The Frozen Tundra

One of the things I wanted to do with the kids while we were in Green Bay was to take them skating. The older kids had skated before on, like, a plastic rink, which was soooo different then the actual thing! So, NK found us a great place to go real skating. And the kids loved it! And, for Florida kids, they did really well. No major spills! Hubby opted not to skate. The last time he did, he fell so hard that the ice shook! I think that was before we were even married.

I grew up skating, so that with the roller skating we have done in the past, it came back pretty quick. There were two girls at the rink who were fabulous. One of which was EG's age. I think EG was a little perplexed by that! Although, I didn't have to help her, really, at all. I just kind of hung by her in the beginning. The rest of the kids just went round and round.

I am glad we had the opportunity!

That morning we were able to go shopping at the Packer Pro Shop for the kids' Christmas gifts from Gpa and NK. And that was big fun. It is so crazy all of the things that they make and sell with the Packer logo. We went back a couple of days later just to look around a little more . . . 

We Arrive

Traveling with the kids seemed a whole lot easier this time around. I know it is because they are older. And we have done this a time or two. But, I also had a pretty good system. Although it still needs some improvement. We went from Harry Potter on CD to reading. The reading part didn't work out so well though, it made the majority of them car sick. We had coloring books and crossword puzzles and if all else failed we had our math books. And then, towards the end of the day, they could watch a movie. They opted to listen to Harry Potter quite a bit. Not sure why we never did the books on CD thing before.

We didn't see snow until we got into Wisconsin. And we made great time. We got to the hotel in plenty of time to shower and meet G Pa and NK for dinner. EG was the only one who really wanted to check out the snow. It was super cold. Mostly because of the wind. But, I braved the weather and took her out. She LOVED it.

She didn't have gloves but grabbed a lot of snow. She ran in it and tried to make snowballs. There was some ice on the hilly driveway and she loved sliding down it on her feet. It took everything I had to keep up with her. 

EG in front of the hotel with the Moose. The hotel's Moose, not our Moose. ;) There was a little pond that had frozen over. She had to slide on that ice. Unfortunately, around the edges of the pond was slush and she kind of fell in it. But, she didn't want to go in. She kept playing with wet feet. The girl is made of steel!! Such a zest for life that I pray she never looses. Restrains a little bit though!

Our hotel was within walking distance of the Stadium. In fact, had the Packers won the week before, we would have been surrounded by out of town fans at the hotel.

Loved the snow!

Loved the bear. The cold never affected her. Grandma was hoping she had shoes on. She did for the first day or so. Eventually she was running from the hotel to the car without them. What's a little frost bite??

The hotel is amazing and we love staying when we are there. EG loved the bear inside too.

We met G Pa and NK for dinner at a Mexican restaurant and enjoyed just getting caught up. We were looking forward to experiencing, in the next couple days, somethings that you can only do in the north. Stay tuned . . . 

Indiana Windmills

First, this is a disclaimer: I am pretty sure I took more pictures of the windmills in Indiana than I did of my kids.

The windmills just really blow my mind. I remember them from the last time we drove up through Indiana. Just looking at the miles and miles of them reminds me of some Syfy movie. They are massive! I was spinning a yarn as we were driving through them and the kids said I had quite the imagination. I envisioned them like aliens taking over the world. Sort of like transformers and if we watched them hard enough and long enough we would actually see them move. Almost like an army. Bending over to ransack a farm house.

To say I am intrigued by them would be an understatement. I really can't explain it. My pictures, with my phone, traveling at 79 miles an hour, just don't do the scene justice. I am not a big Syfy fan so my imagination is quite limited. But, I did entertain myself and the kids for the 15-20 or so minutes that we were able to see them. It definitely broke up the monotony of the Indiana farm countryside. . . .

Our Wisconsin Trip

This is how my oldest arrived in Wisconsin, Birkenstocks and capri leggings. Not sure what she was expecting. It didn't take long for her to find shoes that covered her whole foot and pants that covered her whole leg.

Hopefully in the next couple of days I will be posting pictures and thoughts of our adventures in the Frozen Tundra. It had not snowed until about a week before our travel date. And the weather, while we were there was unseasonably warm! It was a wonderful trip seeing the sights, visiting with an old friend and spending lots of time with Gpa and NK.

Stay tuned for my amateur pictures of the winter wonderland. And what Florida kids do in the snow . . . 

Part 3, Wedding Prep

The bride wanted EG at the wedding site at 3:30 so she could get ready with the rest of the girls.  They were so sweet and willing to do her hair. She acted like such a big girl!  I think she thought everyone was there for her. 

The photographer was taking pictures the whole time so I tried to get in a get a couple with my phone.

When the bridesmaids saw my other girls, they offered to do their hair as well.  Each girl had a braid somewhere and then the hair was looped in a loose bun.  It was soooo cute on each one of them.  They each got a flower in their hair as well.

EG kept telling me she was ready to get her picture taken.  I kept telling her she needed to wait for the bride!  While we got EG ready for the pictures, Boop hung out with the groomsmen and the big girls went back to the hotel to get dressed.

Boop and the groom.

As I mentioned earlier, Boop had the best time with these guys.  The groom loves my kids and treated them so well.  And so did all his buddies.  Boop had to spend over 3 hours with them getting ready, hanging out and getting pictures done.  Much of the time he was alone with them and they told him stories and asked him all kinds of questions.  They included him in their silly games and tricks.  They even had him go get his sunglasses so he could be part of all of them singing "You Lost That Lovin' Feelin" (Top Gun movie) to the bride.  (Boop ended up bowing out of that at the reception though.)  One guy pinned wings on his shirt during the recpetion.  Just a great, great bunch of guys!

All my people clean up pretty good!!  We had a nice time at the reception.  But, it was about 10:30pm and all the kids looked at us and told us they were ready to go.  It was a long, fun day hanging with family and new friends.  And new family . . . .

St. Augustine

As I am sure I have mentioned numerous times before, our book club is studying Florida History.  One of the field trips we decided to take as a group was to the oldest city in the United States, St. Augustine.  Our family has been there a number of times.  But, I will have to admit, that after reading quite a few books on the history of our state and this city, it made the a whole trip a new experience!

We have read a couple of historical fiction books about the area but also a couple of factual books about the city and surrounding areas as well.  It really brought the sites and architecture and the whole city to life.  

Flagler College.  More about that later.

The Castillo de San Marcos.

The Discovery Cross.

Shooting the canon of the fort.

The view from atop the Castillo.

In one of the historical fiction books we read, it told about the time the Spanish town inhabitants of St. Augustine had to stay in the Castillo while their soldiers fought the British.  Hundreds of people had to stay in the courtyard of the fort for many weeks.  In the story, a canon misfired and hurt the main character's father (if I remember correctly).  Anyway, Boop found this misfired cannon and was certain it was from the event in our book.

The courtyard where towns people would stay during war time.  Osceola stayed in the fort briefly.

Lunch in the park.

An old church across the street.  Its windows were Tiffany glass.

The architecture was phenomenal.

The old Ponce de Leon Hotel built by Henry Flagler is now the home of Flagler College.

Statue of Henry Flagler.  He spent much of his time and money developing Florida.  We read a great book called The Two Henrys about Flagler and Plant!

As you can see from the pictures, the campus is small but beautiful.  The kids want to go to college there!  I can't say I blame them.

Henry Flagler built the above church in memory of his daughter who died.  He and many other family members are buried there.  I can't even imagine attending a Sunday service there.  It is just so beautiful.

We had a great day with friends and I think learned just a little bit more about our state history.  What a neat experience to go to a familiar place with a little bit different perspective. . . .