We're going soft...

And we're not referring to the fact that we most definitely ate more than our fair share of fattening holiday goodies.  No, this is more in reference to the way we handle the cold weather.  Actually, the problem isn't so much the cold weather, but the lack thereof.  With our uncharacteristically warm winter this year we haven't even had to lift a snow shovel yet!  So when the cold weather finally hit yesterday we found ourselves shivering and bolting for indoors with temperatures just barely dipping below freezing.  That's just not right.  Now, to be fair, the wind was pretty strong and the wind chill was pretty low, but we're still disappointed in ourselves (and our lack of winter weather).

But back to that bit about eating too many goodies...we enjoyed a wonderful dinner party on Sunday night, complete with several courses of really fantastic Peruvian food.  A delicious soup, followed by two different kinds of fish, followed by beef, followed by cheesecake.  Yum.  We'd love to recommend the restaurant to you, but it's by invitation only and we were just that lucky.  Actually, it was dinner at Patty's home with her family and the Hillers, and it was a really fantastic party with good company and good food at.  Poor Calvin only got peas and squash out of the deal, and boy does he have a way of making you feel guilty when he eyes your food with those puppy dog eyes!

Baby, it's cold outside.

Today was the coldest day of Calvin's life.  Seriously.  This fall season has been a little strange.  Halloween was uncommonly warm this year, so it's hard to believe that he experienced snow a couple of weeks earlier than that, but he did.  Thus today's snow wasn't anything new, but it was more plentiful.  It snowed all day.  Really.  All day.  It mesmerized Calvin completely (he gets that from his mother who loves this time of the year).  Of course the ground is still too warm for it to collect in any great amount, even if the air temperature was frigid beyond early November belief, but a thin cheesecloth of snow is covering the ground as far as the eye can see.  So we did what any self respecting Michigan family would do under these cirucmstances - we canceled all our evening plans, lit a fire, and ate ice cream for dessert.  Well, Calvin didn't get his ice cream directly, but he did get to enjoy the fire directly, and he found it just as fascinating as he found the snow.  He actually stood, holding onto our coffee table, and watched the flickering of the flames for a very long time (well, upwards of 2 minutes, but that's a really long time baby minutes).

Isn't it October?

Don't worry, you didn't miss out on the Halloween fun, it isn't time to go buy the turkey, and Santa isn't at the mall yet (well, actually he might be but you'll have to talk to the money grubbing retailers about that).  No, it really truly is still October, it just doesn't look (or feel) like it.  We often talk about whether or not the first snow will come by Thanksgiving.  Sometimes we've even talked about whether or not it will shower flakes before Halloween, but this is ridiculous!  We realize that it won't stick (or, at least we're hoping), but since I have to clear the snow and ice out of the dogs' feet before they come in from the yard I think it counts.  So here is Calvin's first snow.

Bear and Peacock are friends!

I know we surprised all of you with Pudu and Capybara are friends last summer (who thought the world's smallest deer would hang out with the world's largest rodent happily?), but isn't it just as surprising that bear and peacock can hang out together?  Granted that most brown bears aren't really avid carnivores, but isn't that what we come to believe from childhood on?  Not Raspberry!  This weekend was his first trip to the zoo - Detroit, of course - and he got to witness a large population of peacocks taking refuge from the biting wind in the Grizzly Bear enclosure, complete with two bears.  Maybe there really is safety in numbers - ten peacocks, two grizzlies?

It was really fun to see all of our zoo friends again, cold weather and all.  In fact, the cold weather meant that we got to see some things we never did during the heat of summer.  The arctic fox was busy and in white for the season, and there were actually four!  All summer we thought there was just one lazy guy, but today they were all up shuffling around!  We could see the tiger's breath - that's a lot of breath!  And the wolverines were all sprawled out on their backs in little sun holes they had dug, enjoying some warmth from the now nearing sun.  Raspberry loved it.  How do we know?  He was tired the rest of the day.  We can't wait to bring him back in July or August!

A winter spa break!

Well, maybe not a real spa, but where we were was at least as good. We spent the past week at Aunt Lonnie's house, Cortney's Godmother, in Harbor Springs, and what a relaxing week it was. We shopped with aunt Lonnie for baby things in the quaint shops in Petoskey; were joined by Curtis and Patty the next day and had lunch at our favorite Petoskey sub bar, The Noggin Room; Were joined by Cortney's parents the next day and drove up to Mackinaw City for fantastic fried perch at the Keyhole bar, and picked up fudge and caramel corn while we were there; opened champagne and lots of hilarious gifts on New Year's Eve; rang in the New Year with Dick Clark wannabees; built a snowman (Curtis and Jon); enjoyed burgers at Bar Harbor in Harbor Springs; and drove to Bay Harbor for window shopping and ice cream; and spent plenty of "down time" reading, napping, and playing video games. Speaking of New Year's Eve - they added a leap second this year, did anyone notice? We're still trying to get acclimated... oh wait, maybe that's just the frustration of having to return to work, chores, and other duties after a week in a winter paradise.  Yeah, I guess that's it.

 Thank you again and again to Aunt Lonnie and to Cortney's mom and dad for a wonderful place to stay, for wonderful meals over and over, and for great company.

 Happy New Year to all!