Winter in Wisconsin

We headed up to Wisconsin this past weekend for some time with Grandpa Bill, Grandma Kathie and Josie. Will and I got a very rare chance to go out skiing together, while Anders hung out with Grandma and Grandpa - thanks! I skate skied for the first time in 2 years and the 8K ski I did was exhausting, I did change into my new classic skis for a quick 2K loop while Will finished up his ski. Oh, did I say we skied together? I meant we drove there and back together - Will has surpassed me in his skate skiing skill. Here are a few pictures from our trip.

Anders is really into dogs these days - he was exposed to several of them over the holidays and seems to really love them. Here is Josie being very patient with him. She was very tolerant, though I'm wondering why we decided we would let him pester her on her bed long enough for us to take a picture! I tried to get Anders to understand that the bed was Josie's space and that he should leave her alone - he didn't always listen to me.

I'm a huge advocate of getting Anders outdoors in winter - I am really hoping he embraces outdoor winter activities as he grows up in Minnesota. So, he got lots of outside time over the weekend. An no, he isn't down on the lake alone.

Here he is making sure his dad's sled is in good enough shape to ride in. It passed the test earlier in the day with Grandpa Bill, but he had to check out again.

Here Anders and Grandma Kathie seem to be wanting to go to different parts of the lake. We ended up making a big loop and they both seemed happy with that.

We went out with Grandpa on Sunday and this time the sled really wasn't worthy of a ride (in Anders' mind, anyway). He really enjoyed walking and pushing the sled. He fell a few times and would get stuck in the downward dog yoga pose as he got up. He would saw "oh-oh" as he fell - it was pretty cute. He also enjoyed picking up snow. He just loved it out there.

I love the trails he made in the snow.

All that fresh air and a full belly led to falling asleep within a couple of minutes of us leaving the house. We didn't even get to the mailboxes before I took this picture and the mailboxes are less than a mile from Bill and Kathie's place! He slept almost the whole 3 hours back home. Thanks for a great weekend Bill and Kathie!