4-0

It was a wild week around here - well, you know, as wild as pandemic life can get!  The kids had their first snow day of the year on Tuesday, which was very exciting!  Our district opted to let the kids have traditional snow days rather than doing remote learning when there is a storm.  We didn't actually get that much snow until later in the day, but the kids still spent a lot of time playing outside and enjoying a bonus day off from school.

Lawn mowing in a snow storm?!

Snow day games

Snow day outdoor fun

Snowball face

Checking out the fort that Evie and Noah built

Someone was very curious about the snow plow!

The snow continued right into Wednesday, which is the kids' remote learning day, and it was also Matt's 40th birthday!  We couldn't do anything too crazy to celebrate this milestone, but we went snowshoeing, had a family driveway happy hour toast, then enjoyed some take-out dinner, cake and gifts with Grandma Karen.  As a bonus, Frankie got floofed up (groomed) in honor of Daddy's big day, too!

40th Birthday!

Evie made this all on her own!

Birthday coffee delivery from Carly

Birthday snowshoe outing

Driveway/Igloo Happy Hour for Matt's b-day

Cousins were SO happy to see each other

Big gifts for big birthdays!

The big 4-0!  (Matt requested a chocolate donut cake)

Noah composed his own rendition of Happy Birthday for Matt (note the 40 poster in the background)

Frankie's new 'do for the birthday celebration

We followed Matt's birthday up with Aunt Pea's birthday on Friday!  The driveway happy hour is our new tradition/Covid compromise for these winter birthdays when we can't gather to celebrate over a meal.

Happy Birthday Aunt Pea!

Colby and Evie were the worst photo bombers!

February birthday buddies

Colby is showing just how much taller he is than Grandma now

The boys and girls in our family took off on separate adventures Saturday.  The boys headed to the Northeast Kingdom to help Grandpa and some of the guys in the family clear the snow off the camp roof and deck.  Noah was excited to go, and he was especially curious to know what camp looks like in the winter.  (From my experience, I can just tell you how it feels - COLD, without heat or running water!)  They had a great day and the cold didn't bother them a bit.  Grandpa was SO proud of Noah for his shoveling efforts, because he worked hard the entire time without any complaints.  I will give Noah credit for being an incredible worker! Whenever there is a project to be done, he loves to lend a hand and work until it's done.

Shoveling at camp

Working hard!

What a team!

Hot dogs on the deck for lunch

Thawing out next to a space heater. Camp was 27 degrees INSIDE upon arrival!

Touching the roof

Noah and Elliot on the shed roof

Walt's Beach looks a little bit different in the winter, too!

A little side trip to Aunt Mari and Uncle Jerry's beautiful new log cabin (it's being built just a couple miles from our camp)

The girls took the opportunity to enjoy a day on the slopes for the first time this year.  I'm admittedly a fair-weather skier, and Saturday was perfect!  Fluffy snow, fresh air, moderate temperatures, and something different from our normal routine.  Thankfully, Grandma Betti watched Frankie for the day so we could all enjoy our adventures away from home.

Girls' ski day

Very tired pup after a day at Grandma's

We capped off the weekend with Super Bowl Sunday.  We had enough food for a party, but it was just the 4 of us.  We liked both teams, so it was fun to relax and enjoy the game and the food together after a busy week.  

Super Bowl junk food feast

As always, here are a couple more cute Frankie moments from the week:

Frankie will ask to go out to the bathroom in the evening and curl up in the snow like this for a nap!

She still loves to be on my lap!

Comfortable head rest, Frankie?