Change of Scenery

The day after Christmas, we had big, big plans. We were meeting the cousins at the sledding hill!! The joy of seeing each might have been even greater than anticipated - and we had been looking forward to this day for weeks. The tall cousins stood at the top of the hill, monitoring for injuries and catching up. The kids did all the things together and could not have been happier. Quite honestly, neither could the tall people. We have missed each other deeply.

As the true oldest boy cousin, Declan modeled all sorts of skills to the rest of the little boys. He proudly showed off his snowboarding skills. And then he stood on Mike's back like he would stand on a snowboard, Mike laid on a tube, and down the hill they went. Somehow unscathed. 

[Anna and Liv - I can't control my boys. Hang out with us at your own risk!]

About ten seconds after we got there, Hux plopped himself in the sled with Fiona, flashed her his patented smile, and the two of them had a blast zipping up and down the hill. Milo was having the best imagination day and the girls thoroughly enjoyed walking through his magical make-believe world with him. Sweet Beau was not quite sure about this cousin gang and thought he would hang with his mama instead. The girls did manage to pull him away on occasion to give Liv a break. 

It was a gorgeous day, so we didn't have too many complaints about being cold (other than poor Fiona, whose boot came off, making her step in the snow). But shortly after noon, we figured we should start moving home before the troops became hangry. Anna asked the kiddos if they wanted to play at the playground "for two minutes" before we left and off they ran. Spoiler alert: it was not two minutes. But holy smokes was it entertaining. Somehow, Dec, Hux, and Otto got into the biggest wrestling match. They could not stop giggling. Then they recruited Quinn, Fiona, and Milo and they all attacked Mike. It was Pure Joy. [Mike was Pure Exhausted.]

We swung through the drive thru for tacos on the way back to Gma and Gpa's because everyone was starving after all that fresh air and exercise. It was just the most fun morning and we were so thankful for good weather so we could be outside. We were also thankful for tacos and potato oles!

After lunch, Mike and I started packing up all our stuff while Auntie introduced the children to her favorite I Love Lucy episodes. No, we weren't heading home (yuck! No one was ready to go back). As part of our family Christmas, Mike and I surprised the kids by renting a cabin on Deer Lake in GR for a few days. 

Since we have been home forever, we  wanted to make the most of being away for Christmas. Auntie is temporarily working and living at Gma and Gpa's, so we worried that things were going to get crowded quickly. With the cabin, we could still be up north, together, and having a little breathing room for everyone. It worked out perfectly.

I was sweating it a bit when we had the car fully loaded up for our 4pm check-in and still had not received instructions from the owner. But thankfully, just a few minutes after 4, she called Mike and we were set. Mike and I ran our gear to the cabin and got everything unpacked and settled. Then we went back to my parents' for pizza dinner before we loaded up the kids and headed to our new digs. 

The kids LOVED the cabin. They were so excited to explore, check out all the rooms and cabinets and corners, and stake claim to their beds. There were two bedrooms upstairs - one with three beds and one with a bigger bed and a small bathroom. Fiona got her own bedroom, while Q and D planned to share the other. Mike and I took the downstairs bedroom. 

After they explored, I ran everyone through the shower where there were strong opinions about the smell of well water! On that first night, Mike ended up sleeping upstairs as the kids weren't too sure about this separate floor sleeping arrangement. Thankfully everyone got a good night's sleep so we could enjoy our next few days of cabin life.