January 2014: Go Gophers!

If there's a reason to party, we will find it! The Gophers made it to a bowl game on New year's Day, and so of course we had to all get together to cheer on our Gophers!!

 

 

 

During half time, we bundled up and spent some great time outside sledding, laughing, and playing!

 

 

The Gophers lost that day, but we sure did have fun anyway!

January 2014: Snowshoeing...or something like that....

When you can't beat it...join it!! The weather, that is.

We are taking advantage of any remotely nice day (and by nice I mean anything that is above 0 degrees) and trying our best to get out of the house, even if only for just a little bit. Last weekend, our adventure was snowshoeing...

We headed to Crow Wing State Park in Brainerd, where Michael had done some research and found out that we could rent snowshoes. So after a good snowfall, we drove into the park and quickly realized we were the ONLY ones who had this great idea for the day (the road into the park hadn't been plowed yet, and we were the only tire tracks that seemed to be on the road). Somehow, we ran into a park ranger, who opened the office and got us some snowshoes, and we at first set out with the girls in the sled and Michael and I wearing our snowshoes...

But given that we seemed to be making the path (rather than there already being one), we quickly found out that the sled was not going to work trying to get through so much snow. So we headed back to the car and decided to give the good ol' backpack carrier and baby bjorn a try...

And after just a short jaunt with Adelyn whining in the backpack and Olivya getting cold in the bjorn from lack of circulation (she was all bundled up and squeezed into the Bjorn so I'm pretty sure there was no blood flowing through her), we ditched the carriers and decided to stay close to the car and just do a little bit of walking/hiking/playing in the snow...

Which was all fun and games, until it ended like this...

A little too much snow...a toddler who was still recovering from having influenza last week...and a little too much chill in the air...we decided to head back to the van, where we put down the back seats and all 4 of us squeezed into the back of the van where we cranked up the heat, and had a picnic lunch in the back of the van. 

Oh - and then we headed home where we spent the rest of the day in our "cozies" enjoying the [semi] warmth of our house and hanging out inside, sipping coffee and hot chocolate. 

At least we tried...

January 2014: Ski Day!!!

Wow. It's been almost 4 years since I've been on skis (before I was pregnant with Adelyn was the last time I went skiing) and man oh man did it feel good to get back on those things!

This past Sunday, Ski Gull in Nisswa gave anyone who brought in a church bulletin from that morning's church service a free day of skiing (another small town perk!!), so we thought it would be the perfect opportunity to take Adelyn skiing for her first time, since we knew she probably wouldn't last long (but who cares because it was free!). Adelyn was SO excited to go skiing, as she had recently seen a Curious George episode where George went skiing and she wanted to be like Curious George.

So we geared up, got on our skis, and spent some time on the level ground getting used to having those crazy things on our feet!!

And then we headed for the bunny hill...

We did a couple of runs where I walked up the bunny hill a bit with her, and then let her "coast" down the hill...

And then I thought it would be a good idea to try to bring her up the tow rope. Well, it took us a couple of tries, but we made it (it was actually exhausting trying to hold her straight since she couldn't reach the rope, and find the strength to hold onto the stupid tow rope)! Adelyn went down the full bunny hill twice (once in-between my legs, and then once while I was skiing backwards)

And after those two runs, just like that, she said, "All Done!! I did it!!!

And that was good enough by me. She was proud of herself. She loved it. And she's 2!!! Maybe next year we will try again and hopefully she will enjoy it some more.

It just happened that same day, my cousin Jenny and her husband Doug were in Nisswa for a family wedding, and so they buzzed on over to Ski Gull to hang out with us for a bit before they headed home. Since Adelyn had enough, Doug and I got to get a few runs in while Jenny and Michael (the non-skiiers of the group) enjoyed a beautiful day outside with the kiddo's! 

After our long weeks of insanely cold weather, it felt like a heat wave on this gorgeous 36 degree day, and it felt like freedom to get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather on the slopes. 

Yep! It was a pretty great day. 

December 2012: Christmas in Texas...

The day after Christmas, we headed to the airport to head down to Texas to spend a week with Michael's family for the holidays! Our flight was cancelled, and then after rebooking onto another flight, that flight was delayed almost 3 hours! It was a long day of traveling for us with a 17 month old...

Luckily, we brought some snacks to keep Addi busy at the airport...

And we even found a play area during our layover in Dallas (which is where our flight was delayed)

We finally arrived in College Station much later than we had planned, and headed straight to Houston to celebrate Josh and Tasha's engagement!!!! I mean...look at these two...so freakin' adorable!! 

We stayed overnight in Houston and got lots of shopping in (at the Galleria), and even made a stop at the planatarium for a show on the Myans. Addi loved hanging out with everyone!

When we got back to College Station, we all celebrated Christmas together...Addi got this adorable backpack filled with toys to travel with from her Grandma...and lots of other fun stuff too.

The next few days, we just hung out...ate lots of good food...and even found some time to take Addi to the Park! She loved being outside and exploring this park!

One of the highlights of our trip this year (of course other than being with family!) was that we got tickets to the Alamo Bowl game, where Michaels all time favorite team (the Longhorns) were playing against Oregon State. 

This was my first real experience with Texas Football...and let's just say I was quite impressed!

We had such a great time! We got to spend the evening with our good friend Cassidy and her roommates, and if that wasn't enough, it was an AWESOME game!!!

And Yes...Texas pulled out the win. Hook 'em!

We flew home on New Year's Eve Day. And even though Addi woke up at 4:30am for our flight, and had no nap all day...she was a great little traveler!

It's always great to see family in Texas, but there's something about coming home that's amazing too!