Happy Trails

This past weekend Alex and I travelled to another northern Minnesota town, Walker. I found a great deal for a one night stay at a local hotel, dinner for two and snowmobiling for less than $100. It was nice to get away and it was the first time we left Cider. She got spoiled by our friends April and Steve.

Since we were heading North, we thought we would go a bit further and see one of the many Paul Bunyan statues in Bemidiji. Paul had his trusty ox, Babe, by his side.

The visitor center was pretty cool. They had a ton of Paul Bunyan artifacts ranging from his fishing pole to his shotgun, all Paul Bunyan life size. They even had his nail clippings. eew!!!

The next morning we woke up bright and early to go snowmobiling. It was my first time and probably my last. It was fun for the first 2 hours. But it was incredibly cold, and I am still trying to figure out the enjoyment of snowmobiling for a lengthy period of time.

Along the trails, we came across yet another Paul Bunyan statue. This time he was in Akeley, which claims to be his birthplace.

It was a fun getaway. We have decided that we are done taking trips North in the winter. Although, I still want to go mushing.

I was happy to get home and to pick up Cider. Apparently, Cider did not hold back and was her usual energetic self. Our friends were throwing her stuff at us when we picked her up. :o) They said that they admire us. They have 8 pets (2 dogs, 2 cats, 1 bunny and 3 chickens) and that is so much easier than 1 puppy!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Alex, Cider and myself hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas holiday season. We stayed in the Twin Cities this year due to the wedding. We were sad that we weren't able to make the trip home to be with our families, but tried to make the best of it.

This year we tried to watch the Target Holidazzle parade, but due to poor planning, we missed the majority of it. I had heard a lot about the downtown Macy's Santaland. I should have asked more questions. It was cute, but more for kids than adults.

Since Cider is the master escape artist, she made herself comfortable in front of the tree. I think she was snooping to see what she was getting for Christmas.

I bought tickets to see A Christmas Carol at the Guthrie theater on the Mississippi River. It was a tradition in my family to see that or the Nutcracker each Christmas. I thought I would introduce the tradition to Alex. It was a great show in a great venue. During intermission, we went outside to a bridge that stops abruptly over the river.

Alex had the great idea to decorate Christmas cookies. We (I) got a little into it with multiple colors for icing. I found a recipe for the cookies and icing and made it all from scratch. It was fun, but again, would be a fun project with kids.

We decided to introduce Cider to hockey by taking her up to the neighborhood ice rink. She did well, considering it was her first time.

On Christmas morning, we woke up and Alex read the birth of Jesus Christ, a tradition in his family.

Santa visited our house and stuffed our stockings with lots of goodies.

Thanks to technology, we were able video conference the opening of our gifts with my parents and Joe back in Dayton. It was fun to see them open our gifts for them. It was like we were sitting in a large circle.

I would say Cider made out like a bandit this Christmas. She got lots of new chew toys and a new rawhide bone that lasted only 3 days.

She got her very own turkey dinner complete with a frisbee plate.

All worn out from playing with her new toys.