Play time

Last week we met up with some moms from my Mops group at a local play place - it was soooo much fun! I think we have found our new favorite play place!!!
We got there and Nicole just took off...




On one side of the facility they even had a funny little "kid gym" area set up - my girls thought that was so funny...
A little eleptical...




And don't forget to add in a bit of weight training...


Megan loved the huge sit-n-spins...


Megan conquered a climbing post and was so happy to claim "queen of the hill"


Nicole was fearless..






Nicole and Megan both loved the huge train table...




But I have to say with all there was to do, I was amazed that the girls took the time to build a house with every single big lego they could find - talk about determination!


Thankfully I took advantage of a groupon to get us in for a few more visits because my girls have already been asking to go back!

Art

Megan proclaimed to me today - "I love art!"
Then she showed me her latest masterpieces....

This is her portrait of ME...


She is also trying to learn to draw mermaids. I'm not sure where that desire came from but I thought her first attempt ended with a great mermaid, octopus, and baby mermaid (in the octopuses arms)...


I love that little artist!

Mall of America

One of our favorite outings when we are in the Twin Cities involves a trip to the Mall of America... not to shop - but to RIDE!
WHY???? you might ask?



Need I say more?
Or is that look of pure joy enough?
It is for me!!!

This trip, Megan hit a growth marker and she was able to ride some rides she's never been on before. Like a spin on the bumper cars with dear ole dad!


Nicole did a lot of watching with Uncle Tony - but she was cool with that.




And Nicole did get to experience the joy of the rides too...


Nicole was even tall enough to take a family trip on the log ride!


Uuummmmmmm.....
Perhaps that wasn't the best idea...
Let's just say that by the looks on their faces, we will not be recieving our notice for "parent of the year"



I will say it was a little too "big" for Nicole. But Megan has that look of utter fear not because she's scared of the ride - she'd already been on it and on several roller coaster - but the log ride has 2 drops. And on the first drop (the little drop), Megan got soaked... I mean I had to take her clothes off and wring them out in the sink kind of soaked. So she was terrified that she was going to get swamped with another big wave.

But once we got off, got a little dried off - all was well in the world again.




She was so good in fact, that she grabbed her dad (he had the unlimited ride armband) and they ended up riding the Orange Streak roller coaster 6-7 times. (They are in the middle - look for Tom's white shirt).


And then to end the day, she decided to take on the kiddie bumper cars on her own.


So fun!


I have a feeling we'll back this summer..... And then we'll all end up with arm bands I'm sure.

Minnesota Christmas 2011

Finally - some highlights from our family trip to MN for Christmas.

This was Nicole's 1st trip as a paying customer... which means it was her first flight with her own seat - that she HAD to stay in. Let's just say I was a little worried... but she was a great traveler!


Megan has always been a wonderful traveler - and this year she had a Leappad to keep her occupied. That was the BEST Christmas present!


We had to make sure we had our traditional trip to Pamida for a ride on the snowmobile.

There was NO snow when we got there so this was as close to a snowmobile as she got.

While we were there we did get a little bit of snow.


We got some snowfall right before we headed to Tom's Uncle David and Auntie Mary's house. It was perfect - and once there the girls got to fill up the deer feeder (with a little help from Austin and Brooke).


And then we played in the snow...








And then... as the sun went down, we headed in to warm up and watch the deer come claim their yummy treats!


Nicole was so interested in watching them. First she grabbed Uncle Dan for a view. then she moved on to get a closer look with Uncle David...

And Auntie Mary...


It's not a great picture - but thanks Auntie Mary and Uncle David for a fun day!


Back at Grandma and Papa's we continued on with our tradition of making cookies...




Megan took on the role of "puzzle queen"...


Then we headed to the twin cities for some time with Tom's cousin Tony and Dawn. Oh the girls were in heaven.
Nicole made sure she and Bear had plenty of tea parties...




This is a little taste of our 10 days away..... I wish I could post more but then we'd be stuck on Christmas for another month. :^) BUT.... our trip to Mall of America will have it's own post!

What you didn't know about the Christmas story...

You all might THINK you know how it all went down in Bethleham on that first Christmas... but Nicole might throw a little twist into your thinking!



Really - riding the donkey? Or perhaps did Cinderella lend them all the carriage for such an amazing night?



And evidently...

The wisemen were awesome babysitters! Once again, who knew????

But I will say... no matter how - the why is what matters!
What makes a mommy's heart explode with joy?
Seeing her sweet girls have a moment to merely think about what it would be like to be a heavenly host peering down at a baby who's sent to save the world...



I've had a hard time getting caught up on the blog with the world going on around us. But I'm hoping to finish up an abreviated Christmas and then get into real time.

First Haircuts

After a look back at Christmas (and we aren't done yet with all that), here is a peek at the present! Today we headed out for haircuts. I know it may be hard to believe but with Megan's 5th birthday only 2 months away... she's never had a haircut. I just haven't been able to bring myself to cut those amazing curls. But, it was time to get a trim and keep it healthy and beautiful looking. And since we were all going, we figured we'd get Nicoles trimed up a bit as well. Here are some before shots...




What you can't really tell (due to all the curls) is that if you stretched those curls out, Megan's hair would go all the way to the top of her bottom. wow.

Once we got there, Nicole just was not happy about it...



I was amazed that not only did all of Megan's curls survive... but her hair curled up all the more. And it feels so good and looks amazing!


And I have my little keepsakes from their first haircuts!