Wednesday, January 6, 2021

A Happy New Years

 

This New Years Eve/Day/weekend was, well, just like any other year. We've never done a lot for New Years, other than a party with close friends in our younger years. For the past 12 years, we've celebrated at home, watching the ball drop, maybe a movie or two, a homemade dinner with wine, and a toast at midnight to the new year. That's exactly what we did this year too.

The minis and I played board games and completed a puzzle on NYE Day. Hubs joined in once he was home from work. New Year's Day was much of the same, adding in a viewing of Infinity War and End Game. After two days of lounging, by Saturday I needed to do something. So, I built an igloo (read about that here). By Sunday, we needed out of the house! 

Packing up the car, we headed to Elk Rock State Park for a hike around the North Rim Trail and a stop at Cordova Park to climb the tower. The minis were not a fan of our hilly hike, but the fresh air was wonderful for us all. I've never been a fan of cold weather or snow, but I'm finding a new appreciation for it this winter....likely because hiking in the cold is one of the few things we're safe to do outside of our house! I now find myself looking at the weekend weather and thinking, "oh, hiking in 25 degrees is totally doable." Cooking, spending time outside in the winter--who am I??!!?

After January 2020, my kids refused to wear their New Year's shirts. To get more use out of them, I covered up the last zero with tape, drew in a one, and boom! 2021 shirts!

So many board games and puzzles. Then, at 2 p.m., Elizabeth asked when we could break open the drinks. I can confirm the child is mine.


This puzzle made me want to go on a road trip.

Our attempt at NYE selfies.


Midnight 2021!! We all made it....and we were all in bed by 12:15. Except for the dog, who was ticked off at us for staying up so late. 

Our NYE puzzle (I did most of this one).

We had a late start on New Year's Day, but we started it the perfect way: homemade berry french toast by the middle mini! 


Intense games of Mouse Trap and our New Years Day puzzle. Meanwhile, the dog slept most of the day. We laughed at him most of the day, as he snored, by saying, "puppy can't hang."


We could call this day Eating Day. We ate sooo much rich and delicious food (read about those Traditions here).





I organized some storage bins and found a bunch of unused activities and crafts from Target Dollar Section that I bought....wait for it.....EIGHT years ago! I'm surprised some of those hadn't disintegrated, but the minis spent a couple of hours doing them all.

 Then, I made an igloo for daycare. Read about that here.

Another puzzle completed.

I had to sit in the backseat with the dog because he kept trying to crawl on my lap in the front seat. Then, we went through a drive thru and he lost it because we haven't been through one is soooo long!

Our fearless hiking leader, who somehow knows exactly where the trail is.
Hiking in the snow is a GREAT leg workout. Even better if you're also hiking along a hilly lakeside.


We're pros at guarantine by this point. We bring a little potty chair with us for emergencies, so we don't have to stop anywhere. We pack snacks, plenty of water, and anything else we could need. No shame in trying to keep our sanity at this time!

After our hike, we drove to the other side of Lake Red Rock to climb the tower at Cordova Park. 

No dogs allowed. He was not impressed.
I could hear the kids talking excitedly once they reached the top....from across the park. I apologized to a few people, who wondered where the noise was coming from.