Maple Syrup Time

The Saturday before Easter we headed up to my parents' place for a quick visit.  Our family typically has gone up there to experience maple sap harvesting and maple syrup making; it's a great learning experience for the kids.  Plus, since my parents supply us with a year's worth of syrup, we also like to help out whenever we can :)

We were up there by lunchtime on Saturday and enjoyed some game time/play time in the afternoon.

After Grandpa had a chance to rest after his morning of cooking down the sap, we all had fun helping collect more sap in the afternoon.

Of course, our first family project when we got outside was to make a large snowman.  Hopefully, it's the last one of the season!

The kids all took turns riding on the new Gator and both Ethan and Kate helped empty the bags of sap.  The younger kids also had the opportunity to snitch some sap from one of the taps ... yum!

Anna and Ethan were ready to head inside earlier than our tough, nature-loving daughter.  We found her playing in the mud.  Then she and Matt tromped through the woods checking out the different kinds of moss.

After a  tasty dinner, we all retired for the night.  Easter morning came early and we traveled into Eau Claire to my parents' church for one of the many Easter services.  This was Anna's first visit since her diagnosis and a few members of the congregation recognized her, since many have prayed for her during the past two years.

When we came back from worship, more games and playing ensued before a delicious brunch.  Ethan had at least three of my dad's blueberry pancakes; we lost count somewhere in there.  Kate had at least 5 sausage links, and then some ...  Have I ever mentioned how well my parents feed us?

Although the weather was crummy, Kate, Matt, and Ethan enjoyed a little more time outside helping Grandpa take the taps out of the trees before we decided it was time to head home.

Another 36 hour trip done.  Another set of memories made.  We're always thankful for these kinds of opportunities.