Practice

Turns out it is easier to skate when holding on to something, such as a hockey stick. Mathias and Ericka were the only ones on the ice that day because absolutely freezing outside and only the truly devoted were braving it!

Icing

Saturday mornings Mathias is taking a skating class with a half dozen other 4-year-olds. After three sessions he is making good progress.

He has developed a somewhat strange fear of the Zamboni. Yesterday, the spent most of his class looking over his shoulder to make sure the gate off the ice was closed and no vehicles were approaching. Oddly enough, after class is over, the Zamboni coming and fixing the ice is the highlight of the day... From a safe viewing distance, of course!

Heading for tubes

Johan has been diagnosed with persistent fluid in his ears. With the sound muffled he doesn't hear as well as he should. So we have an appointment to follow in the footsteps of his old man and big brother and get drainage tubes installed on February 8th. When Mathias got his tubes his language took off almost overnight. We're waiting for Johan to start explaining the world he lives in using his own words.

Winter games

Someone said we already have had more snow than we did all of last winter. Next week it is supposed to be pushing minus 30 degrees. Winter is already getting long in the tooth even though it has barely just begun! It is three weeks until Groundhog Day and - given that Punxsutawney Phil never misses his shadow - it will be six more weeks of winter after that. Brrr....

At least the boys enjoy it! Mathias is whole hog into skating and sledding. Johan is more of a winter sports spectator. Let it snow!

With water in the basement

Sooo... back in October we spent a few days at a water park in the Wisconsin Dells. I guess 'water park' is the technical term for a hotel with a really fancy pool. The boys, well Mathias, have been talking about it ever since. It is probably just a matter of time before we trek back. In the meantime, the boys have decided that our basement IS a water park. For example, the spare bedroom couch is the beginning of one of the water slides. From there they will run through the house making swooshing sounds. To have such imagination!