We were lucky enough to have mostly clear roads for the duration of the trip, and we arrived in MN on a Saturday afternoon. Although there was some snow on the ground, we got most of the snow over the next several days. For the first week, temperatures were nice at about 20-23 degrees. We played outside a lot! Sledding was a huge hit with the kids. There was a perfect sledding hill just across the street from my grandparent's house. The first few times there wasn't enough snow to use the snowmobile, so Chris had to pull Grace up the hill every time. That was quite a workout I'm sure.
Another fun activity was taking walks on the frozen stream. I was a little nervous about it at first, and so was my sister Bree. There were about 6-8 inches of ice, so it was safe to even drive the snowmobile on. We walked up the stream until we reached a beaver dam where the ice started to thin. I never thought I would ever walk on frozen water. I am a big chicken, but I did it. We even used the ice to play broom ball, which is a version of hockey with brooms and a ball. They shoveled the snow off of the ice to make it good and slippery. Everyone had a really great time!
We also had ice fishing on our list of things to do. The day that we went was really cold and a bit windy. We all bundled up really well and drove over to the nearest lake. My dad used the ice auger to drill out small holes for fishing. I was more nervous to be out on the middle of the lake. The stream was so much smaller, and much more shallow. It too had plenty of ice, and we were just fine. Unfortunately, we didn't have much luck with the fish. David, Bree's fiance was the only one to catch anything, and all he caught were small tiny carp. Oh, well. At least we can say we've gone ice fishing once in our lives. In one of the pictures you may see some shacks out on the lake that look like outhouses. Those are fish houses, complete with a stove usually to keep warm while fishing. It's too bad we didn't have one of those!
On Christmas Eve night the boys lit a giant bonfire with brush that had been collected from the summer. It was pretty huge. Grace was super excited to "go see fire". Chris also always enjoys a good fire. We brought out hot dogs and marshmallows for roasting. The kids loved cooking over the fire and eating their "creations". Claire even mentioned that the fire was a good idea so that Santa would be able to find us easier. True, true.
Christmas morning was fun. We woke up to find tons of presents under the tree. We exchanged gifts with each other and then we trailer folk (us, my parents, Kee, Bree, and David) all walked up to the house to exchange more gifts with my grandparents and my Aunt & Uncle and their kids. It snowed most of the day, and we all just relaxed and enjoyed each others company. Dinner was yummy. We had ham, turkey, wild rice, yams, stuffing, irish stuffing, rolls, salad, ginger ale, mashed taters, gravy, and I'm sure I'm forgetting something. It was all good though.
After Christmas it started getting really cold! It was about 5-13 degrees during the day. We still played outside, but it was harder to stay out for very long. It's amazing how different 10 degrees feels from 20. We went to see 2 movies: Avatar and Sherlock Holmes. Both were really good, although I liked Avatar more. We took rides on the snowmobiles and on the four wheeler. The kids loved going for rides. They cried when we made them go back inside the house, even while their little cheeks were turning purple. We also had enough snow so that when we went sledding, the snowmobile could take people back up the hill. That was a really nice change for Chris!
The drive home was done in 2 days. We stayed in Billings, MT overnight, and then made it home the next night. We were very lucky to again have great traveling weather and clear roads. It could have been miserable, but it all turned out really well. The girls did great in the car. We really can't complain. They handled it all extremely well. The night before we left we all went to a Pizza Hut for dinner. Grace had an accident that made it impossible for her to continue wearing her pants. I had also left the diaper bag at the house along with my purse, where I always stash one extra diaper. Luckily we were able to find one freezing cold diaper hiding in the van. Poor child had to ride home pantless in 9 degree weather!
Overall, we had a really great trip! We all had a blast playing in the snow and arctic cold temperatures. It was nice to see my grandparents again and spend time with them over Christmas. I'm sure they were exhausted from taking care of all 17 of us that were there. They did so much to make sure that we all had everything that we needed. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for a great Christmas!
1 comment:
Wow!!! Look at all that snow. Looks like a lot of fun.
Tyler
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