Polar Bear Plunge!

Guess which one of us is doing this crazy thing this morning?!

Free s’mores? Yes, please.

Staying warm by the fire.

Waiting…

Watching!

Proof!

It was actually a really nice day for it as opposed to what it could have been this time of year…but it was still REALLY cold. It took about five groups before someone popped up and said HOLY SHIT THAT’S COLD loud enough for the spectators to hear. 🤣

Owen said he’d been in cold water before—swimming with Papa. We told him yes, Lake Superior is cold, but that’s still like 65° and it was in the summer. We looked up the water temp for today and it was about 38°.

And now a new water heater.

You know what sucks? Not being able to take a decent hot shower because the hot water runs out really fast (like less than 10 minutes).

You know what sucks even more? Discovering the hot water heater is…23 years old. And it was last serviced four years ago.

You know what’s cool? Tom is handy enough to know how to drain the sediment.

You know what sucks? Draining the sediment didn’t help.

You know what sucks the most? Discovering a slow-ish leak four days later after Tom had gone to bed. So I hooked up the drainage hose to a bucket and put something under the drip. I decided to check the bucket before I went to bed and it already had 2″ in it so I moved the hose into a 25-gallon garbage bin and went to bed, figuring it would be safe. But it apparently turned into more of a spray overnight and by the time Tom got up and checked at 5:30 the 25-gallon bucket was overflowing. We have some wet carpet—unfortunately some is in a place we can’t easily get to and dry (under 300# of loaded shelving) but nothing was damaged. And thankfully we got someone here early and it was a simple fix. (Apparently due to the age and type of tank, you have to unscrew/rescrew the tap a few times to get the gaskets aligned right.)

You know what’s the best? Our landlord, who is now replacing the water heater.

So if you’re keeping track, he’s replaced the garage door, repainted Katie’s room, has planned to replace a few windows, has replaced the kitchen/dining floor, and is now replacing the water heater…

Brunch with Santa!

Grannie wanted to do something “Santa-y” this weekend for the kids, so we found a Brunch with Santa… Unfortunately I think it might be the last year to see Santa—neither one wanted to sit on his lap (though honestly, neither has ever loved the idea) but they agreed to stand at his side. They did enjoy the crafts afterwards, though. 🙂

Surprise trip to LegoLand Discovery Center!

We didn’t even know this place existed until a few weeks ago, so I found discount tickets and off we went! It wasn’t quite as exciting as I’d hoped it would be (and one of the rides was shut down) but the kids had a really good time so that’s all that matters!

LegoLand

2017 Marine Corps Birthday Ball

Turns out we have zero good lighting spots in our house for pictures. Which means I should have gotten out my real camera…

So we did a selfie and hope that our actual ball photo will be better (they took professional pics but they were free so we have no idea when we will get them).

Doh! The first time ever we could bring our own wine and I forgot.

 

It’s always fun to get dressed up and go out but I never know anyone so it’s honestly kind of awkward. We ended up leaving early because we were both tired…

Makeup Galore

I had some old eyeshadows I was going to toss but decided to let Katie have them instead. And boy did she have fun. Owen even got into the game…

As you can see there is no such thing as moderation. Six layers later: “Mom, I’m part Anna and part cat!”

And then Sophia came down and got involved.

And daddy even for roped in.

  
  

Owen’s first MSU game!

They’ve had tickets for months and have been getting more and more excited… Unfortunately it was coooold and required many layers but that didn’t hamper the excitement. 🙂

  
   
       

It was an exciting game, but unfortunately the outcome was an MSU loss in triple overtime… They ended their outing at Culver’s for dinner.

  

Jelly Belly Factory Tour

We surprised the kids with a mini road trip to the Jelly Belly factory which is right up the road…And also surprised them with who was also there!

Getting ready for a train ride around the factory floor. It’s really just a warehouse.

Since it is a working factory we had to wear hats—they are very cheap plus I have a big head so it didn’t last long…but I had to keep it on. 😆


 

We were able to try whatever flavors we wanted. I tried margarita and pancakes and maple syrup. They were both tasty. 

We spent about $50 on stupid jelly beans but we had fun. And I can honestly say I don’t need to buy Jelly Belly fudge again (it’s in the freezer so others can try it). 🙂

Steve Martin and Martin Short!

Date afternoon seeing Steve Martin and Martin Short courtesy of the USO! It was a free event and I wanted to be sure to get in so I was there three hours early (LOL!)—though Tom and I went out to eat and then it was such a gorgeous day I walked around Pokémoning. Then about 800 young navy recruits showed up that were going to be allowed in first so there was ZERO point in me being there early. (As it turned out there was plenty of seating but we didn’t know that until 15 minutes before the door opened.) I’m glad we went—it was a good time!