I checked weather.com to find out it would be 25 degrees for a high, and only 14 if you figured in the wind chill.  But that didn’t stop any of us from heading outside this weekend.  We were part of the brave crowd.

And it was fun.

It started with a chilly quad ride.  Normally this time of year everyone would be riding snowmobiles, but luckily for me the snow hasn’t cooperated and the snowmobile trails were a mess; I don’t own a snowmobile, so I would have had to sit at the cottage and let everyone else ride their sleds.  I do own a quad, though, so three of us took those and tore down some trails and a few of the roads, all the while taking in the awesome scenery.  I love the laws that allow us to ride all the secondary roads in the county.  It’s awesome.

The ice-cold wind was finding its way through my helmet, and the 8 layers I had on weren’t preventing it from smacking me right in the chest.  But I was still in heaven.  The trails and roads were lightly snow-covered, and the scenery was something that could only be found in North Country such as this.  It was awesome.  I ignored the icicles hanging from my nose, my frozen thumb that was operating the throttle, and drove on.  It was perfect.

After a few hours of that, we headed back to all of our families who were waiting at the cottage.  They had come in order to visit Tip Up Town USA.  Houghton Lake is a smorgasbord for anything ice or snow-related this time of year, and the annual two week festival was to provide many things for the kids to do: They rode fair rides, fed a llama that I thought might eat their clothes off, and slid down the ice slide.  Honestly, the ice slide was one of the highlights of the trip – If you could have only seen the smiles on the kids’ faces as they slid down that thing – all bundled up in snow pants and winter coats – with a grin on their face all the way to the bottom.

The adults had a good time, too.  I loved watching the kids experiencing everything, including my little Abby who looked somewhat like the I-can’t-put-my-arms-down kid from A Christmas Story; she was so bundled up I’m not sure how she managed to fall asleep in her stroller through most of the experience.

I even managed to do something that most of the group was amazed by:  walk on the ice.  I hate ice fishing, and I hate standing on the ice; it is just a strange feeling for me.  But when there are vehicles out on the ice, I figure it’s safe to step on out.  Jeff relished in the moment and managed to capture a few pictures for proof.  Heck, it was so much fun, if the weather cooperates; I might even ice fish with him this weekend on a local lake.

Cabin fever tends to settle in for a lot of people this time of year, but I’m glad that hasn’t happened to any of us.  There is just something invigorating and refreshing about being outside………..even if you have to wear 8 layers to stay warm.

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In case some of you forgot, my wife and I had our first child – a daughter – in October of last year.  I did a few Abby updates since then, but honestly haven’t written about her in quite awhile.  It isn’t that I didn’t think about her, or that writing about her never crosses my mind,  it was simply because I started getting a little paranoid.

After looking at some site statistics, and noticing a few hits on Abby’s pictures that made me a little leery,  I turned into protective dad – and rightfully so I might add.  It’s hard to be a parent and not be protective of your kids.  And while I don’t live in constant fear, I can’t help but try to keep her in a bubble from time to time.  If you don’t believe me about the dangers lurking out there on the ‘net, read Matt’s post.

As a benefit to all of you, however, I have since gotten over the paranoia; not completely, but it has curbed somewhat.  At first I contemplated locking the posts down that had to do with Abby, and requiring people to sign in to view them.  That isn’t the best option, however, and requires a little more headache then I want people to go through to read the site.  So, for now, I will be doing Abby updates again, but only intermittently – with one picture an update.

Believe it or not she is already 8 months old.  I truly can’t believe how fast the time goes by.  And what have you missed in the last few months?  Well, quite a bit actually.  She can wave, she can yell, she can sit up all by herself, she laughs like crazy, and she has already camped for her first time.

Honestly, she is an absolute riot.  She is the most laid-back, easy-going kid I’ve ever been around.  She loved every minute of our camping trip, slept in her pack ‘n play in the tent without a problem, and loves to watch the campfire; it mesmerizes her.  Her and the dog get along awesome, she likes to eat grass to mommy’s dismay, and she is already a huge music lover like her daddy (she even has started to “dance”).

These 8 months have been some of the best of my wife and I’s lives.  We love every minute we get to spend with her, and we can’t wait for the coming months when we will be able to get her more involved in outdoor activities – fishing, hiking, etc.

God help us when she starts walking!

