Leap Day Snowman Family

It was a laid back morning getting the kids out the door to preschool. Campbell even 'bungled' herself up with 3 scarves since we had gotten some snow. We get to the preschool....hhhhhmmmm....no cars there. Call the number, yuppers, school was cancelled.

So, we took advantage of the perfect snow man building snow & made a whole family. Campbell learned how to roll a good snow ball and had fun helping decorate. Blake wasn't too interested & kept getting upset when he fell and had trouble getting upright again. To be fair, I think his ear is probably still bugging him.

Sickness side note: Found out on Monday morning that Blake had such a bad ear infection that there was a big BLISTER on his ear drum.....ouch! So 'interesting' the doctor called in a student to take a look. No wonder he was up every single hour all evening/night long screaming 'owie' - even when he was sleeping upright with me in a chair. He would sleep about 45 minutes each hour and then up again screaming for the rest of each hour. He did finally get a stretch of sleep from 4 until I had to wake him up at 8 to take him to the doctor. Unfortunately for my hope of some sleep, Campbell had a nightmare at 5 and then she was up for good at 7. Hadn't had one of those nights for a LONG time - if ever? Especially with Blake, my super sleeper.

Checking out the pile up outside the garage door on the way to preschool.

Snowman Family

The football was Blake's idea....kind of....he brought it out of the garage and was trying to push the snowman over with it.

Sibling Love

Blake was teasing & holding Campbell's leg. He said: I'm going to take your leg and keep it forever! Campbell swats at him and moves to another chair. Blake follows her, and says: Campbell don't leave! Blake goes and sits on the chair with Campbell and hugs her and says: Don't leave Campbell, I love you so much. I just love you so much! Love you!

Back to the Cabin

Since we had such a fun time during our first winter cabin trip and the ice conditions were really good, we decided to go again for the 3 day President's Day weekend. The weather was mild again (in the 30's) and we had a nice, relaxing weekend. Gabe even got a few projects done and we hauled back a ton of returns for Menards and Home Depot. Wiring stuff, plumbing parts and a ton of other random things we won't need. Must mean we're getting close to completion if we get to start returning! Woohoo!

Headlamp fun!

Warming up by the fireplace in a cozy new scarf knit by Grammy

Papa John & Uncle Garet made a really nice sled for towing behind the snowmobiles.

We'll be back in the Spring!

Gymnastics Finale

At the last gymnastics session, parents (cameras in tow, of course) got to come into the gym so the kids could show us all they had learned.

Ta-da! Everyone received a ribbon & got to go on the 'podium'. Campbell volunteered to be the first one to go up & it took a while to get her down.

Uber enthusiastic & positive teachers made for a fun experience.

Campbell would like to try swimming or dance next, so I'll see what I can find.

Happy Happy Heart Day

Papa Stan had a fainting episode was brought to the Duluth hospital where it was determined he needed a pace maker. My parents and aunt/uncle were all out of town on vacation, so Mariah and I were able to take shifts and be with Papa Stan (and Ginia-mom) in the hospital. I drove up very early Valentine's Day morning to give Papa Stan a hug and wish him well as he went into surgery and spent the day at the hospital for the surgery and recovery. Thankfully, the surgery went great and Papa Stan already looked better right after the surgery. I got back late at night, so I missed Valentine's Day with Gabe and the kids, but I was very thankful that Gabe was able to take a day off of work so that I could be with my grandparents.

Couldn't ask for a better Valentine's Day than to have a successful heart surgery!

Daddy made the kids heart pancakes.

Blake's Valentine to me.

Campbell's Valentine....a cut out heart, and I think the letters are there to say "I love Mama".

A day late, but attempted a Valentine's Day heart hair style I found on a blog.

Field Trip

The kids' preschool went on a field trip to Chuck E Cheese this morning. It was Blake's first field trip ever and the first one that I got to chaperone. The kids were so excited & it was a fun adventure.

