Videos of the Lou-est Lou of all Loubears

No snow? It's cool - we can skate!

We've been in our house for almost three years now. Other than sometimes dreaming about building a house together someday, we're completely content on North Baldwin Street. I think the whole building a house fantasy was brought on by my parent's recent endeavor in Oconomowoc as well as this cool project a few blocks from our house in Madison. It's good to have dreams, so for now, we'll let this one remain just that - a dream. In the meantime, we'll enjoy all our house has to offer, including an amazing spot for ice skating 2 blocks away. We walked to breakfast one morning last month and afterwards, wondered through a nearby thrift store. They happened to have skates in our sizes, so we bought them. Nate got the blades sharpened and the next weekend we headed to Tenney Park. No triple axels, but we had fun. Lou and Ries enjoyed the outing as well.

Taking this very seriously

Walking to Tenney Park

Lou first photo. Kidding of course. Georgia was with us

Something else our house has to offer is a sink that is perfect for Loubear bath time. She was a bit nervous at first since lately I've been taking baths with her in the real bathtub, but after some reassurance, she seemed very happy. We made her pose for these photos because someday, she's going to be glad she has a bathtub picture.

Laughing at Dad

My what big teeth you have, little girl

My Girls

It seemed that there was quite a while when toys were not that interesting to Louisa, but now they can entertain her for quite a while. One of her favorite activities seems to be tipping over a basket of toys and picking through them, one by one, often viewing each from different angles and eventually tasting each toy as well.

Here is a little video of play time today that includes a shot of Ries' new awesome haircut. (The word "awesome" is used with a heavy dose of sarcasm, for those of you who aren't sure how I feel about the shaved look)

Park City, Utah

Nate and I were married 4 1/2 years ago and the only wedding gift left unused was a week in Utah from my childhood neighbors, the Youngs. Their house provided a fabulous get-a-way for us this past weekend - actually extending into this week too. A snow-packed trail runs right along the side of their gorgeous mountain home, leading you to the bottom of Sunrise Lift which gave me, a snowboarder, and Nate, Travis, Jess, Paul and Kristy, all skiers, access to Canyons - a Park City ski resort. Although no fresh powder fell while we were there, the thick snow-base was glorious compared to our non-existent base here in Wisconsin, so we were happy.

On Sunday morning, after feeding Lou and putting her down for her morning nap, I awkwardly made my way to the lift to meet up with my skiing companions. Nate and I both learned to ski as kids, but when I moved to Denver in 2006, I took up snowboarding. Whether he bought a snowboard for himself to win my heart or because he really enjoyed the sport, I don't know, but for this trip, Nate decided to rent skis instead of a snowboard. This worked out fine...I was just a little slower than everyone else. I'm not sure that skiing would have been any better though, because my risk-taking score (ie enjoyment of speed) is fairly low either way.

We only skied/boarded one day, leaving plenty of time for snowshoeing, walking, sheepshead, cooking, reading and sleeping in. We all took turns cooking breakfast and dinner and as a result, enjoyed delicious food everyday. I often wonder why I don't write more about food on this blog, so here goes:

• Friday dinner: Red Iguana - fantastic Mexican food in Salt Lake City
• Saturday breakfast: Travis and Ariyl made pumpkin cinnamon rolls, bacon, fruit and yogurt
• Saturday dinner: Nate and I made grilled chicken sandwiches, potato leek soup & brownie sundaes
• Sunday breakfast: Seth and Laura made veggie scrambled eggs and toast
• Sunday dinner: Erin made penne/Gorgonzola pasta bake and turkey/spaghetti/marinara bake
• Monday breakfast: Jess made scones, lemon curd, yogurt and fruit
• Monday dinner: Paul and Kristy made quinoa with roasted vegetables, red pepper soup and homemade bread for grilled cheese sandwiches
• Tuesday dinner: Travis and Ariyl made chicken nachos

Enough talking, you say? Okay, okay - here are some photos!

My favorites from Seth and Laura's engagement photo shoot

Snowshoeing