You Brush, I Brush... 1,2,3

We enjoy brushing our teeth at this house! Anytime anyone picks up a tooth brush, either Brianna or Carl (or both) are not far behind requesting theirs. I'm glad there is a healthy love of brushing, but it gets tough when we're "all done." Yes, at some point the tooth brush needs to be put away and Carl is not a huge fan of that part of the process. Right now I can't blame him because he is cutting two bottom molars, which has been rough, and the tooth brush seems to help. I guess I'd rather it this way than a struggle to even brush. Hoorah for awesome kids!

Longing for Spring Adventures

Last May, we took a lengthy bike ride into downtown. It was such a fun morning/afternoon! We left our house and headed down onto the U of M campus to have lunch at Qdoba - Yum! After that, we went around and came across the Stone Arch Bridge. It was a busy place, but usually is on beautiful days. Of course we needed to get off our bikes (or out of our burley's) and take in the mighty Mississippi. 

The kids were doing so well and we knew they wouldn't last much longer, so we decided to head for home. It wasn't long before I noticed both B & C were fast asleep in their trailer. Yes, she was holding her brother's hand. What a sweetheart she is!

There were some paved trail on our journey but we biked the majority of our trip on the streets. Once we got closer to downtown, the road we turned on was also a dedicated biking road. Even the traffic signals reflected that. We thought that was pretty cool, so we made sure to get a picture.

Can't wait to get the bikes out again and see what other new things we can find around our fabulous city!

Grand-Getaway B's Photos

On Sunday night, my mom gave Brianna her camera so she could take a few pictures. She was pretty excited and took a variety of pictures! It's not the first time she's taken over my mom's camera...

Grand-Getaway

Christmas 2011, we gave my parents a coupon for a weekend getaway. I know, I know... a bit late since it is now 2013, but it was well worth the wait!

We had 9 warm bodies in the cabin, my mom and dad, the four of us, and three dogs. We went sledding, out on hikes, made snow angels, read books, knit, played games, slept, napped, and ate well! It was so fun. It's hard to believe it was a month ago already, but this year is flying by. 

I thought I had everything packed, I had all the groceries we needed, all the clothes were packed, and I had all the winter stuff put together. But there is always something; and this time it was our camera! Thankfully my mom and dad both had theirs along so... here are a bunch of photos from our weekend together. 

Saturday morning was beautiful outside. It was supposedly going to get REALLY cold out that night into the rest of the weekend, so we wanted to make sure we got outside to enjoy the outdoors. First activity, sledding! Both Brianna and Carl loved going down. Carl is hesitant to get bundled up with all the snow gear but I think the sledding made him forget his displeasure. I mean look at that smile!

Then it was on to a little walk about. We went up the hill and down the hill and onto the lake. Personally, I'm not a fan of walking on lakes, but I tried to put on a brave face and show Brianna there was nothing to worry about. In all reality, there was nothing to worry about, it's just something I'm working on!

The dogs loved being out in the open and running here and there. We walked around and then ventured over by the Beaver Dam. It was pretty cool to investigate this structure. I think at one point Eko was trying to get a stick off, but Beavers know how to build a house!

Then, of course, snow angels were made in the undisturbed snow! It was so peaceful and quite out on the lake.

Once inside, we all needed a little relaxation. We ate lunch then the kids went down for a nap. Ahh, the quite, that is until we started playing a game!

Here's my dad and Brianna watching the slideshow of all the pictures taken so far that morning. And our honorary book for the weekend was the "Three Little Pigs". Carl loves that book!

 Before bed... no explanation necessary, just cute...

My early riser with teddy bear slippers on!

What or who does this remind you of?

At the cabin, we have a wide range of games. One of them is kids sequence and a perfect game for Brianna right now. She loved making her matches and even grasped the idea of the "Unicorn" a pick any space piece and the "Dragon" take any one piece off the board. She is so smart!

 More sequence and helping Lamby make snow angels.

Of course, our last morning together, there was more reading and still more playing. What a fabulous weekend together.

Thank you, Mom and Dad, for sharing these pictures and spending a wonderful, memory-filled, weekend together!

Where's Your Bucket?

What an awesome way to relax before bed than to contain your children inside a bucket! This occupied them for quite a while, plus they were really quite, because they were "hiding". I love when random activities happen that make everyone smile!

If you care to join us, we'd love to have you - just BYOB (Bring your own Bucket)!

Some Days Are Like That

Yup, that's our kitchen. Yup, it was a mess. Thankfully it didn't take too long to get cleaned up, but... it took a lot of motivation! 

If the Shoe Fits

I love when kids put on big shoes! Brianna did it too (remember this, here she is at roughly the same age). It makes them look so grown up!

Who Needs a Bed

Brianna has a new room! Mid-January we decided to transition Brianna to the back bedroom which is a little bigger bedroom. Carl would soon follow, moving into her old bedroom, but we gave her some time first to get used to her new space. It was love at first move. Plus, the room and layout seemed to fit her better, personality-wise at least. We knew right away that the move would not be an issue. She quickly figured out the new arrangement and made her space her own. I'm sure there will be a new color on the walls in a few years, but we'll take it one step at a time!

Since the kids were so patient with me in the morning while furniture was being moved, I decided I'd make them some popcorn for after nap snack. They were completely on board with that plan!

Not sure why they decided to lay down to eat, since the probability of them spilling was so much higher, but they were content. And who am I to mess with happy kids!