van so we could ride together. Scott had just driven from Michigan the day before. Blake had met my parents in Wisconsin to get the van and then drove from Duluth to pick us up. I offered to drive since I literally only drive twice a month. I was still pretty tired from a long drive home. Since we were near Fergus Falls we had to stop by the abandoned state ho...

A Park Rapids-Walker Workcation

We were going to just go overnight on Saturday with Scott for a work trip. With a snowstorm in the forecast we left right after the kids were done with school. Meadow is still chugging away at her rug hooking. We stopped at the China Star buffet near St Cloud. They really upgraded the interior since we were here last. Don't worry about me. Just noshing on the green beans. Can a guy get more veggies in these buffets? We ended up changing hotels and staying in Walker at the... Walker Hotel . The room was a bit old fashioned and TV a wee one. But the pool had a slide, so that's a win. Right? The falling snow outside the pool window made it slightly magical. Meadow got Theo's hair dry after we got ready to take a drive down to Park Rapids. It doesn't look that bad, but it was nerve wrecking driving. But I do have to say that the Escape PHEV did pretty well in the conditions. The slippery mode for snow and rain kind of rules even if we don't have 4WD. We tagged alon...

Brooke's Birthday Fish Fry and Many Minneapolis Walks

My actual birthday happened to be on the first Friday of Lent. You know what that means, church fish fry! One of our favorites is at St Albert the Great in south Minneapolis. Usually we have to wait for a little while up in the sanctuary, but we got downstairs to the hall super quick. All the gray hairs were out for the night. Can't blame them. The kids usually opt for spaghetti. The best part about this place is you get to pick two desserts. They actually let you have as many you wanted this year. In past they had two tickets per person, but not this year! The same gregarious priest as always was keeping the crowd entertained. I swear he wasn't back last year, but it was good to see him back doing his best. Theo got chosen to pick the winning numbers for the 50/50 raffle. The priest gave us a hard time for not getting a raffle ticket. Don't worry about me. Just daydreaming about a back screen porch like this. I made Brookie a brookie brownie. Could've used more brow...

Search This Blog