Blake could barely contain himself on the bus. The bus ride alone would have been enough excitement for him. He was so looking forward to riding a bus - that was yellow!

Had a hard time getting Blake out of the first thing he picked to do. He kept plopping in coins and didn't even wait for the ride to be over.

All smiles.

Of course he wanted a ride in the Monster Truck.

Look at that follow through!

Toward the end, Blake found this game and was enthralled.

Also found this water gun. He didn't have any tokens left and was pitching a fit when a sweet little school mate shared a coin with him.

Look! I got blue candy with my tickets I won!

Having fun with another boy in the back of the bus. I kept telling him to sit down....then the bus jerked & he fell and hit his head against the back door.

 

Rough end to a fun trip.

Weird Weather

What is going on? Not only can you see all the grass in our yard, but my thermometer said 45.5 degrees this afternoon. The kids and I took advantage and went to play at the park and went for a walk to see the cows.

Peeking over a way too high for my comfort retaining wall.

Running though the tall grass in February.

Ice Fishing Long Weekend

We all headed to the cabin for the first time ever in the winter (Gabe had gone up a couple times for fishing over the years, but never stayed at our place). Gabe invited the guys who had helped us panel the ceiling & Garet, Jim, Tez, Weef & Lanny were able to come.

It was an epic journey North with 10 stops that started at 9 am and we finally made it to the cabin just as the sun was going down around 5:30 pm ((MinuteClinic, Gander Mountain, coffee, lunch, potty - yeah Blake - first time diaper-less on a road trip, Duluth to pick up Jim, Grammy's, Garet's to get the trailer with the snowmobile & sled, Dave's Pizza for rations & finally a stop for bait/gas). Before leaving the City, we made a last minute stop at the MinuteClinic since Blake was going on 3 days of a low grade fever. He didn't have any other symptoms and even seemed to be feeling ok, but just wanted to rule out an ear infection since we were headed to the semi-boonies. He checked out fine, not even a red throat, so we continued Northward.

Stop at Grammy's so that Aunt Marilyn could give Campbell a new doll and clothes that she made. She sewed an amazing amount of outfits, complete with matching bonnets & bloomers. For goodness sakes, she even made a fur coat. I can't imagine how many hours she spent sewing all of that, every outfit is decked out with lace and frills. Grammy even whipped up 8 scarves. When Marilyn asked Campbell something about the pajamas, Campbell says, 'Well, now I have 2 dolls and only 1 pair of pajamas.' She also mentioned they could use swim suits. They got a good laugh out of that while I was slightly mortified and made a mental note to have a 'grateful and gracious' lesson later.

Crossing the ice just in time before the sun went down. The cabin didn't take too long to heat up before it was nice and cozy.

Papa John helping the kids 'fish' with their hook-less lures. Blake mostly got his line tangled on his rod and himself. Nonetheless, they had a blast.

Loving the lake in the winter. The temperatures were in the 30's, which made it very mild.

Campbell's smile couldn't have been bigger when Papa John took her for a ride in his Argo.

Pretty frost on the trees.

Got a bite.....

Practically bigger than Blake!

The Northern was a bit over 36 inches and just over the slot.

Garet never disappoints the crowd by cooking up delicious food.

Other than a few perch caught by the other guys, Gabe also caught a 22 inch Northern. He was way overdue for a good weekend of fishing.

 Our cabin neighbors, Sandy & Tim, happened to be up as well & brought Campbell the perfect present. She spent a lot of time making cookies for the guys & herself (for hers, she'd lick off the frosting and re-frost).

Blake gets great pictures of Campbell.

Of course, I end up with many, many, many of ones like this. It's fun to look through them and see what he thinks is important enough for a picture.

Blake helping Daddy drive back to the car at the end of the fun weekend.

It was a very relaxing and beautiful weekend at the lake. We had been talking for years about going up in the winter & I'm really glad we finally did it.

4.5

It's my half birthday, so I get a Snickers for breakfast.