Lots of Sledding!

The big kids have been really into sledding lately, with all the great snow, how could they not be!

Jacob and his friend Drew were even brave enough to snowboard down the driveway....not me though :) I'll supervise, thank you very much!

Gymnastics is done!

Well, the girls started gymnastics at a different place this fall. We just wanted to try out another place. Regan loved it, and Sydney like the old place we went to better. So, next session Regan will be PM and Sydney will go back to a gymnastics/dance class.

Gymnastics has been one of their favorite activities this fall. I'll post a picture from their Halloween Celebration class from Tuesday once I get it loaded.

The State Fair

I have to go once each year...so much fun!

Summer has began!!!

Let the summer time fun begin! I'm so looking forward to all the fun the summer brings. Playing outside, trips to the cabin, boating, time at the beach, going to the park, playing with lots of friends, vacation bible school, soccer/t-ball camp, planting flowers, pulling weeds, riding bikes, water guns, oh, it will all be so much fun!!

Farm School Picnic

Sydney loved going to preschool at the Children's Farm Preschool this year. It is so up her alley; being outside so much and being able to help take care of the animals. Whenever I've asked her what her favorite thing to do at farm is, she always says the same thing; riding the horses. Personally, I think holding the baby kittens is a very close second. She made some great friends in the class! She is sad she can't go there all summer. I decided not to do the summer camps they offer this year, and try some different activities.

Babies...

Regan seriously LOVES and gently cares for all of her baby dolls. Pushes them around in her baby stroller, puts them to nap all around the house (always with a comfy blanket covering them up to their chins), I've end gotten a glimpse of her gently patting their tummies. I was cleaning the kitchen the other morning, and looked over and this is how she was laying on the floor near the fridge. She prepared a blanket for herself to lay on, then laid herself down, cuddled the doll to her chest, and covered up the doll with a blanket, actually 2 I think. Just adorable. I had to shoot a quick picture....

And she popped herself in the baby doll stroller! I was surprised to see her like this, not quite sure how she manuvered herself in there, because it is teeny...kinda surprising this is the first time she thought of it though considering she plays with this stroller a billion times a day!

Fun at the Park

Finally, some great weather....everyone had fun at the park!! Jake took Regan done this huge tunnel slide, it was probably 30 feet long. She cried....so we'll probably wait awhile to try that again.Lately when Regan doesn't have her nuk, I've been catching her like this. I don't want her to be a finger sucker too...seems like such a hard habit to break! Regan looks just like Sydney did at this age.

Happy Valentine's Day

The kids and I made cookies, and frosted & sprinkled them :)

They were delious!

Our Visiting Friends

A girlfriend of mine asked if two of her kids could come and spend some time at our house while she took care of some things out of town. We were thrilled to have Levi and Mitchell with us for two "sleepovers" The kids completely entertained each other...lots of giggling all throughout the time. Levi and Mitchell were both great! Very well mannered, listened well, and of course were lots of fun to have around. Levi looked at me at lunch today and said, "I really like being able to stay here all day and play!"

I quickly realized while trying to take a picture of all 5 of them, that is was kind of rediculous to think it would look anywhere near normal. But this one is a perfect representation of all the fun that was had by all :)

Hockey was a big hit with Levi and Jacob. They got really into it. Jacob insisted that they wear his helmets for safety. Pretty cute!

Regan ran her fastest to try to get into the picture, but she didn't quite make it in time, so this is her courtesy shot! She is such a ham, always loves to have her picture taken!

Magic Kingdom & Epcot

We got a late start today, but we headed to the Magic Kingdom. We made it through about half of the park. We went on Swiss Family Treehouse, Magic Carpet of Aladdin, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Haunted Mansion, Its a Small World, Peter Pan's Flight, Snow White's Scary Adventure, Many adventures of Pooh, and the Teacups. The Parade was great, the kids really liked it! Regan was so happy to sit with Papa and watch. We stayed for the fireworks, which were great! Not bad for a half a day! January is definitely the time to hit Disney, that is barely any lines. But the weather is always questionable.

Epcot was great! I love how the parks are all different in their own way. We had arranged to surprise Sydney with lunch with the Princesses. She was thrilled! Just started out nervous, and didn't want to meet or have her picture taken with Belle. She quickly warmed up to the others though.

Jake was not interested in the Princesses at all. Kind of surprising. Regan was happy to look at them and smile, but would not them get close to her for a picture :)

These are the rides we went on in Epcot:

Reimagined, Mission:Space (I'll NEVER do this one again, made me sick, weird), Test Track (D&J), Finding Nemo & Friends, Turtle Talk with Crush, Living in the Land, Circle of Life, Missed: Soarin' (which I totally LOVE). We went to a watch a Belly Dancer, which was kinda cool. And we stayed for the Fireworks, which were absolutely AMAZING!

It is FREEZING in FL right now!!! Waiting for fireworks...

I cannot believe how long the lines can be for some of these rides. The roping setup for many of the popular rides (the roping wasn't needed when we were there) was just unbelieveable. The Nemo ride for example looked like it could hold hundreds of people in line at a time, taking probably 2-3 hours....for a 2 minute ride! Glad we only waited 5 minutes. Crazy! I'll never go to Disney during peak season, that is for sure.

Disney 2009 Begins....

We were all so excited for our trip to Orlando. The airport portion is always challenging with 3 kids, and all the luggage, car seats, strollers, etc to bring along. But we made it. Regan had the hardest time on the flight, as I suspected would be the case. Being 18 months confined in an tiny space for 3 hours is tough. She is too young to stick to doing the same thing for more than a few minutes. Upsetting her neighbor Sydney was much more fun, and LOUD!!! But hey, we made it. Picked out our mini, the Sienna, and headed to the resort. I would definitely recommend this resort; Orange Lake Resort Orlando, FL. We were lucky to score a 3 bedroom condo. We had a room, the kids, and Dave's Parents. It was huge...I couldn't get over how much space it had.

This is how I found them mid-morning after our first night sleeping in our place, it was pretty cute.

They tried, AGAIN!

Dave and I went to the Vikings playoff game against the Eagles. We were really excited to be going. We had great seats, and invited some good friends. The first half of the game was pretty good, but the the 4th quarter we all saw the writing on the wall. It was the first and last game of the season that we went to. But, we had a really great time! (minus the fact it was SOOOO cold) The Sphagetti Factory before the game was yummy!

This was the super slow line (or herd) trying to get into the Dome. It was about O degrees on Sunday..Yikes!

Political Opinions at age 5

Jake got off the bus after school yesterday and we had an interesting conversation.
He told me voted at school. (They've been learning about the candidates and election process)
We've haven't told him anything about the election or candidates, and the news is never on when the kids are up....their shows are :)



I asked him who he voted for. This was his response, "McCain, he is the only one who tells the truth..." I thought that was pretty interesting for a 5 year old. Then he proceeded to ask me if he could come along when I voted, because he knows a lot about voting. He also told me how many kids Obama and McCain both have, and other basic facts. I was pretty impressed, and think his school is doing a great job to teach kids so young about these things.

I just went and voted, and of course brought Jake and the girls along. I did tell him who I voted for, I hope it makes a difference.

Alexandria Pictures

11 Kids and 4 Moms! Good times....

We tried to get a picture of all the kids, well, that didn't work very well. There are quite a few missing from this one :)

The Beach was a big hit!

Jake learned to kayak, and was confidently cruising around after Drew gave him a quick lesson!

Campfire and Smores...

A quick movie will we got dinner ready for the masses....

Thanks to the expert meal planner Jess, the kids all stayed full and happy!

What a fun way to spend a week during the summer! Thanks girls!!!