....and a Happy New Year!

What a whirlwind does the time between Christmas and New Year's seems to have been! With the extended celebrations of Christmas due to uncooperative weather, and a surprise news story that all took place in a matter of days, plus cleaning, laundering, and packing for a family getaway over the New Year's holiday....yikes! Oh yeah, and I have 8 kids here 24/7 who all need 3 meals a day, and lots of other little things throughout the waking hours of a day. It has been BUSY!

We spent the last day of 2009 and the first few days of 2010 up at Breezy Point Resort, near Pequot Lakes. During this frigidly cold snap, we happened to be in the coldest bubble of Minnesota at the time. In fact, Saturday morning's temperature of -43 degrees was as cold as I ever remember in my lifetime to have experienced. It was COLD.

To make a regular hockey tournament into a fun family getaway, we chose to opt out of the smaller suite rooms located in the building 2 blocks away from the main rooms, and instead, booked a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom condo that was connected to all the main attractions via indoor walkways. Though separated from the rest of the team, it certainly beat bundling up all these little people 6 times a day, and trudging through snow and extremely bitter cold just to have some decent food or fun. We tried that last year....and it was anything but FUN.

Going up a day early provided us a relaxing New Year's Eve. I took the kids to the pool for several hours, which is always the highlight of any hotel experience!

Back in our condo, we played the dice game(rolling with pigs, as we had forgotten dice), played some Wii, and some online Webkinz.

Bethany is an expert at sitting up now. And she was rather pleased that she could see all of us at most every minute from her solid perch in the middle of the living room floor.

Every kid stayed awake until midnight, with narry a tear or grumpy complaint. Tubby was very eager to try his "champagne".

As the microwave timer "beeped" in the magical moment, together our voices resounded with "Happy New Year!", followed by the clinking of our glasses. For every minute after that, each time the microwave sounded it's timer reminder beep, it was followed by another round of "Happy New Year!-clink!" This went on for some time. Like for about 10 minutes before I finally cancelled the timer button.

We spent the rest of that weekend thoroughly enjoying just being together (besides Alex who stayed at home and was taking care of the dog). We started each morning off right with the most bountiful breakfast buffets anywhere to be found. French Toast, deluxe egg bakes, country fried potatoes, and all the bacon you can eat, rounded off with homemade doughnut balls, were just a few of the edible delights.

Sitting in the restaurant, looking over the frosty bay of enormous Pelican Lake......beautiful.

Playing the kids' new favorite game, "Snorta!", from Grandma and Grandpa C.

Playing in the arcade.

And of course, swimming........

.....swimming............

...........and more swimming.

Bethany actually enjoyed the water as well. She would spend at least 30 minutes a time cruising around in her little baby float boat in the kiddie pool. She continues to surprise me. She always likes/dislikes the exact OPPOSITE of what I expect her to.

Oh, and yes, there was a hockey tournament going on as well. We cheered.....

....and cheered.....

....and cheered. And rang some cowbells.

Michael's team played well, and earned a trophy for Consolation Champions again.

They played hard, skated fast, gave it their all, but most importantly, had fun. It was really a great weekend. A relaxing end to the bustling of the holidays. A getting away from all the work in the outside world and at home. And because of the extreme cold forcing us to remain indoors, just a wonderful opportunity for us to all hang out together and enjoy our lovely FAMILY.