Adie's #1!

At least one winter Sunday a year we make a trek to the ski hill...and nope, I DO NOT ski! My nieces are the crazy kids who enjoy making me a nervous wreck :) This weekend was warm enough and the ski hill close enough to make it the perfect day to be cheerleaders with cowbells! (Although, nice days make for icy conditions and I worry the whole time...but who are we kidding, I worry all the time anyway!) Here's pics of the #1 skier in the 6-year-old division! She is the "most experienced" of the kids from her race team this year! At one point in one of her races, we thought she might even catch up to the girl in front of her!

Squirrel.

Ok, so I am playing with my camera a little more this week...here's a squirrel hanging out in a sunny spot it the trees this week...before snowfall...

Swan Park? Take 2

Note to friends looking to go to Swan Park...do not go in the afternoon...THERE ARE NO SWANS. Not one. Not on the river, not in the yards, nowhere to be seen! Feeding time is in the morning around 10 a.m. and that seems to be the only BEST time to be there. Probably between 10-11 a.m. to be safe. There were other ducks and geese, but not quite what we came for, Riley was bummed! On the plus side, this duck seems to be there a lot...there's a pair...and they are called Swedish Blue ducks? A friend of mine identified them for me...they are likely domestic "pets" that maybe got away or live nearby.

Arboretum Birthday!

So there were no birds out and about to test my zoom, so we didn't get the pics I really wanted at the Arboretum, but it was such a nice day outside and a perfect day for a hike in the woods and dinner with my family for my Birthday. It was nearly the perfect day...great weather, great company, Packers lost, Patriots won...And my kids were even pretty darn well behaved all day! Thanks everyone who made my day super spectacular! Reviews of the family style dinner at the Arboretum are mixed...it was PACKED and they were overwhelmed so some of that might have been because of the overload. Food items was not terribly warm, and they ran out of some stuff...but since they started it a few weeks ago, attendance was almost quadrupled...still some kinks to work out, but the food tasted great! And the views were beautiful :)

The whole weekend was really great, actually...Date night with Josh on Saturday...crab legs and Mocking Jay in the theater...the actually movie theater, like not my couch! And today the kids and I went to the dentist (while Josh stayed home and cleaned!) and we had no cavities! Then I baked banana bread and Riley and I are off to Feed My Starving Children after dinner with her church group. (I realize the irony of feeding starving kids right after eating...and baking...just makes me appreciate it more.) Thursday night Riley gets to go to FMSC again with Josh and his work group. Happy she has that opportunity and that she's excited for it!