Strong End to Our Up North Break

We were planning to stay up north until Saturday, which also happened to be Gma's birthday. But for the second year in a row, Mother Nature did not have Mother Johnson in mind and threw us a curve ball. Friday's weather was spectacular, but an ice and snow storm was supposed to blow in early Saturday. After a lot of thought and some repair work on the snowmobile trailer to get the running lights working, we decided to leave late Friday afternoon - after the Grinch Trail. Unfortunately, that meant bailing out before Gma's birthday.

While not the same, Auntie and I walked down to the grocery store that morning to grab a birthday cake and some flowers. Then we had an impromptu celebration at lunch - because you guys, Grandma is pretty awesome. After lunch, we finished packing up and I promised Quinn that I'd take her to the rink by Gma and Gpa's to skate. All the kids wanted to go, so Mike told me that he'd drop us (and all the gear) off and then head back to load up.

Instead, the call of the ice was too much for him and he ended up skating with us. (For the record, I totally knew that would happen.) The rink was in perfect condition, and for most of the time, it was just our little family out there. We had so much fun skating around together. And enjoyed our group giggle as we had to make a quick stop on the way home to retrieve the puck Mike had shot into the street.

After skating, we got ready to head out to my cousin Harry and his partner Brenda's house for the annual Grinch Trail. Otto, Hux, Milo, and Beau were there, as well as Brenda's three grandkids (who are about the same age as our kids). It was a great crew and having so many kids makes it even more fun! The big kids were such good helpers to the littles - and we are in the perfect age zone. Even though Leighton and Fiona are 9, it's still as magical for them as for the littler ones. [Mike missed the trail as he ran back to my parents' house to load everything up. You know, since it didn't load itself while we skated.]

First up was Present Valley, where all the kids picked presents out of the trees. Then we entered Grinch Woods, where the Grinch had hidden the presents he stole from under the Christmas trees. Each of the kids had a bigger present to find in the woods. We discovered a paper cutout of the Grinch in the woods, which made the group laugh. Then, as we exited the woods, there was The Grinch (or Harry in a Grinch mask). Milo was not a fan, until he realized it was his Uncle Harry. Our kids thought it was great fun. We finished up the trail with a stroll through Candy Cane Forest ... and words cannot describe the number of candy canes at my house right now.

After the trail, we went into Harry and Brenda's house so the kids could check out their loot. Then we grabbed a delicious dinner of sloppy joes, hot chocolate, and goodies before hitting the road. The rest of the kids were just starting to watch the original Grinch movie and our kids were NOT happy about missing out. We ran back to Gma and Gpa's to get Yogi, the trailer, empty tanks and put on pjs, and buckle in for the long trek home.

The roads were perfect. The kids were near perfect. I yelled at them for the first time (either direction) when we were less than 10 minutes from home. And it was a one-time yell. I will take it! We got home just before 9pm and unloaded enough to put the kids to bed. I give them credit for being real troopers - because their Santa presents were under our tree and we told them they could not open them until the next morning. There was not a word of complaint.

After we put them to bed, Mike and I unloaded everything into the basement. Where we couldn't see it and could deal with it later. Despite the knowledge of Santa presents, the kids even slept in a bit Saturday morning and we got up with them so they could open. Everyone was delighted. Except Yogi and me - who almost died when we went out on the deck to let him out. It was such a skating rink. We ended up going out through the garage because I was honestly positive we would both fall down the stairs.

Moral of the story: Good thing we didn't test Mother Nature. Driving home on Saturday would have been terrible!