Crafts, Backyard Skating and Como Zoo Visit

It's ice skating season, but that doesn't mean we spent the whole weekend out on the backyard rink.

During the week Meadow and I got a chance to rollerblade at the Vikings stadium.

She's way faster than me. I thought it would be like ice skating, it is but also not. I thought I didn't do too bad having not skated in 20 years.

The kids are back into doing crafts again.

Theo claimed the potholder loom too hard so Meadow took over.

Another weekend and I'm making breakfast again? If they ask for crepes, I guess it's got to be me.

I don't even dare try.

Weekends have meant family hockey time. Brooke just wants to do tricks. Sorry, boo.

I spend most of the time dodging everyone.

Theo has really improved his ice skating skills this year.

With temps going from single digits to upper 30s, the rink has held up well.

Theo now wants to play Catan Junior every day.

He forgot how much he loves this game.

Meadow made us biscuits for breakfast.

Theo went through all his Picasso/Magna tiles and sorted them.

When they are sorted like this it seems like he doesn't have as many.

We've been eating a lot more salads the last year. It's been a go to back up meal. Probably better for us than frozen pizza.

The kids prefer raw vegetables anyway.

Theo got a robot kit for Christmas. This became a project for me and him. We got really close to finishing when it wasn't working. Took me an hour to realize I had used the wrong part somewhere.

This made my head want to explode. Good thing Brookie was game.

On Tuesday school was cancelled due to morning temps that dipped to -19 degrees Fahrenheit. Instead of staying home I took the kiddos to the Como Zoo and Conservatory.

To get them to tag along I got everybody their own camera to take pics. We started out at the bonsai exhibit. You know Meadow loved this.

The Conservatory is the perfect place to spend a frigid day in the Twin Cities.

The Sunken Garden never stops being magical.

Then we braved the cold to mostly explore the indoor animal exhibits in the zoo.

I think we had a good day.

Comments

A Smoky Weekend at the Cottage and a Stop at Ladysmith's Northland Mardi Gras

This summer we decided to go to the cottage any weekend we had nothing else going on. This week, due to fires in the Boundary Waters and Canada, the air quality was pretty terrible. We debated if we should still go, but it looked like it would clear up by Saturday. So we took the chance. And by terrible, we mean the worst air quality we'd ever seen. Along the way we decided to stop at John and Heidi's Happy Daze . We've passed this place probably 100 times. It was about time to stop by. I ordered the prime rib sandwich special. Yummy. The sandwich that is. Everybody's food was really good, but Brooke's was the star of the show. I want to get back here asap. Now if only this pesky smoke would go away.

To Chippewa Falls for the Northern Wisconsin State Fair

I saw that the Northern Wisconsin State Fair was happening and we didn't have anything else planned. We booked a campsite at Lake Wissota State Park and we were on our way. We hadn't been to a county fair yet and this seemed like it might be even better. We set up camp first in case we would be back late. This was a good excuse for a quick camping trip. Plus we'd never been to Lake Wissota State Park before or Chippewa Falls, really. Since 1897 Chippewa Falls has been hosting the Northern Wisconsin State Fair. More of a super-regional county fair, Wisconsin’s other state fair started as a way for folks up north to avoid the grueling, long haul down to Milwaukee County. Our first stop was to fill up our big jug of lemonade. I think this is the 4th year of this big jug. Brooke brings a couple of our old lemonade jugs with just in case. Then you get the refill price.

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...

Search This Blog