Twin cities

This past weekend, we took a trip to Minneapolis/St Paul for the City of Lakes Loppet and to spend time with our Seattle friends, Scott and Avery, who also flew in for the weekend. We rented a house near Lake of the Isles and embraced winter, along with all the locals. 

Both kids have headphones now, and they get to watch Dora and Daniel the Tiger on my phone during the plane ride. 

We stayed in a great house in a prime location and the four kids, Sylvie, Soren, Sam, and Stella, had a great time together. [Stella is only seven months old, but you could tell she had a great time.] 

Compared to the Birkie, this weekend of ski racing was a breeze. We flew into Minneapolis and drove 15 minutes to our house, instead of 4 hours to Hayward. Groceries and coffee were a walk or a short drive away. The races started at 9am, so we had to leave our house by 7am, instead of 4:30am, as is necessary for the Birkie. Also, since there were two days of races (classic on Saturday morning and skate on Sunday morning), we all got to ski: Scott and Kyle got to ski on Saturday and Avery and I skied on Sunday. The race course started on a golf course, and then went over and around three frozen lakes in the city: Cedar Lake, Lake of the Isles, and Lake Calhoun. So the first half was hilly, and the second half (on the lakes) was dead flat and windy. Really cool to see so much of the city on skis. 

While half of the adults were skiing each day, the kids and remaining adults played. I met up with my cousin Herman, and his kids Ben and Ziva, for some play time on the lake. 

Ziva and Sylvie on an ice skating rink.

Herman and Samwise

Sleeping on a snow pillow.

We built a snowman with a face made of fruit snacks. 

Our cheering sign for the skiers, plus Ben. 

Sylvie also did her first ski race: a 1.5km minne loppet. Kyle, Sam, and I walked along with her as she skied the course, and she was so proud the whole time. 

Maybe the best part of the whole weekend of events was the luminary ski/walk on Saturday evening. There were luminaries all around the lakes, and fire dancers and hot chocolate and bonfires and marshmallows. It was about 35 degrees out (not bitter cold) and there were tons of people out, embracing winter. Difficult to capture the spirit on iPhone photos at night, but there was a great vibe. Everyone enjoyed it.