Sledding at the Cabin 2012

Just like last year, and the year before that, (and every single year before that) we went up to the cabin for a sledding adventure. 

Madee was amazingly good while we were up there. I think she already loves the cabin. 

(Thanks for the hat Jen!)

David attempted to play "Angry Birds" with his nieces and nephews around.

What you can't see is that in David's other arm is Delilah, and she is screaming. 

We were shocked at how little snow there was when we got there on Friday afternoon. Usually there is several feet of snow on the deck and you can't see the railing. It started snowing that evening and kept on all day Saturday. Our cars were totally burried. It snowed almost two feet while we were up there.

It was really coming down, but that didn't stop us. 

Tyler was so brave this year. He went down every hill the boys made. 

Jaxen didn't want to sled. He just wanted to play in the snow. 

David and Kati were feeling really awesome in their snow gear. My mom got Kati those snow pants. They were a girls size XL. David's coat was an old work coat of Tim's. 

David made my hat.

Yes, I said David. 

Madee didn't mind the snow, unless it got in her face. Lesley's mom got her a really cute snow suit that kept her nice and warm (Thanks Sandy!)

Poor Evan... I don't remember why he was crying.

Many a snow ball fight broke out. 

(check out Jaxen's face in the bottom picture...)

My Dad and I helped some of the kids build a snow man.

With a mustache. 

Madee started sucking on her zipper and began dozing off. What a trooper. 

We celebrated Chris's birthday while we were up there. That was the only candle we could find....

We played this game again after we put the kids to bed. My Dad drew the bottom picture. I think it's supposed to be me...

The stupid fly that kept attacking people, until it died.

The next morning, the kids found all of our pictures from our game and Hazel read the captions aloud. They thought they were as funny as we did. 

Pretty blonde baby. 

Sunday afternoon, we went out for one last sledding trip before having lunch and going home. Hazel crashed into a tree....with her face. There was a moment of panic when Isaac came in carrying a blood covered Hazel. We got her cleaned up and assessed the damage. Her teeth were uneven in the front and her lip was bleeding pretty bad, so Jessi and Isaac took her to a medical center nearby and she got a few stitches in her lip. 

Luckily they were just baby teeth that were hit, and her permanent teeth weren't damaged. 

I don't think the picture does it justice. She was pretty darn swollen. 

Poor girl...

Other than Hazel getting personal with a tree, it was a great trip to the cabin. 

Fall Cabin Trips

We went to the cabin a couple of times this fall. The first time was with Tim's brother, Rich's family. The boys spent most of the time elk hunting, while the rest of us stayed at the cabin and did a whole lot of nothing. Which was just what I needed.

Madee enjoyed her first trip to the cabin.

Tim played a couple of intense games of "go fish" with the kids.

The second trip was with my whole family. We go up every year for Swiss Days, and even though Madee was still pretty small, we decided we didn't want to miss it. Okay, maybe Tim wanted to miss it (he just doesn't love craft fairs, what can you do?), but the rest of us wanted to go and he graciously obliged... it may have something to do with the fact that he got to stay up there an extra day and go hunting again with his brothers.

The kids spent a lot of time out in the woods getting nice and dirty. 

We went to Swiss Days, ate breakfast, and watched the parade. 

Tyler and Hazel decided to join forces and collect parade candy together. This was their stash. It even had a frisbee for a lid. 

We spent a lot of time just relaxing at the cabin.

Hazel and Tyler and Jessi's twins slept on air mattresses in one of the family rooms together. They were really excited about having a sleepover and I'm really surprised how well they did.

Although all three of my kids ended up in my bed by morning.

My Dad and my Baby.
Can you see the handmade bookmark on his lap?
Jessi made it for him when she was really little. I love that he still uses it.

After we got our kids to bed each night, the adults came upstairs and played games. 

One of the games we played resulted in these awesome pictures.
Its a game we learned from some friends.
It might be the funniest game ever.
Maybe I'll explain how to play it another day.

When my Grandma passed away, I was so worried my Dad and his siblings would decide to sell the cabin.
I'm so grateful they decided to keep it and we still have a place to escape to every now and then. I have so many fun memories there and I love being able to share that with my own kids.