Here we are. Standing on Lake Lancer, freezing our butts off. We didn't make it up north last winter because we opted to try a ski place on the west side of the state, but we were anxious to head up this year and it did not disappoint!
Leading up to the long weekend, Sean was home Tuesday-Thursday from school sick with Influenza A. Scott stayed home with him Tuesday and Wednesday and took him to urgent care to get Tamiflu. I stayed home with him on Thursday and he was so bummed to miss his class Valentine's exchange. Luckily, Evan brought Sean's Valentines to his class and Sean's teacher put together a whole box full of Valentines for him and all was right again in the world.
Evan passed out these really cool Valentines this year from Amazon. They were four different tracks and each person gets two cardboard cars that you flick through the tracks.
On Valentine's Day Eve, after the boys tore into their loot from school on the living room floor as tradition, we made build-your-own pizzas for dinner and then it was our annual chocolate fondue! The pound cake was a nice addition this year.
On Friday, Valentine's Day, the boys and I were off work for our mid-winter break, but we couldn't head up north until Scott was off work. Thankfully, Sean had been fever free for 48 hours by the time we reached our destination. We ate Jimmy Johns subs in the car and made it up there by 7pm. We let the boys hang out with Nana and Pops for a bit, put them to bed, and the adults enjoyed drinks and cards.
Saturday morning the boys were up early to play on tablets. Grrr....
After breakfast and a few games, we got ready to head to the indoor pool at the lake's recreation center to swim for a bit until it warmed up more outside. It was sooo cold! The pool was nice and warm though.
On our way back to the cottage for lunch, we made an obligatory stop at the Dollar General to which Pops spoiled the boys with a few new toys. Driving back we saw so many deer!
After lunch, it was warm enough to venture over to the sledding hill, which is actually on the Sugar Springs Campground. It was more crowded this year than when we went in the past, but we made it work. It was nice to have the little hut open to go in and warm up by the fire.
We came back to the house to play on the frozen lake for a bit. I started dinner, which was spaghetti, meatballs, salad, and breadsticks. And we just enjoyed a quiet night in with drinks and cards again after the boys were in bed.
Sunday morning we got an early start to head out to Cadillac for the day at Caberfae Peaks to ski. It was a 1.5 hour drive from the house, but it was very pretty. There was even a sign warning us to keep a look out for bears! Caberfae Peaks is actually in the Manistee National Forest so it was absolutely gorgeous driving in and seeing the forest. It was definitely crowded since the weather was great! It had warmed up quite a bit and the sun was out. It took us a bit to get used to the lay of the land and figure out all the different hills we could do, but we had a blast! We brought our lunch in a cooler that we had inside (it was tough finding a spot to eat - so many people had crockpots plugged in for some elaborate lunches!).
We stopped in Cadillac for dinner at a brewery before heading back to the house. Our goal was to make it back before it got dark out since we were worried about hitting a deer and we succeeded! I had a great pizza and a very orange-y beer, but it was fun trying a new place. We watched Mrs. Doubtfire on TV with Nana and Pops after the boys were in bed. We were all exhausted from the fresh air and driving.
Monday morning was a slow start, sitting by the fire and reading with some hot tea. Evan and Scott played checkers a few times. Then it was time to pack up and head home to do laundry and prep for another work week. We had a great time up north and really enjoyed skiing at a new place this year! I hope the boys are enjoying seeing all the different parts of Michigan that we've been taking them to. They are sporting new Caberfae Peaks stickers on their ski helmets!