Note: The picture was taken in our backyard.  We had her out there sitting in the grass and just hanging out.  She loved it!

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You can call me lazy, or whatever, but I truthfully just didn’t want to put a post together for today.  I have a ton of ideas for posts, but I didn’t want to do the research, or didn’t feel like formulating a coherent thought.

I think that happens to all of us bloggers from time to time; we get a little overwhelmed with posting.  The other contributing factor is that I’m off work for the rest of the week, and have switched to “no” mode : no motivation, no drive, no worries!

Abby and I had a great day yesterday: reading books, playing, napping.  It’s too bad that the weather is still so crappy, otherwise we would have been doing something fun outside.  Instead, we read about animals.  We learned about frogs, ducks, mice, dogs, and cats.  I think I at least gave her an idea of what everything was – everything that her 4 1/2 month old mind can handle anyway.

Tomorrow will be much of the same.  It’s Daddy/Abby day again, and hopefully it goes as well as today did.

Maybe, eventually, this weather will actually break and I can write about actual outdoor adventures.  For now, though, I’ll just take the time with Abby in stride and appreciate every minute of it.

I hope everyone else is having as good of a week as I am.

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My new daughter, Abby, as of this writing, is only four months old.  But I can’t help but think about our future hunting and fishing trips together.  Actually, they don’t even have to be hunting and fishing trips; I simply just can’t wait to share the whole outdoor experience with her.

I’m not trying to rush things, because as many of you know, these early years go by too fast anyway.  But I just can’t help but imagine what our future outdoor endeavours will hold.  I also hope that she loves the outdoors as much as her mom and I do.  I think by starting her early we will help with that.

I wonder how she will handle the whole outdoor experience.  Will she embrace it like Tom did, after being shown the ropes by his Dad?  Will she fall asleep during it, like Jeff’s son from Lowcountryhunting.com? (If any of you haven’t seen those pictures yet, you definitely need to click on over and check them out).  Will she have a slight fear of the outdoors, like my cousin’s daughter did, and develop a fear of big bucks after dark?  Or will she simply dig her heels in, kill her first buck, and load it in the truck like Elizabeth did when she was 15?

All of these things, of course, remain to be seen.  I just can’t really stop myself from wondering what outdoor experiences we will share.  I hope that all of them are fond memories for her, and I hope that we continue to make those memories right through adulthood.

It is honestly okay with me if she chooses not to hunt or fish.  I do hope that she has some sort of love for the outdoors, though – whether it be camping, hiking, kayaking, or whatever.

It’s too bad I couldn’t look into my crystal ball and see what the future holds.  I guess that would eliminate half the fun, though, wouldn’t it?  Because as we share the outdoors together, and I get to show her the outdoors for her first time, that is how the memories will get created.

And not knowing what the future holds only adds to the excitement and wonder.  As the weather starts warming up, the time only gets closer for her first real outdoor experience.

I know she won’t remember it, but her Mom and I certainly will for the rest of our lives..

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I just recently realized that I haven’t done an Abby update since November.  Since November?  Geesh, I’m such a slacker sometimes.

Honestly, the months are going by too fast.  On January 3rd Abby turned 3 months old.  By the way, if any of you have seen those 3 months, please let me know, the wife and I are looking for them.   I can’t believe it has been that long already.  It seems like just yesterday she was born, and she is already laughing, smiling, and sometimes, already sleeping through the night (we hope that keeps up).

For the past few weeks she has been smiling up a storm.  Of course, her mom and I absolutely love that.  Then, just yesterday, I finally got her to truly laugh out loud for the first time.  I was just tickling her, and blowing on her cheeks, and all of a sudden she started cracking up.  I’m sure that is a moment her mom and I will never forget.

She has also recently discovered a few things:  Her hands and her voice.  She will pick up her hands and just stare them as if to say “Hmm, I wonder what those are?  I think they should go in my mouth”.  She also yells in anger, and yells in delight as well.  I will scream at her, and she screams right back; not the best thing to teach her, but man it cracks me up that she will actually mock us already.

Unfortunately her mom had to go back to work this week, but she is safe at her Aunt’s house while we work.  At this point she is a complete blast to be around.  She’s fun, she smiles, she laughs, she squeals, and just loves to have you be around her.

If only that could keep up for the next 13 years or so.

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