Freezin' For a Reason

Team Packers vs Vikings

We took a vacation day from work, school, and day care on Friday and headed north. And man, did we all need it! We needed some time together with fewer schedules, fewer to-do lists, and more cousins, aunties, and grandparents! We had two reasons for going north, which conveniently fell on the same weekend. We were joining Mike's sister and her family to do our second Polar Plunge with them. And we were celebrating cousin Otto's first birthday. One event had their parents jumping in a lake and the other had cake. The blondes and the boy approved!

It was 60 degrees last weekend in GR. And then Mother Nature remembered it was March, sent a cold front and about a foot of snow, and sat back and laughed. It did feel like a more authentic "polar" plunge though. Last year, it was 12 degrees (air temp) when we jumped. So we gained about 20 degrees this year and hung out in the mid-30s. It was a beautiful sunny day, which helped it not feel so cold when we were waiting. But the ice was in horrible shape from the crazy weather, so it was a very very long trek from the hole to the changing tents. On ice. So not easy to run (my nephew found a way ... the rest of us didn't want to fall!).

My sister and dad were brave and brought all three kids out to watch. We jumped in the second group, so were done pretty early. Mike and I jumped with our nephew Ben and made a big enough splash to get the announcers on the platform wet. Ha! I enjoyed not having to wait out on the bay this year, but the water felt colder. Maybe the really cold air temps from last year helped us out. I was already frozen before I jumped ...

Fiona was so impressed by the plunge and insists she wants to jump next year. We'll see if she continues to want to in a year. I don't think she knows how cold that water is. But if she does, Uncle Kyle seems willing to help her and he will be able to hold her up high so she doesn't get too wet.

After we got dressed and started to thaw, Mike and I were ready to go.  But our kids rebelled. They were having too much fun outside. So they built a snowman - which conveniently took care of Fiona's new year's goal (that I was worried about since the snow melted too early!).

Then today, we got to go celebrate Otto's birthday on our way out of town. The girls had a great time exploring his toys, visiting with relatives, and snacking on the awesome spread of food. Declan was so excited to see his buddy, but has yet to master the finer art of birthdays and gift giving. He really liked all of Otto's presents and didn't understand why we kept taking them out of his hands and giving them back to Otto. Game over when Otto got a basketball. Full on pout! Being one is no joke - but it is rather funny!

Action shot

Giant splash

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