Zip Line

I have never seen the lake like this in the winter. Usually it is frozen and covered in snow. It's kind of weird to be sledding on one side of the road and look out and see the water on the other side. It is beautiful though. The temperature warmed up a bit today, which made the sledding not as wonderful. I went out with Rachel, Marie, Mina and Eve for a bit. Grace opted to stay inside and play her imaginary games. I took the girls up to the Springs. Again, not as fast, but perfect for the little girls. Mina was able to go down by herself and Rachel was able to take Eve. Marie was a pro already, so this was no problem for her.

Matt, Sam and Rachel all left the cabin today. This leaves only us. Which left Mike getting into mischief. Yesterday while we were playing Colt Express, Mike decided he wanted to make a zip line. He drew out plans and this morning Jorja took him to the hardware store. He came back with lots of rope and big dreams. We kept watching Mike walk back and forth carrying a ladder over his head. By the time it was dark he was ready to test it out. I begged him to wait until it was light. He didn't understand why he should wait. He was using something he found in the garage to go down the rope. He realized it was the wrong style and would need to go back to the hardware store. Too bad they are closed and tomorrow is Sunday. Mike and Stockton tested it out anyway. Jorja took a video, but I don't think it will upload here. Mike hit the ground before the hill, but didn't hurt himself. Stockton hit a tree, but as Mike pointed out, "It was a little tree." Well, no worries then.

Mike

 Look super close at the telephone pole

 Here . . . I'll zoom in . . .

Mike made hamburgers and rootbeer floats for dinner. We played a game of Colt Express. Maysen was the marshall. She had to get four out of five goals to win. It is hard to win as the marshall. Maysen completed all five goals. I guess it's not hard for her. I taught the kids how to play Canasta. Rummy and Canasta were staples from my childhood. I can't believe I have never played Canasta with my kids, and rarely have played Rummy. Maysen and Preston won that game. We finished off the night by watching Captain Underpants, or something like that. I slept through whatever was playing. Shocking, I know. Speaking of shocking, I showed Rachel and her girls the shocking game the other day. Rachel and Marie both played it. Jeff was fascinated by it. He kept pushing the button and wanted to hold the handle. We played with him but turned off the power to his handle. He loved it. There are only so many times we can play the shocking game though. Jeff didn't understand why we put it away. Marie kept getting shocked. We had the machine turned to level 1. I told Marie that I wouldn't push the button this time. Mike secretly turned the machine up to level 4. I was not expecting that. Mike just laughed and laughed.