Embrace the Winter.....

Everyone up here says in order to love Madison year-round, you must embrace the winter. This weekend we did.

Friday afternoon Megan arrived and then we took Jimmy out to dinner for his 29th birthday. Ginger and Aaron joined us as well. The dinner was excellent. The place was called Eno Vino and was a wine bar/tapas place. The food was amazing and the drinks were very yummy!! I cannot wait to go back again!! Maybe for Valentine's Day........hint hint.

On Saturday we toured Madison. We went to the capitol building and walked on Lake Mendota. Yes, I said we WALKED on the lake. I have never in my life walked on water!! It was so weird to be walking out into the lake when normally you walk along the shore and docks. People were playing frisbe with their dogs, walking, running and fishing. You almost felt like you were at the beach. Every once in a while we would come across a crack which would send chills through your spine because with all the fun you can't forget that it could crack....but with the cold weather from the last few weeks they say it is fairly safe.

Jimmy and I standing on the lake.

You can see downtown from here.

Then on Sunday we ventured to Devil's Lake for our first snowshoeing adventure. As part of Jimmy's birthday present I bought him snowshoes and of course he can't go by himself so I bought a pair for myself as well. We rented a pair for Megan at REI.

Devil's Lake completely frozen:

Us in our first attempt at snowshoeing:

We snowshoed out onto the lake and walked along a trail for a few hours. It was a good workout. You move a little different at first b/c your feet have suddenly grown so you kind of have to learn to walk with wider strides.

Then after snowshoeing we went sledding!! It was awesome!! I felt like a huge kid. I went sailing down the hill a few times sitting upright on the sled. Then I mustered up the courage to go face down on my belly. It was the best!! I went over a ramp that some kids had built, went airborne and landed with a big "Yah Hooooooo." The family that was at the hill with us gave me style points for my jump. I must admit that I was not aiming for the ramp....it just happened!!

I am ready for the Olympics! This is me pre-jump. Great form!! "Anna should sit in the front." I am not falling for that again. This is us right before we ate a pound of snow on the way down!!

Then on Monday we took it easy. I went an applied for my passport while Megan packed and then we went to see the Renee Zellweger movie New In Town (aka Anna Moves to Madison..sort of). The movie is about a corporate girl from Miami whose company sends her to New Ulm, Minnesota in the middle of winter. Madison and the little Minnesota town are nothing alike but the accents, cultural happenings and sayings are very similar. The movie is quite funny! I even think Jimmy would have liked it.

What a wonderful weekend!!