Winter Fun!

Love it or hate it - Wisconsin has long, cold, snowy winters. Since we've been away from the cold for the last 6.5 years we can still enjoy the beauty of the season. This past weekend we had the opportunity to enjoy some local outdoor activities. There was a "winter festival" at a park near our house on Saturday - we checked out the snow sculptures...

After the park we were able to attend the "5th Annual Skating/Sledding Party" at a neighbor's house. Winter isn't exactly conducive to meeting your neighbors, but we were lucky to be invited to this party to meet some of our island neighbors. Through the grapevine we had heard that we had a neighbor that "flooded their backyard for a skating rink" every winter and had a big party. That wasn't an accurate description.

This rink was high tech - complete with guard rails and a fence to block flying hockey pucks. There are even flood lights to keep it lit up at night! There is a heated shed filled with skates where you can lace up. Every Wednesday night the men of the neighborhood get together to play broom ball on the ice. The early afternoon hours were set aside for kid/family skate; while later the men took to the ice for a serious game of hockey.

Unfortunately, I didn't try skating (I haven't ice skated in about 20 years) because of my ever shifting center of gravity, but both the girls tried it and loved it!

It took Maddie about 5 minutes to get the hang of it. She pushed a chair around to help her keep her balance, but then was ready to go on her own. Go figure, little Miss Independent!

It only took Alex a few minutes to keep her balance. She had a blast!

There was also a small sledding hill that the girls took full advantage of. When you got cold you could go inside the garage and warm up with a bowl of chili and hot chocolate. We were able to meet a ton of neighbors and we are very excited to be living in this neighborhood. After having such wonderful neighbors and community in Nashville, it was exactly what we were looking for. It is teeming with kids 12 and under and lots of active, friendly adults abound. We are anxious to building a community here and finally putting down some roots!

The rink at night. Many took the kids home to a sitter and came back for some adult time. Next year, we'll plan accordingly.

Here's Alex & Maddie with some of their new friends. Look at those red cheeks!

Hoping you are enjoying your own winter season - take care!