welcome 2018!

to close our very amazing 2017 and welcome with joy and hope our fresh new 2018, we again drove up to the northwoods with dear friends for a few days of playing in the snow, connecting, relaxing. the drive up is so so so pretty, particularly in those last few miles...

kids + twister + indoor time when the temperature outside is -5 degrees = good times.

when they did get outside, the kids were happy sledding on the driveway

while eleanore and i snuck off to do some cross country skiing in real snow,

back at the cabin the next day, we braved the -3 degrees to clear a skating rink,

make snow angels,


and marvel at our icy hair

or icy face, as the case may be.


back inside, cuties cuties cuties everywhere.

and when the cuties were tucked away for bed, the new year's eve celebration began in earnest, with david, an axe, and a bottle of champagne.  

we poured the champagne straight into our mouths so as not to cut our lips or share our germs (safety first!),

lit off some fireworks found in the garage,

took a self with jamie (who couldn't join us due to influenza),

had some fireside charcuterie,

and may have had shots from airplane bottles of cinnammon whiskey. it was a very fun evening.

the next day, snack time was predictably adorable,


as was the snowpants-donning-stage of getting ready to go outside.


we celebrated the first day of a new year with hockey

 and end of day skiing with my long long shadow.

welcome 2018! we're gonna make you awesome.