For some crazy reason, we decided the first weekend of January would be a great time to drive to the cottage in Canada. We made it up without too much trouble, although the last couple of hours from Toronto to Waubashene were pretty dicey. Matt says Blue Thunder handles great on the icy roads, though. We got in just as the gale winds were starting and the temps were dropping towards zero Farenheit (they were already well below zero Celsius). Granddad and Grandma Sylvia mainly use the fireplace to heat the cottage, so it was warm enough when the fire was going, but the nights and mornings were brutally cold. Once I got the kids in their long underwear, they didn't come out of it all weekend. They even slept with long underwear and socks on under their blanket sleepers (the fleece jammies with feet). Nobody bathed or showered for two days because it was just too darn cold! Thank goodness I remembered to pack slippers for everyone because you couldn't walk around the cottage without them.
Luke's only wish for months has been to skate on "Granddad's lake" which happens to be an inlet of Georgian Bay on Lake Huron. So we bundled up the boys: long underwear, sweat pants, sweat shirts, two pairs of socks, snow pants, jacket, mitts, hat, hood, boots. Matt and I got as bundled as we could and we all ventured outside on Saturday. Michael promptly face planted and started screaming and that was it for him. He stayed inside with mommy the rest of the weekend. Matt and Luke quickly realized that they needed to cover their faces and came back in to regroup. They tied scarves around their faces and headed back out. They shoveled a rink and went skating three times that day! We think the wind chill was around -20. I'm so proud of them for braving the cold and having a good time.
Meanwhile, Michael and I did something more our speed, we explored Canadian culture via Sylvia's cracker collection featuring various flavors (or should I say flavours) found only in Canada: dill pickle, ketchup and "all dressed" (a very strange flavor that defies description). The boys also got new tool benches from Granddad for Christmas and they spent a long time playing with them.
The weather did not improve on Sunday, although I did get my peameal bacon fix. We were supposed to go see Uncle Greg's new house in Toronto that afternoon, but the driving was terrible. It took us five hours to get from the cottage to London, Ontario where we decided to stay the night and break up the drive. I'm sure glad we did. As we drove the rest of the way today, we stopped counting after we saw ten cars abandoned in the ditch.
Why no pictures of this wild and wintery Canadian weekend? Because the minute I turned the camera on, the batteries died--or froze. We do have the skating on video and when we finish the disc maybe I'll figure out how to post it.
In the car today, Matt was telling Luke that the story of Eragon (a movie Luke likes) was written by a young boy, not a grown up. Luke decided that he needed to write a story of his own. It's hard to write a story when you don't really know how to write, but Luke did his best. 
Luke walking on the concrete "balance beam" back towards the nearly empty parking lot.
This is a new game the boys have been playing first thing in the morning. They put on their hooded towels and run around saying that they are superheroes. Not sure real superheroes are supposed to be this cute and cuddly. And I'm pretty sure real superheroes don't finish up their missions by asking for warm milk.
Benedict is almost 16 months and was contemplating a more interesting beverage than the apple juice his parents offered.
Mark is 6 months old and loves his feet.
