Snow tubing!

This winter has been a little lackluster from the perspective of snowfall.  Even though it's ridiculously cold, we've usually been able to rely on some snow, but not so much this year.  And that's really cut down on the amount of outdoor-time we've had. so we decided to do something about it.

I've been bugging Joacim to try skiing, but he's a bit resistant (probably because we're old and "owies" hurt a lot more than they used to :) so we headed to Buck Hill and spent a couple of hours in the fresh (albeit chilly) air.

The was clearly giddy on the first run up the hill.

When we first arrived there weren't that many people and hardly any waiting, but as the afternoon went on, the lines grew...

I was a little worried that we'd get there and she'd be scared to go down by herself.  Luckily, I was completely wrong ;)

Here's Joacim heading down the hill while Izzy and I watched:

January 31 2015 - Joacim snow tubing at Buck Hill from Jenn Trunk on Vimeo.

And here's a fun slow-motion video of Izzy's trip down the hill:

January 31 2015 - snow tubing slow mo from Jenn Trunk on Vimeo.

Snow and Smörgåstårta

More snow, which means SLEDDING!!!!!!!

Rosie absolutely loves this weather!

We also went to our friends house (Nina and Magnus) for a traditional smörgåstårta with their family.

According to Wikipedia:

Smörgåstårta (English: "sandwich-cake" or "sandwich gateau") is a Scandinavian cuisine dish that is popular in Sweden, Estonia (as "võileivatort") and Finland (as "voileipäkakku"). This savory cake is compositionally similar to a sandwich, but it has such a large amount of filling that it more resembles a layered cream cake with garnished top.

The smörgåstårta is normally made up of several layers of white or light rye bread with creamy fillings in between. The fillings and toppings vary, but egg and mayonnaise are often the base, additional filling may vary greatly but often includes one or more of the following: liver pâté, olives, shrimp, ham, various cold cuts, caviar, tomato, cucumber, grapes, lemonslices, cheese and smoked salmon. For the best result, assemble the cake the day before consumption and let it rest in the refrigerator overnight. Decorate the cake on the day of consumption.

Smörgåstårta is served cold and sliced like a dessert cake. The types of sandwich cakes vary from meat, fish, combinations of cheeses and meats to vegan. The smörgåstårta top decor often reflects the ingredients used as a filling. Voileipäkakku (in Finnish) is part of family gathering dishes from birthday parties, weddings or funerals in Finland.

And it looks beautiful!  Such time spent!

Now, I'll be the first to admit that I'm no fan of liver pate, shrimp or caviar, and this night was no exception.  The beauty of this thing is that it's in layers, and you can really eat only the layers that you want, so the part I ate was delicious!  Joacim confirmed that the liver pate part was too :)

This is Joacim's newest buddy, Noa.  He's Nina and Magnus' youngest son, and he ADORES Joacim.

We had a lovely evening eating, hanging out and watching a movie.  They have one of those big leather recliner sofas that completely suck you in.  I'll admit it....I loved it!

The first big snow of the winter of 2014....

We had our first big snow of 2014!   This calls for pictures!!!!!

This was Izzy standing outside in the morning before she got on the school bus.  Note the level of snow around the dead flower pods on the left.

Izzy is always so happy when she gets home.  Gawd, I love her!

And this is the snow when she got home.  Note the depth of the snow now.  It was snowing A LOT.

Murphy is intently focused on a ball that is at my feet.  This dog will stop everything at just the promise of a little playtime.

Dec 4 2013 - kickball with Murphy and a charge by Rosie from Jenn Trunk on Vimeo.

A whole lotta snow

 We finally had our first big Minnesota snow!  The snow started the night of Daniel and Caroline's party

this is what it looked like from the car window when we left the party

and this is one of the small trees in the front of the house that same night

and THIS is what we woke up to!  Winter Wonderland!

and Alfie the Elf, of course

The snow was REALLY coming down

And Joacim WAS finally able to use our new snowblower.  We got it a few days before because we heard about the storm...thank goodness we got it because this would've been AWFUL to shovel!

and we also had a sled for Izzy

do you see how the snow is crusted on to her coat hood and hat ties?

Self-portrait!

the dogs got in on the fun too!

Here's a video of them enjoying the snow:

Dec 9 2012 - happy dogs in the snow from Jenn Trunk on Vimeo.

I don't think he's been this happy in quite awhile :)

or her....

Here she is making a snow angel
Dec 9 2012 - quick snow angel from Jenn Trunk on Vimeo.

and Joacim had to get in on the sledding action....he's a little OCD about the sled trail :)

and then I tried to sled with Izzy

but I realized that I'm a miserable failure when it comes to steering the sled, and consistently crashed :)

I was playing outside in a pair of thermal underwear and ratty old sweats.  After sledding and being caked with snow, I decided that I'm completely unprepared (clothing-wise) for Minnesota winters, so we headed to the Mall of America to see if we could come up with some snow gear for me.

but first we had to drop off Izzy's letter to Santa at the red mailbox in Macy's

We were lucky we went because we got some great deals, and loaded up the whole family for the winter.  We're totally ready for the weather now :)

and this was the beautiful site on a backroad we took on the way home...

I think we ended up getting around a foot of snow, or somewhere close to that in the end.  But what I love here is that it's still pretty the next day, and the day after that.  It didn't get warm and slushy the day after and make a big mess.  If it's always like this, then I think we'll have no problem embracing Minnesota winters :)

ANOTHER sick day and some puppy playtime

Sick again today.  The sneezing won't stop.  And when I'm not sneezing, I feel like I need to, with that annoying little tingle in one side of my nose.  FREAKIN' DRIVING ME INSANE!! 

I went to the doctor today...confirmed sinus infection.  My teeth hurt.  My sinus cavity actually pulses when I lay down.  I AM MISERABLE.

I made some soup when I got home, and then decided to take the dogs out for a little playtime.  I needed to feed the birds, the dogs were going crazy inside, and I thought that the cold air might help me out.  Following are some photos I took of the dogs, plus a couple of videos.

Sorry to make you tilt your head on this one...looks like my phone got confused :)

And then we had to come inside because I had a conference call in the afternoon.  I swear these dogs just LOOK guilty sometimes....