Ice You Can See Through and a New Washer!

Ooh , isn't this exciting? My new washing machine was delivered today!!! The old one had been with us for 15 years and a bunch of moves - maybe 6 houses or so - and had faithfully served us all those years, but it finally gave up the fight and was spewing water all over the floor - gallons, not drips - every time we used it. So last weekend, my sweet husband took me to Home Depot (100 miles away) to pick out a new one. I had done my research online and had my heart set on a front loader, but when we saw this one we loved it. Also, while we were doing our shopping, another couple was in the area, and the wife happened to mention to her husband the problem a friend had experienced with her front loader - the door had somehow been tweaked - either from the kids pulling down on it or from her leaning over it or draping wet clothes on it, and it leaked water. She ended up having to replace the door (which I'm sure couldn't have been cheap). Well, given the fact that we have lots of little laundry "helpers," I figured we would be safer with the top loader.

So here it is in all it's shiny newness. It has a 5.2 cubic foot capacity. We decided it would be well worth the money to invest in a bigger machine so we can wash our king size comforter in it, and just do fewer loads overall. Now, if we could just get a second dryer, we would really be in business, but I won't have room for one of those until our other house gets out here. Then, it's a serious option which I think will be well worth the investment.

I love the see-through lid on this one too. I could have put our two-year-old in here and you would see that his head only would come to about two thirds up the drum - it is VERY deep and wide. But, he had watched a load run and I'm sure he would panic, so I won't do that to him :)

It was the great excitement of the night watching the first load run.

The kids like the see through lid too :) - but you have to be careful. If you watch too closely you'll get sea sick. This washer spins the clothes as it washes them, and the centrifugal force pulls the water up the sides and shoots it back onto the clothes from the top - like a constant spray. It stops, switches directions, sloshes and does all kinds of maneuvers to get the clothes clean with a minimal amount of water. We were all impressed.

It was the evening's entertainment.

This afternoon, while my husband and our six year old spent the day skiing, my daughter, two year old and I went to check out the local lake which has frozen clear. According to the newspaper, this only happens every 10 years, but my mother-in-law said the last time this lake froze clear was when they were first married - which would be much longer ago than that.
It was a little unnerving to be able to see clear to the bottom of the lake. I was a chicken and stayed within 30 feet of shore.

Check this out - these are piles of driftwood, probably about 8 feet under water, and yes, I was stupid enough not to wear snow boots. And by the way, the wind was whipping across all that ice and we nearly froze to death. Definitely should have dressed warmer!

Can you see the rocks ... and the cracks in the ice. The ice was popping all the time we were on it, and it looked like it was only about 5 inches thick. I'm not into ice fishing or walking or driving snowmobiles across the ice because I have a great fear of falling through and never being able to get back out. Not the way I want to die. The first time my husband ever took me ice fishing, I had one leg break through the ice, and that was enough for me. He did convince me to go out a few more times, but for the most part, I stay home where it's warm :)

It was really cool to see the bubbles trapped in the ice. It's like that everywhere across the ice.

This is ice covering a rock on the shore. This must have formed before the lake froze over because the splashing would have capped the rock like that. Very cool mushroomy effect.

My daughter decided to skate on it. She had a great time once she got used to it. The lake is remarkably smooth even with the cracks. She had a hard time not panicking whenever it popped, though.

See the mountains in the distance? They are 12 miles across the lake.

She got comfortable enough on the ice to attempt a few tricks too.


And some spins.

At the end of it all, the two year old decided the best part was getting to eat the ice off the bottom of his shoes :)