Olson Family Blog: 2012

Biking Through the Snow

After mentioning (okay, bragging) that Ronan learned to ride a two wheel bike when he was three in our Christmas card, and then realizing that it had been months since he had actually done it, we decided to prove it!

Ronan was timid at first and even insisted on training wheels again, but after a few encouraging words from Nora, and reassurance from Jeff, he was riding to Terra Linda on his own.

We also bought a new camera today so we were able to capture it all on film. And the pictures aren't yellow or fuzzy!

Ronan is very proud of his biking skills and wants to know when he can begin jumping ramps.

Now that our camera has an action option (that actually works) we had to try it out on Jeff.

And you can even see the snow! And I'm pushing Ronan off to a start, not saving him from a fall!

Clare is learning how to ride her tricycle. She gets frustrated that she can't keep up with the other two and jumps off and runs to chase them.

Nora loves riding her bike. She loves weaving around and taking sharp corners. Santa should have brought her a new, bigger bike!

ICE!

It was so cold week in Wisconsin! Each time we went outside required a full snow gear suit up! I don't know how moms in the Midwest do it! Once they were properly bundled up we would set them loose on the ice! There really wasn't much snow on the ground, and what was there was frozen! The lake was one solid piece of ice that the kids would slide across and claim to be ice skating. We actually had them wear bike helmets when they were on the lake!

We had planned to go on sledding rides pulled by the snow mobile, but the ice was too slick and it didn't feel safe.

Of course the favorite part of being at the cabin is ice fishing! Ronan spent hours out there his first day helping his Papa. In the course of three days and countless hours we didn't catch a single fish!

One day it warmed up to the 20's and we celebrated with a bon fire and hot chocolate. What a beautiful setting for us to spend our holidays.

Cabin

We have been spending more time at the cabin with each visit. The kids love all the outdoor adventures and the space! While inside, Kathy keeps a continuous fire going. And while it may be hard to believe it is actually hot at night!

Grammy and Ronan reading a book upstairs in the loft.

We brought along our Wii remote and Ronan challenged everyone to Mario Kart. Papa was happy to play and even challenged Jeff to a few games when the kids had fallen asleep.

We also had a couple of movie nights. We all snuggled up and watched Brave one night and Up another. My kids have never enjoyed watching a new movie for the first time. They were really stressed out, but managed to make it through both movies.

And of course we had a very loose tooth that Nora spent the entire week wiggling. We were wondering if the tooth fairy came to Wisconsin...we never found out.

Christmas Morning

Santa came to the cabin! Nora was the first one to wake up. She was disappointed that Santa didn't bring her 100 stuffed animal elephants, but I think she liked the Kindle she got instead. Clare was more than happy with her stuffed Minnie Mouse. And Ronan got a Wii Wheel and Mario Kart. These kids must have been REALLY good all year long.

Christmas Eve

I remember having Christmas dresses growing up that we would wear for concerts, recitals, and of course mass. We don't really participate in any of these events, but I still like the tradition. The kids were all fancy for the Blanchette celebration, but I never captured any pictures...here is my attempt on Christmas Eve.

Jeff's family has always celebrated Christmas Eve. The kids love the excitement of opening up gifts at night, and the adults enjoy the cocktails! The high light gifts were the magic tricks from the grandparents.

The Charlie Brown Tree

We found the perfect Charlie Brown Christmas tree on Papa's hunting land! Caught up in all the excitement, we chose a very large tree, cut it down, brought it home, decorated it, admired it, and....

We hiked through the snow. Clare was so bundled up she couldn't move, and we all had to take turns holding her.
We saw several different animal tracks. Nora was so excited and wanted to follow them into the deep woods.

Jeff's dad took us to a bear cave. He didn't think there were any bears in the cave this year, although he had seen a Mama bear and two cubs the year before. The kids were so excited!

We choose this tree with the "double rainbow" top. It was much easier to cut down than the one we found in Oregon.

As you can see from the picture, it was quite a feat to decorate this tree. We lost several ornaments in the process too. It was a beautiful tree when it was decorated. And then it fell. It was within an inch of landing on Nora, but Grammy and Eric swooped in just in time to save her. After a few failed attempts to secure the tree, we had to admit defeat. The tree was moved outside and a branch (Ronan's tree) was quietly decorated instead. A true Charlie Brown tree.