Winter Break

It was Winter Break for the kiddos and Amy! The kiddos had a very low key week off and they LOVED it (lots of sleeping in).  Adam took Thursday off from work and Auntie Julie and Curran stopped by for a visit. Amy and Holly went to visit Grandma Pat and Grandpa Roger for the week in Gulf Shores, AL. We hope everyone is doing well and we are sending good thoughts to all our family and friends!!

Kids in relaxation mode.

Petting the pets at the cat shelter!

Adam and Auntie Julie 

Amy and Family in Gulf Shores, Alabama.

Breakfast Tuesday morning at the Sunliner Diner.

A jelly comb near the shore at the condo.

Driftwood alligator art by Pat :)

Holly found a Yetty boat bucket while on the beach walk.

We went for a walk at Hidden Lake and checked out the sundews (carnivorous plants).

 

On Wednesday we went for a morning walk at the Coastal Arts Center at Orange Beach.

After lunch, we went to the Gulf State Park Fishing Pier and then a walk on the beach.

On Thursday, MaryAnn took us on a pontoon boat ride.

We finished the day with a walk at Cotton Bayou Beach.

Friday before we headed back north.

A "new to Amy" Art installation in the Atlanta airport that uses crayons.

Back to reality on Saturday.  We did loose a bunch of snow so no cross country skiing at the moment.

Sunday food prep!  Adam made Addie a chicken noodle casserole and Ayson wanted a ham dinner. Ayson also made mac and cheese. Addie said she the casserole was "ok" and that it needs to be creamer.

The boys making the gravy and instant potatoes. 

Pet Pics

Amy has more pictures of the pets this week than of the kiddos :)  The kids are on winter break all next week and they are SO looking forward to "relaxing" and Ayson is working more evenings (and working later each evening) at the dairy farm. We hope everyone is doing well, staying positive, and staying healthy!!

Another later afternoon cross country ski for Amy, Adam, and the dogs! Our tracks got covered with new snow and the dogs were up to their bellies in snow.

Evening cuddles and wrestling with the dogs.  Addie is under the blanket.

Jett sitting behind a snowbank in the front yard.

Pretty girl!

 

We "petted the pets" Sunday afternoon with Neighbor Denise at the cat shelter.  There were SO many gray, black, and orange cats this time!

Outdoor Fun

The kiddos pretty much stayed indoors after school and during the weekend but Amy and Adam played outside.  Addie and Amy did go ice skating on Sunday (indoors). We are sending good thoughts to our family and friends and hope everyone is staying healthy!!

Too funny, Saffron sampling the dog food while the dogs are in their crates.

Gorgeous afternoon for cross country skiing with temps in the mid 20s.

Lots of puppy cuddles for the kiddos.

 

Amy and Ms Annie went cross country skiing in the orchard - another beautiful day with temps in the high 20s.

Unfortunately, the temps dropped to zero and below zero on Saturday - just in time for the town Optimists Club Winter Festival. Community attendance was less than normal (from our house alone, Addie and Ayson did not want to go because of the cold and wind) but everyone that did attend stayed warm around the fires and the pavilion was wrapped and warm inside for the food and Polka music.  The nice thing about a winter party is that fireworks occur at 5:45 pm (and not 9:45 pm) so we were home by 7 pm.

The ice rink was all set for skaters - with 2 bins of skates available for use. Inside the pavilion the guys were serving hot chocolate, popcorn, hot dogs, and there was a chili cook off.  Amy did not get a picture of the sledding hill - complete with carved steps for the kiddos.

Amy and Jen braved the sleigh ride with our hot chocolates in hand.

Adam tended this fire (he is sitting on the snow chair)

Jen's husband tended the bonfire.

Ice skating!  The temps outside were about 4 degrees and the ice rink area was cold too (in the non insulated building).  Amy wished she had brought a scarf for her face!

Addie goofing around with the skate helper.

We have SNOW!

This kids were thrilled to not have school on Monday and Amy was glad to be able to work from home.  We got more than a foot of snow Sunday night through Monday morning and the yard looked so pretty...until the dogs trampled all the snow down - haha. The temps have been cold (low teens) but we have been dressing warmly to go cross country skiing with the dogs when Amy is home from work. We are sending good thoughts to everyone and hope the power returns to the thousands of people in the south and elsewhere!!

Relaxing after shoveling the driveway.

A close up of the snow flakes before they settled.

Addie did not want to cross country ski with us so she walked inside on the treadmill and Thunder kept her company!

Sigh, the dogs took off in the orchard (hanging around a deer gut pile) and would not come to Adam when he called for them.  Stormy finally came and Adam found Jett about 15 minutes later - Jett was running around trying to find Adam.

Addie received a bracelet from school with Ella's name on it.  Ella's mom made the bracelets for the kiddos <B

On Thursday and Friday evenings, we had homemade pizza for dinner - yum!!!  Thanks Ayson and Adam!  The garlic pizza was Addie's favorite while Amy and Adam liked the garlic with salami :)  Ayson liked the pepperoni with spam pizza :)

Jett likes getting toasty by the wood stove.

Silly Addie and her girlfriend on a video call together while they each make a drink.  They were both noisily stirring their drinks when Amy took the photo.

Amy and Adam took the dogs for a walk at Labrador Unique Area on Sunday morning and then we took the dogs to Tractor Supply for a bath!  The bath set up was amazing!!!!

Addie wearing her cabbage hat that Adam gave her.