city on the water. We cross a creek and a river multiple times a day just driving around in town. We should have ample opportunity to go ice fishing-something the kids find fascinating. That said I have zero desire to go ice fishing. With the use of a few k'nex, a laundry basket, and a healthy dose of imagination Hans went ice fishing yesterday. He made a hole in the ice, he had a shack, a pole, and he even caught a fish. Good. I'm glad that's been taken care of...for now.
Once warmed we headed back out into the sunny cold. The kids happily watched the planes get pushed into line to refuel and then several take off for home.
1. Here is a plane coming in for a landing and above the tree line you can see another approaching. (Also behind the larger plane you can see a beer truck from Airventure. :)
2. Hans posing by a plane he liked. He's a future pilot for sure.
3. Small planes like these are used for pest/varmint control especially out west. Here a pilot shows off some of his kills by using the pelts to cover his prop. This was the kids' favorite plane.
4. The parking lots have had been cleared creating a mountain of snow. It offered a great play place for the kids and a great viewing platform for the adults.
Today Nathan turned 30! How does one celebrate such a milestone? Had this happened last year I'd probably have hosted a party perhaps even a surprise party. I'd have taken great delight in bringing Nathan to the center of attention. Instead, to Nathan's delight, we celebrated in a much more low key manner. After a normal Wednesday school schedule he returned home to find giddy children eagerly waiting to give him homemade gifts, lasagna cooking in the oven, and a cake that his wife had made that the kids had picked out from a picture online. Since putting the kids to bed he's had several phone calls from family and friends with birthday wishes. Maybe it's not a not a grand day but a happy day, a content day, and most certainly a blessed day. Happy Birthday Nathan, your wife and kids love you. 1. Nathan with his airplane cake.
2. Close up of the cake.
3 & 4. Unwrapping presents. We made him t-shirts by coloring with regular crayons on sandpaper and then ironing the image onto white t-shirts. The kids created their own pictures for Nathan (Lyd had a little help.). He's now the proud owner of five custom created t-shirts. :)
The cheese maker, Franz, explained the process while he worked. The kids favorite parts were watching the machine chop the pressed curd back into pieces/curds and, of course, sampling the freshest curds possible. If you're ever in the area on Monday or Wednesday morning we'd recommend a visit to Union Star. 1. The whey has been pressed out of the cheese chunks.
2. A close up of the machine that chops the chunks into curds.
3. "Cheese!"
4. Hopefully a video clip.
and he had a five day mid-January break. Although we couldn't play outside as we might have on a usual snow day we did find things to occupy our days. We did some baking, made projects, watched movies, and even ventured to McDonald's for lunch and play land on Friday since
-3 isn't that cold. Here are a few other things we did to keep busy. 1. I printed several coloring/activity pages and made the kids each a "cold day book." Hans is showing you his cowboy page after he'd finished coloring.
2. Evan and Nathan played around with Evan jumping the laundry until Nathan got a shot of Evan mid air. It was an excuse to run indoors and since it's digital we just delete the other 11 or so shots that didn't turn out as well.
3. Lydia disappeared in the afternoon of day two and was found putting herself down for a nap on the couch. I'm pretty certain this has only happened about twice since she was able to crawl. She makes a snuggly picture.
4. Cold or not cooking and baking are always way I like to beat the boredom. This was supper on Friday night. It's just Shepherd's Pie but I used the various sizes of cookie scoops to make the snowmen. The eyes are peppercorns, the noses a sliver of carrot, the arms green beans, and the scarves some cheese.
#1: Not only can he draw Dad but he can label him as well. (I like the true to life depiction of the length of his legs!)
#2: "Reading" to Lydia
happens almost daily as he memorizes more and more books off the shelf.
No matter what age he may be one of Nathan's favorite parts of Christmas is going home. The end of last week five of the "originals" and their families all gathered to celebrate.
(Andrea is in the middle of a two year adventure in Paraguay via the Peace Corp. and joined us on the phone for awhile.) Each of the kids seems to love the rest, relaxation, and recharge that time at home brings. One of the things that is so fun about us all being together is that we all stay with my in-laws. The house was built for a family with six kids and room to grow so we all can fit. Staying together means we stay up late visiting and laughing together and then are right back at it in the morning with the kids waking various aunts, uncles, and grandparents. The days fly by and we all are eager to repeat them again the next holiday.
Picture 1: The Whole Happy Family! (Except Lydia who was cranky right then.)
Picture 2: A candid picture of Nathan and I both smiling, looking at the camera, and without kids. Rare. (Yes, he grew a beard for Christmas. ;o)
Picture 3. The Christmas cookie spread. The huge platter up close is what my mother-in-law starts with and the four containers behind are what her daughters-in-law brought to share. Mmm.
