Ice Ice Baby

After a day inside, we wanted to get out and explore on Sunday. I put Mike in charge of the plan and he decided we were going to check out Cedar Lake Farm regional park in New Prague. After lunch, we grabbed our stuff and headed out. In hindsight, we should not have been distracted by the beautiful sunshine and instead should have looked at the temperature. Warmer coats would have been a good idea!

However, despite getting cold faster than we expected (that wind was brutal), it was a great place to explore. Our favorite discovery is that the lake was frozen over enough at the shoreline that we could slide around on the ice a little bit. Wow have we missed skating! You have never seen five people so happy to slide on ice in their boots. The kids could not stop smiling and would have been content to stay at the lakeshore the entire time. 

However, their parents felt differently and wanted to explore the trails in the woods. As we followed the trail, Teacher Mike came out in full force. We stopped for a lesson on barb wire and why you never ever ever [Quinn!] climb wire that looks like it. Then we stopped again so he could point out deer rub on a tree trunk. He asked if anyone knew what it was and all three kids answered immediately that it was deer rub. I honestly don't think I've ever seen Mike look so proud. No one can say that Teacher Mike is skimping on the life skill basics (How To Spot a Deer. Why to Avoid Barb Wire.). 

We climbed a big tree, accidently wandered through a bunch of prickers, discovered mom's secret talent of de-prickering people, and checked out more ice along the shore. However the wind was getting to all of us and we were cold! We hustled back to the car as fast as ten legs could hustle and turned up the heat.

When we got home, everyone was very excited to discover that I had added hot chocolate and marshmallows to the week's grocery delivery. Mike even added some peppermint liquor to the adult cups and it was quite delicious! It warmed us up nicely!

Then after cocoa, it was time. We finally let them watch National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Fiona loved it and belly laughed multiple times. Dec smiled a few times, but it might have been a little over his head. Quinn watched the entire movie straight-faced. I caught her cracking a smile once - but she knew I caught her. So she was careful to not smile again. 

They all claimed that they enjoyed it and said they would watch it again. But sheesh - tough crowd! Maybe it just couldn't compete with the discovery of ice and the thought of lacing our skates back up!