Vacation Week One (March 19-24)

After John's last day with YL, we ventured off for our first-ever vacation as a family.  We have not ever had a family vacation that did not include YL or our extended family.  So, we were just so excited!  Our dear friends, Dave and Shelly, have offered their beautiful cabin to us all year.  We never found chance to get away for a until now!  

We are so thankful to Dave and Shelly and their whole family for lending beautiful lake home in Minong, WI to us for a whole week!  It was a blessing to the four of us!  with the snow starting to melt, we weren't sure what to expect, but we had plenty of fun playing inside, enjoying the outdoors, and resting.  In addition to the end of Young Life for us, this week was spring break so Logan didn't have preschool and we didn't have any of our other normal weekly activities.  It was the perfect week to be away together!

We headed outside the first chance we got.  The snow was mostly turned to slush but the boys didn't mind one bit.

Afterall, puddles are soooo fun!

The boys were totally soaked but it was well worth it!

The boys got to walk on the lake with John - it was a little slushy on top, but it was still frozen.

I love this photo of Bennett with his sly little grin.  The boys loved the playset, even in the winter!

We found lots of fun toys to play with inside and out.  The cabin belongs to a family who have lots of kids around all year, so there was plenty to explore!  Logan loved this pedal tractor.

Inside, we did a lot of this (laying around and relaxing)...

and this (playing with the train table in the loft)...

and this (making puzzles).

And Bennett spent a lot of time with his new buddy, Buzz Lightyear.  On our first day, Bennett took a tumble outside and scraped his nose in a couple places and his upper lip.  Poor Benny!  It didn't slow him down one bit.

It began snowing on Tuesday and didn't stop...we couldn't believe it!  Afterall...this was "spring break"! Haha!  We didn't have any computers along and hadn't checked any news or weather reports, so we didn't know the storm was coming.  It was the perfect picture of Northern Wisconsin in the winter.

While John shoveled, the boys played on the deck and had the best time!  John snapped this photo while they were out.  I was inside enjoying a super hot bubble bath and a yummy latte (oh yes...the espresso machine of course came along to the cabin!).

Bennett is so funny.  He loves being out, but doesn't really want to be "in" the snow, just wants to walk in it, kick it, and stomp around.  And, mostly, he wants to do it on his own agenda: don't mess with the toddler in boots!  He has a mission...that only he knows.

There he goes...

John and Logan had a great time sledding down the driveway!  It was so beautiful!

The snow continued on through Wednesday night, dumping somewhere between 10 and 14 inches of snow!  We spent most of Wednesday inside because of the hard snow and wind.  We ran out of eggs and milk because we had planned on taking a mid-week trip to the store.  We were totally stuck with drifting snow around the car, in the driveway and on the private road.  John even called the township to see when the road would be plowed...we learned that they don't plow it!  Ah!  It was an adventure!

We had lots of laughs...

silly boys!

We played new games,

and played hide and seek!

Here is Logan in his cute little nook.  He has such a comfy, cozy, soft bed to sleep in.  Bennett slept in a crib in another room and John and I had our own room.  It was so nice to be able to spread out and for all of us to get good rest!

On Thursday, we woke up to the sun shining on all the fresh new snow!  The boys couldn't wait to go out!  We had such a great time and enjoyed the sun after a day of being inside.  In many places, the snow was drifted up past our knees, making it hard to trudge through.  Bennett and I came in early because I got tired of carrying him through all the snow.  John and Logan did some sledding.

We decided Thursday was a good day to leave...if we could get out!  John and Logan spotted the neighbors walking down the road as they headed in for lunch.  It turns out, they were on their way to their cabin for the weekend and got stuck on the private road.  John went out to the road to help dig their car out and then they called a plow to come clear the private road and our two driveways.  We were out!

While John was out getting the roads cleared, Logan fell asleep during his "quiet time".