Lots of Snow, Cold, A Good Day For Play With The Albarrans

Enjoying A Hike In Woodlawn

Marisa

Beth and Marisa

Frolicking

Mitch

7:30

Up around 7:00, Marisa and Evie followed around 7:15.  A gentle snow, an inch overnight, though little if any forecast for the next couple of days.  Some fishermen are out on the ice off of Long Point, it's overcast, lots of birds fluttering around our feeder, mostly sparrows who live in our rhododendrons.

Yesterday was a snowy, cold day; however, it did not deter us from enjoying the outdoors, though the lake was not good for ice skating, too much snow, nor cross country skiing, slush that turned to ice on our skis, making it impossible to slide.  So, we went for a long hike, Evie and I leading the way in our snow shoes, through the Woodlawn/Victoria woods.  We had a great time, snow flakes falling, kids like a couple of puppies, running off the trails, into the woods,, throwing themselves into snow drifts.  It was fun to watch them frolic, enjoy the cold and snow, as we made a circular path back to our house.

Dough Rising

Fresh, Hot Sticky Buns

Before we left, Evie and Marisa had put together the makings for sticky buns, and when we returned the dough had, as you can see, clearly doubled in size.  Evie then made the rolls, popped them in the oven, and we had hot sticky buns after our hike.  Amazingly delicious, especially when warm, the kids loved them of course.  She also made a few with cream cheese and lemon filling; they tasted like warm cheese cake.

After lunch, we went sledding on the Woodlawn hill again and because of the ten new inches of snow, it was really good.  Mitch made small jumps with the snow, so he could get in to the air on his snow board, trying to turn a 180º.  Tyler and Marisa did most of the sledding, and I even went down a couple of times, no tears or thorns this time.

Around 5:00, Mitch and I went out to try cross country skiing on the lake but our skis froze, so we decided to go bushwhacking (making our own path) through the woods to the campground, to the zoo, where their were only a flock of deer, then back across the frozen, snow covered tundra of Kinney's field to the path that led down along the creek and home.  As we skied down a hill on the path, Mitch ran into a tree, I ran into him, and we both fell into a pile of snow, skis, and poles, fortunately, neither of us were hurt.  We just laughed, as we tried to extricate ourselves from the mass of poles and skis and eventually stood up and made our way home.  Great fun and we want to do more of it today.

Making fettuccine

Vodka Sauce with Shrimp

For dinner, Evie and the grand kids made fresh pasta on our new pasta machine, which hooks on to our large mixer.  My son Tom and his wife Mary gave us the attachments for Christmas.  We had a an interesting time experimenting with thicknesses, making fettuccine noodles, in batches, and decided after cooking, that they needed to be a bit thinner the next time though they were still good.  While we made the noodles, Beth made a wonderful vodka and cream pasta sauce with shrimp, which we put over the fresh pasta noodles.  Quite a feast after a cold day in the outdoors.

We all stayed up till about 9:30, playing games, watching TV and reading, before Marisa went off to bed.  The rest of us went off as we tired, but the boys stayed up watching TV.  No wonder they sleep in, the rest of us are up so early.

Mitch on the Frozen Tundra During a Snow Storm

One more day of outdoor fun we the family before they head home to Darien tomorrow, Friday, morning, alas.