A Winter WonderFUL Land

We were very fortunate to bring in the New Year with family in Wisconsin. We met my parents, sister, brother-in-law and niece in Mishicot during winter break. It was like a mini family reunion as we were able to spend time with aunts and uncles on both my mom and dad's side of the family.

The first thing we did when we arrived was put the kids to work building this 20 foot tall snowman. Just kidding! Okay, so we didn't really build Frosty, but we couldn't help but to stop and take pictures of him. We found him in Mishicot, at the edge of someone's yard. He's amazing and very cleverly built. It's hard to see all the details in picture but his buttons are made out of black plastic greenhouse pots, his eyes are plastic cups, his nose a funnel, and his hat is a big 10 gallon pail.

Keith took the kids sledding every day, and when they weren't sledding they were swimming in the resort's pool. I took the picture below because it showed a funny contrast of swimming when it's 11 degrees outside. Mac is in his swimsuit at the pool, looking out the window surrounded by snow. If you look close enough you can also see the snow and the water being reflected in the window.

The week we spent in Wisconsin was a nice balance between recreation and relaxation. While the boys were recreating, I was relaxing. We also enjoyed spending time with family while there. It was great seeing my immediate family but also wonderful spending time with my aunts and uncles too. Being at my aunt and uncle's house brought back so many childhood memories. Lots of stories were told and my sister and I reminisced about our childhood spent in Wisconsin.

My dad was able to surprise his brother and sister with his visit, and my mom surprised her sister. The above picture is my Aunt Linda, my mom's sister, and my Aunt Mary who is married to my dad's brother.

Most of our entrainment came from my 10 month old niece, who is an absolute joy to be around. She is at the walking/crawling stage. She's gotten to be a pro at walking but is more comfortable crawling. Right before she walks over to you, she does a little dance and toddles on over. She is so adorable, and is quite smitten with her cousins. She alone was worth the 8 hour drive up north!