ICY!

It's been a WILD week since our stay in Lutsen.  We left Friday night for our long weekend up north.  We had the snowmobiles and truck packed to the gills before we ventured 5 hours to moose country.  Doesn't my Kitty Cat just look stinkin' cute next to Mommy and Daddy's sleds?

Our drive was uneventful until we were approximately 1/2 mile from the cabin.  The last 30 minutes of our drive is on dirt roads that are snow-covered and hilly.  As we approached the final turn at a T, Daddy couldn't stop the truck in time... anti-lock brakes engaged and we were in a fast skid.  Luckily, he was able to make a hard turn to the left at the T, but we still ended in the ditch and hit trees.  I was wide awake and witnessed the accident, Cooper was sleeping but woke up screaming, and Mommy and Daddy were in the front, trying to remain calm.  Airbags did not deploy (see the black bar in the lower photo... it didn't break luckily!)  Besides Mommy's knees hitting the dash, we were all OK, thank God.

These photos were taken in daylight, but the accident happened at 10:00 p.m.  Luckily, we were in one of the 2 or 3 spots where there is cell phone reception.  Everyone was at the cabin already, so we were picked up and the tow truck/flat bed came the next day to haul our truck back to Duluth, a 2 hour drive from the cabin.  Daddy took some pictures of the damage, including trailer damage, Kitty Cat damage (Mommy and Daddy's snowmobiles were fine) and of course, the Durango.  We received word today that the Durango was offically totaled, so we are off to find a new SUV.

My Kitty Cat has approximately $200 in damage, but it still runs.  We were SO excited to ride up north, so we did just that thanks to a bungy cord that kept my hood on.  Daddy ran down to Duluth to pick up a Suburban to get us home in.  Everything turned out OK (all things considering), so we settled in for our long weekend of winter fun.

Lauren and Abby were excited to try out the Kitty Cat.  Both decided it wasn't for them (the best photo is on Meggen's camera... I will have to post that another time as it is hilarous!)  Abby is my age and Lauren just turned 5.  We all get along GREAT!  Their Mommy, Meggen, has been Mommy's best friend since 4th grade.  Daddy and Pete have many similar interests, so they get along perfectly too!  The cabin is Pete's parents, Margie and Bob, who have become like adoptive grandparents through our cabin vacations.  I even call Margie, "Grandma Margie" and she loves it :) 

Cooper can't get enough of snowmobiles.  He LOVES sitting and riding on them.  We are pretty certain he will ask for his own Kitty Cat in the years to come.  My parents are already cringing at the thought as Santa needed a lot of help finding mine alone.

Lutsen had a MAJOR snowstorm on Sunday.  Fortunately, we had no plans to go anywhere, so we enjoyed the fluffy foot of freshly fallen snow.  My Mom didn't even scream when we ate some of it, yum!

If you look closely, Abby and I are walking up the hill with our tongues out (and we weren't even prompted to do this!)  We must have been discussing how delicious snow tastes!

Cooper had to try a taste too!  He loved it, of course!

Maybe Cooper and I are a bit strange, but the following pictures probably are proof we are not.  We both love to try on boots/shoes that just so happen to sit on our rug near our doors.  These shoes might be high-heels, boots, sandals, etc... it doesn't matter as we have fun trying on all the styles.  Cooper kicked off the fashion show with a pair of Pete's winter boots, followed by Mommy's slippers.  All the kids joined in the fun~ Ms. Abby in sneakers, Lauren in Merrill's, and me in Uggs.  Once again, kids are easily amused!

We had a S'mores roast in the toasty fireplace one night!  It tastes almost as good as campfire S'mores!

We went sledding EVERY day, sometimes twice in a day.  There is a perfect hill (road) we were able to sled down.  We had sledding races, tandem runs, adult sledding/snowboarding, and a whole lot of laughs!

Can't help but to show you how deep the snow really was up north.  Look at the heavy trees, and me "walking" through the thigh-high fluff!  Too bad we don't get this at home, although it was a little stressful as we had to keep a close eye on Cooper.  He could have been swallowed up by it.

We wanted to do one trek down to the lake and we instantly plopped down for snow angels.  We found our favorite dock and beach area where we played in the water this past summer.

We had many attempts at a kid photo, but Ms. Abby was being a silly pants and had her tongue out at the camera.  Cooper followed suit in the second photo.  I guess that makes us typical, goofy kids!

The adults made it out for a snowshoe trek.  The snow was SO deep they didn't make it too far before needing to turn back to the cabin for some adult beverages followed by Meggen's famous Pickle Dip and Chili Deep.  That probably explains why they didn't get that far!

We had an amazing weekend, despite our scary Friday night crash.  We almost made it home with no problems, until we hit the Duluth/Superior bridge and our tire blew out on the snowmobile trailer.  Daddy was unable to change the tire as the lug nuts were rusted out.  A tow truck arrived with a special tool and was nice enough to charge us $50 for a 5 minute job.  At that point, we would have paid him a lot more just to make it home safely.  We got home just in time for Mommy to leave and play in the championship soccer game that night.  They won 3-2 and she scored the game winning goal, so it was probably good she made it to the game.  She enjoys continuing to play on the league, despite turf burn, bruises, possibly a few cracked ribs, and some nasty run-ins with some seriously-overly-competitive players.  

Two more random photos to end this week's posting... the picture below was made by Mommy and given to Grandma Carla for Valentine's.  The scrabble letters are from Great-Grandma Wink's scrabble can.  Great-Grandma passed away just a few years ago~ she was a blessing in our lives as she lived to 98 and loved playing games and spending time with family.  Grandma loved her simple and special gift from us.

We had a playdate with Lily and Lucy today and Mommy only took one picture, but quite adorable, I must say!  I played Lily's acoustic guitar and loved it!  I think I might have a new calling here!  Uncle Jimmy will possibly teach me someday how to play his guitars... although I don't know if he is able to play my new favorite song "Red Solo Cup?!?!?"

We want to thank Meggen, Pete, and family for our wonderful stay at the cabin.   We also want to thank everyone for their warm thoughts and wishes during the past crazy week.  We are very thankful for our strong Durango that took care of us when we needed it most and of course, for God, who was watching down on us that night.