Winter Carnival...

Here is a photo of an ice dragon at night, and what seemed to be a popular (and tasty) food of the Carnival, hot mini-donuts. The Carnival was fun, and not as crowded with people as we thought it would be. In the past, they built giant ice palaces (towers over 150 feet tall) made of more than 100,000 blocks of ice - that would draw a crowd. They might build one for next year, the 125th anniversary.

Winter Festival...

Ack and Anne went up to St. Paul, MN to the Winter Carnival. On the way we stopped to see some art work from a residency at Augusta High School (the beaver is the mascot). Then we went to visit Dennis (the residency artist) and Linda O'Donnell who took us on a beautiful & cold horse sled ride through their woodlot. By 8, we got to the hotel in St. Paul where we got to meet the Vulcans. We couldn't decide the best photo, so here are three - choose the best!

Skiing....

Its been good weather for skiing. Anne went on a ski weekend with a group of friends. Weather is warming up this weekend, making it a gray day. -Ack

We skied various places including the Raven Trail in the Northern Highland American Legion State Forest. This shelter is "Turtle," one piece of art left over from a 2007 installation of about 20 pieces by local and international artists.  It was a beautiful trail. -Anne

Happy Birthday Reed

Ack is in DC giving a presentation to the teachers who won the Presidential Awards for Exclellence in Mathematics and Science Teachging. He and Margaret did a workshop on some of the on-line materials CIMSS has developed.  Reed was in town and so is Alana. We celebrated Reed's 19th birthday at a nice DC french resturant Distrot Du Coin.

Happy New Year!

We spent New Year's eve at a party at the curling club. Dinner and a continuous flow of champagne all night long. We slept in the morning of the 01/01/10. We spent much of the day relaxing and running errands, but also a bit of skiing in the Cherokee Marsh.