On Ice

It was almost time for winter cabin weekend, so we had to re-up our skate game. I got those beauties above at the end of last winter season. I’d gotten minor frostbite on my toes by wearing figure skates in the cold too long, so I upgraded to some hockey skates.

It’s been a weird winter of melty-to-supercold, so the days of skate-ability have been limited. I made it out three times so far, but the boys hadn’t. So we found them the right sizes and did some marching around the basement for practice.

When they started racing and chasing while on skates, I figured it was time to move from the carpet to the ice. I gotta say, this is the most effective method of skate-training we’ve tried with them. Before Charlie and I even got on the ice, Henry was halfway across.

Thanks Minneapolis Parks, for all the ice rinks around!

This was MLK jr. Day, and it was verrrry cold. So we didn’t stay long, but a great time was had by all. We hit a coffee shop afterward for some well-earned cocoa and treats.

And then came…the real cold. Friday morning we went to the cabin, and the temperatures, I don’t believe, went above zero. I remember someone at some point looking at the thermometer outside and saying -20.

But did that keep us inside????? No way! Not when there is ice to be on and trails to shovel. Charlie is doing this on skates, which is pretty impressive. He called it The Challenge Course.

Sticks and a puck came out briefly, but the ice was pretty rough this year.

Future goalie?

Derek has been wanting to harness Kona up to give Henry a ride for over a year, so this weekend he made the dream come true.

She started off strong, and Henry had probably the most exciting 30 seconds of his life!

Bella was not about to be left behind.

Little did she know that she would be next. Charlie’s turn!

She was, however, not so enthusiastic about pulling.

But with both dogs hooked in and Emma to lead them, Charlie got a good ride in the end

When they pooped out, I pulled them. When I pooped out, Joe pulled them.

They better never say we never did anything for them!

Angel time

Then the adventure of finding a sled-able spot on the hill

They enjoyed playing bumper tubes

Charlie loved the view from the swing. He liked lining up his swing with the sledder to feel like he was zooming with them

So, with the temperatures as they were, we had to spend most of the time indoors. We made that fun, too, though. Kite string became Lego zipline material, which became an opportunity to limbo to the music!

I was worse than I thought I would be, but my technique improved with pointers and practice

Next day…back outdoors! Charlie and I started a story about searching through the ice labyrinth for hidden riddles and clues to lead us to “the treasure.” Henry happily joined in. Here Charlie’s digging for something on the trail

Expeditioning

Social hour

The boys thought Grandpa could pull them up the steep, bumpy and slippery hill on the toboggan. With Colleen’s and my help, they all made it in the end.

We headed home because we assumed life would go back to normal Monday. But today was a snow day for Charlie. So out came the shovels! They played a game that they were a shoveling service. Did I want to hire them? Heck yes I did!