36 years ago, I had my first baby!

Happy Birth day to me.

Happy Birthday to Courtney.

36 years ago, just after Ma Ingalls gave birth to Grace, I gave birth to Courtney.

Today we celebrated all the joy she had brought to our lives.

Today we also got to spend the day with Soli and then later with Tizita.

We took Soli to the children's museum in Appleton and had the best time with her.

She is such a joy!

After we tired Soli out at the museum, we surprised Tiz when we picked her up at school and then took both girls to Cherry Berry for a treat.

After that, we had cupcakes and sang Happy Birthday to Courtney.

It was a great day!

Our weekend snow shoeing Adventures in Oconomowoc and Lake Mills

We have found two more great places to snow shoe in the area.

On Saturday we went to Oconomowoc.

Started at Fowler Park on Fowler Lake.

At first if was pretty cold with the wind in our faces, but we changed direction and got ourselves warmed up.

We crossed Highway 67 near Spinikers and then went out on  Lac La Belle.

We must have put in about three miles.

It was a great adventure.

We found this little guy out on the ice.

 Episcopal church where Mary Linsmeier used to be located back in the day.
I subbed there a few times.

 Fowler Lake

 Here is where we crossed to Lac La Belle

 Lac La Belle

Here is an island we found on our adventure.

On Sunday, we went over to Korth County Park in Lake MIlls.

what an awesome place to snow shoe.

There was a cold wind, but as long as we kept it at our backs we were okay.

 Don't let that pretty blue sky fool you, it was cold when the wind was in our faces.

 We made it out on Rock Lake.

 We also found the Glacier Drumlin Bike Trail.

 It sure look different in the winter than when we ride our bikes here in the summer.

 The steep hill was so much easier on snow shoes than on a bike.

 This is actually the top of a big hill, but it is hard to tell that from this picture.

We got to blaze our own trail in this wooded area.

A much needed rest after our three mile adventure.

Since we have taken up snow shoeing, I don't mind the winter as much anymore.

In fact, I think I will be sad to see it go.

More Snow Shoeing Adventures

We have had a nice quiet weekend, just John and I.

On Friday night, we enjoyed one of our free pizzas at On the Rock.  That pizza and a few beers were the perfect way to spend Valentine's Day.

On Saturday, I had a long overdue birthday lunch with Lynne at Applebees.

I enjoyed catching up on her life.  It is always good to spend time with Lynne.

After lunch, John and I went snow shoeing in the park again.

Each time we go, it gets easier to get the shoes on and off and to manuever with them.

We were out about an hour on Saturday.

Enjoyed Lasagna Soup which had been cooking all day in the slow cooker.

First time I made it and it was yummy.

Definitely will be making it again.

We watched a few movies and had ice cream sundaes, a gift from two of my students.

It was a great day.

On Sunday after church, we took our snow shoes and headed over to Aztalan State Park with the hope of being able to find some great spots to show shoe.

It was beautiful and we were out about two hours.

We both agreed that our snow shoes were a great investment and we are actually looking forward to some more snow this winter.

Here are some pictures from today's adventure.

 In case you don't know, Aztalan is an old Indian settlement which is now a state park.

It is a beautiful wide open space.

 Here I am way up on a big mound.

 These are the tracks that John and I made as we blazed our trail.

 Nothing but our tracks.

Queen of the hill!

It was truly a beautiful day in a beautiful place.

Cannot wait for our next snow shoe adventure.