Party, Party, Party

Adelyn was on the birthday party circuit in January. She had 3 parties 3 weekends in a row and had a blast at them all. The last one was at a gymnastics place and Cameron got a last minute invite to join in, so both kids got to go. They loved it! It was a huge place and it was pretty fun to see the kids run all around it. Cameron knew everything to do because he goes there a lot with Daddy, but it was Adelyn's first time. She didn't waste any time trying everything! It was a super fun party and now I think we have a long break before we have any more.

Cookie Rally

My how things can change in 48 hours! Brian was on a play date with a friend of ours who has kids the same age and found out there was still a spot in the girl scout troop that her daughter was in. Within the hour, Brian got a text inviting Addy to come to the meeting that night. At the end of the meeting we found out there was a cookie rally on Saturday to kick-off the girl scout cookie season. We went from not even knowing anything about the girl scout troop, to Addy earning her first badge 2 days later! It's been a whirlwind ever since!

Addy and I spent two and half hours on Saturday learning EVERYTHING there is to know about selling cookies. She learned how to count the money and give change (boxes are all $5 this year), she made a sign to sell cookies at a stand, she set her goal for how many boxes to sell (100, or more, as she likes to remind me) she got to try each flavor and can identify them all. As a final reward they got to play cookie twister and take awesome photos. 

Field Trip

Last week, when the kids had a day off from school they went downtown to the aquarium and then stopped by my new office for a visit. They got to meet some of my new coworkers and see where I hang out all day. Watching their observations & listening to their questions was hilarious. They were fascinated by my stand up desk and wanted to take turns turning it up and down. Cameron was obsessed with my coworker's Star Wars Mug and Lego air plane set, which made him think we just play with toys all day. This theory was supported by the multiple nerf dart guns and bullets they found lying around. And to top if off, we have a GIANT bean bag/mattress/pillow bed that I actually have never even sat on, but the kids found it and now think I take naps on it every day at work. If only work could be as fun as they imagine it to be.
The best part was, Brian got his own glow in the dark t-shirt to match mine, but of course the kids wanted to try it on. A little big I think!

It's Official!

It's official, the day has come. Brian is now Farmer Brian because we have three egg-laying chickens! A couple of weeks ago (January 5th to be exact), Blitz laid her first egg. Because she is an Easter egger chicken, the eggs could either be green or blue and we got green ones! Then yesterday, Nugget was walking around like a crazy chicken (literally walking in circles over and over) and Brian predicted she would lay her first egg that day. Sure enough a couple of hours later there was an egg from Nugget. Now we are getting eggs from all three chickens and our cost is less than $18 an egg. What a deal?!?
Congrats to Farmer Brian and his girls! Cameron can no longer say that we feed the chickens but they don't feed us because now they are holding up their end of the bargain.

Gingerbread Houses!

This is long over due, but in December we were invited to a gingerbread party and it was like nothing I've ever seen before! It was at the house of a friend of Addy's and the mom makes gingerbread houses for everyone she knows during the holidays. This year she made 240 houses!! At this party there were 13 houses decorated. It was complete chaos and so much fun. Here are pictures showing the progress of the night. SO MUCH SUGAR was consumed.

do you see the before and after of photobombing? 

Run, run, run...Glide!

The weekend before we went to Winthrop, we took the kids to an ice rink to practice their skating skills. It was an unbelievable change of attitude. Within 5 minutes of getting on the ice both kids were in tears and Brian and I looked at each other and said "so much for ice skating in Winthrop." But we didn't let give up that easily and within 30 minutes the tears were gone and they were getting into it. Another 30 minutes later, they were laughing and having a great time. The only time the tears returned was when it was time to go because they wanted to stay even longer! It was unbelievable!
Cameron has the most unusual skating style of anyone I've ever seen. He just digs in the ice picks on the toes and runs as fast as he can. He looked the like road runner with his legs just going going going. I finally convinced him to try "skating" by adding a glide at the end of his run. So for lap after lap Cameron would run around the rink and say "run, run, run...glide."

Cameron's Ski Time

After Addy went on her first ski lesson, Cameron could not stop asking when it was his turn. So while we were in Winthrop we scheduled a ski lesson for Cameron at the little ski hill there. He was a bit unsure if he liked it at first, but he got the hang of it and was going down by himself in no time. They didn't have a magic carpet ride to get up the hill so he did the tow rope with his teacher, which was a little bit more difficult to master.
After his lesson he wanted to ski some more so Brian and I took turns helping him. Apparently I rolled the lucky dice that day, because he was a great listener with me and we had a great time on the little bunny hill. Brian, not so much. In Cameron's words, "Daddy is a terrible teacher." I'm positive we were doing exactly the same thing. Either way, I'm just glad he liked it and is having fun.

Happy New Year!

It was time for our annual winter trip to Winthrop. We decided to go over New Year's since I already had a 4 day weekend. We had such a great time. The weather cooperated, the drive was uneventful (see last year's post "Oh Deer!" if you forgot) and the kids were great.
We had bets for how many deer we would see on the way there and the way home and Cameron won both times. If we played the lottery I'd have him pick the lucky numbers! He picked 5 on the way there and 4 on the way home and that is exactly what we saw, which was about 60 fewer than last year.
We definitely made the most of the time in the snow as we went sledding, tubing, ice skating and skiing! Outdoor skating was awesome on a cold and clear day with mountains in the background. Thanks to Chuck and Robin for being such wonderful hosts. We hope you are enjoying the wonderful lego art you were left with!