The snow... it does not stop!
Today it came down all.day.long. We woke up & it was snowing, and it continued into the evening. I would say we got another 6-7 inches. Marin's friend is busy having a warm, fantastic time in Florida so we snapped this photo to send to her. All very jealous of her vacation.

Needless to say, we are all soooooo ready for spring break. More snow forecasted this weekend... Definitely no shortage of snow this winter. Fingers crossed no spring snow storms this year like we had last year & that Mother Nature is hopefully just getting it all out of her system now. xoxo 

Today Marin had a little field trip during the school day to the local food pantry. Her peer leader group does so many cool things in the community & she really enjoyed this visit. They spent their day sorting through food donations & organizing according to expiration dates.

A great way for them to help out & give back to the community. Being the social butterfly she is, this has been right up her alley. The peer leader experience has been so great for her the past 1.5 years. We are hoping that she can continue this kind of group involvement by joining middle school student council next year...

Added bonus, a great group of friends. We are so proud of her for all she does for her school. She's done a great job of balancing her school work as well. She does miss things each week when she's out of class doing peer leader work/activities. But she has rocked it! xoxo

Happy Valentines Day from the Brown Chicks! 

Here is our card from this year... turned out so cute!

I love Valentines Day & giving our family/friends cards & sweet treats to let them know how much we love them. I know many think it is just another Hallmark holiday, but I really enjoy it. 

It is also the one day a year that we bust out the tall candles & have a candle lit dinner. Our girls look forward to it each year & it has become one of our favorite traditions. 

Cutest bunch of cousins I ever did see, I just love them all. Little Fitz Gary even got to sit at the table this year. We snapped a quick pic before we dimmed the lights & the adults joined the table for dinner. Two different kinds of soup & plenty of desserts. Grandma Jean made chocolate covered strawberries & Katie/Sloane made cupcakes. 

Plenty of sweets for a day. The little girls had so much candy in their bags when they got home from school. We had to double brush tonight to get all the sugar off our teeth. I'd call that a successful Valentines Day!

100th day of school for the littles.
At school they have all the kids dress like old people for the 100th day. Always such a fun day to be in the classrooms to see the kids outfits. Lots of drawn on wrinkles, robes & glasses. Our girls looked like cute little old ladies with their fur, sweaters & bifocals. Marin had dress like your parent day at her school. She chose to dress like me... hair up in a messy bun, workout gear with her Lululemon scarf. Just like her mom most days! 

Both Margaux & Maeve chose to accessorize their outfits with their polar bear earrings from GG. 

Ever since the girls were little, they have all been crazy about my grandma's polar bear earrings that are carved out of stones. She wears them often & they love them. Last year when she returned from Arizona she had gifts for all three of them.. each their own pair of polar bear earrings. They love them & wore them proudly the other day. Love their cute little high buns with their fancy earrings. xoxo

We went from cold days to snow days. We have had such a crazy winter! We just keep getting slammed with snow. Today the girls were off school because of a winter storm. So much snow everywhere. The kids just love it. Snow days are so much more fun than snow days.
She snow banks are as tall as Marin! We have nowhere to go with all the snow.

All 3 of the girls were outside all day playing in the snow. They cancelled school already last night so once again they knew they'd be off today. So great when they can sleep in & feel well rested.

Came inside, threw their gear in the dryer & went right back out this evening. They definitely will be tired tonight after all the outside time.

Then time for the hot tub! 

They love getting out of the hot tub & jumping into the snow. Little crazies!

I'll gladly stay warm & take the pics. 

Say a prayer that the snow stays away for a while. We can't keep having all these days off. It has been weeks since they had a full week of school! Winters in Wisconsin are so unpredictable, but also so fun! xoxo

Finally! A weekend trip to see the Ice Castles!!!
We purchased these tickets way back in November with the hopes of visiting this venue the week of winter break or New Years Eve. With the odd & unseasonably warm temps in Nov/Dec that didn't happen. The Ice Castles didn't open until well into January once it finally got cold... and when it got cold, it got REAL cold! Yesterday we headed to Lake Geneva to see these amazing ice castles. All completely man made & placed right along the lake.

So beautiful!

The kids just loved it. Such an amazing sight to see. The sun was shining, it was still definitely cold {only about 15 degrees} but the sun shine helped. We filled our mittens & boots with hand/foot warmers which really helped keep us warm. These fun chairs made out of ice were fun for the kids. 

They also had tunnels, slides & fun little forts made out of ice for the kids to explore. I took so many photos, impossible to post them all but I couldn't stop. It was just so beautiful!

Our traveling crew... we have quite the list of adventures on our 2019 calendar. These Ice Castles were the perfect way to check off #1 on our list. 

Fun for the kids to see & the adults loved it equally as much. Only thing that would have made it a little better would have been warm cocktails! 

Once we were done, we were cold! We headed to Milwaukee for the night. Chick-Fil-A for dinner & swimming/hot tub time for the kiddos before heading home this afternoon. Quick Trader Joes & mall pit stop before we left. Fun weekend, definitely worth the wait. xoxo