Ice Skating Date

Jake loved when he and I went ice skating last year, and I had promised him we could go again this year.  Well, days turned into weeks and weeks into months, and winter temperatures into arctic temperatures and here we were mid-March with no ice skating to show for ourselves all season.  I realized last weekend that it was the very last weekend our outdoor rink would be open (and it also happened to be a kinda-sorta warm 40 degrees and sunny) so we headed out!

 

He was cracking me up before we even made it into the rink; we got there just before they opened up the afternoon session and had a few minutes to kill.  I told him I wanted to stand in the sun to stay warm and he said "Oh, no problem mommy...I'm going to hold my helmet like they do on Star Wars and pretend that the shadows are Storm Troopers".  Well, ok then!

We hit the ice once the session was open, and other than a few short breaks here and there, didn't stop for about 2 hours.  My legs were screaming the next day, but somehow Jake seemed completely unaffected!  He had a great time, and did really well for having not been for a year.  Video:

Snow Days--hopefully the last!!

Just when we thought we had turned a corner, and the calendar flipped over to March...and I think we were all hopeful that winter was behind us...BAM!  We got hit with a snowstorm.  OF COURSE WE DID.

On Thursday, March 5th Jake had his 2nd school cancellation of the year (the first was due to frigid temps back in February), and Liam stayed home with us too.  We did what I'm assuming most people do on snow days....we stayed in our PJs and decorated for Easter and made Easter crafts.

The rest of the day consisted of Legos, puzzles, games, coloring, and movies.  Pretty much the perfect snow day.

Can't stop, won't stop....building puzzles. 

That weekend we headed outside for what was (most likely---hopefully) the last run on the luge for the season.

Decided to test out the slo-mo option on my phone when taking video that day, here is the result:

 And the next day, to officially round out winter, Brian took the boys skiing.  We've had some fun times in the snow (times that even I was able to pull myself together and have fun with little whining!) but I am so ready for spring at this point.  Peace out, winter!!

Disney on Ice 2015

After really enjoying ourselves at the show last year, we decided to get tickets again for Disney on Ice and give them to the kids as Christmas presents.  (and I was able to score great seats super cheap for opening night again, woohoo!) 

don't mind the photobomber right behind Jake, really enjoying her food! 

 The theme for this show was "Pirates and Princesses" and while the kids both loved it, I have to say that I didn't love it *quite* as much as last year.  I just felt like last year there was a much bigger variety of characters.  But like I said, the kids didn't seem to care (aside from Jake waiting and waiting for Peter Pan to come out...he never did....sad face on that kid!)...and the last portion of the show was "Frozen" so they were all about that! 

look at that little face!!

PS-apparently Jake has reached the age where it's embarrassing for your mother to sing along with things in public. He did NOT appreciate my rendition of "Let It Go". 

Snow Tubing!!

Last weekend, Jake and I had a little getaway and went snow tubing for the first time.  Friends of ours own a condo at Hidden Valley and had invited the moms and older kids up for a night to enjoy the condo and go on a group outing to the snow tubing area of Seven Springs.  Agreeing to take part in athletic activities (especially ones outside in the cold) always makes me nervous because it's so far out of my comfort zone, but I was excited to go....it's always fun to get away with friends and I was excited to do it with Jake.  Anything athletic-related tends to fall back onto Brian for obvious reasons, so it was nice to have something planned for just Jake and I that really spoke to his interests.

And here is where I say that I was totally wrong for being nervous at all, because we had a BLAST!!  Seriously, if you ever have a chance to go, try it!  It was a lot of fun (and ended up being nice and sunny-bonus!) 

 

After tubing for almost 2 hours, we headed back to the condo to chow down on some pizza then watch all of the kids (there were 6 of them total!) run around like crazy little people for hours.  They had a blast and everyone got along, so it was nice to sit back and enjoy some wine with the other moms. 

Happy Friday, everyone!!

Oh, why hello there, March!

That picture is a bit of wishful thinking, considering we have about 3 feet of snow on the ground right now (that may be a slight exaggeration, but that's how it feels)  Hard to believe we're in March already, but here we are!! 

February was kind of a blur or frigid temps, lots of snow, and a good mix of fun and down time.  We got in a good amount of lazy days and snuggling....

Time spent at home, playing....

 

Uncle Nate and Aunt Katie got Jake Super Mario Brothers for the wii for his birthday and they have been loving it:

Last weekend, we headed down to Washpa for the day to hang out, the kids enjoyed themselves!  Brian was feeling under the weather (found out later in the week he had a sinus infection), so he was able to get some extra rest there.

Playing with Liam's veterinarian kit

"Yep, he needs a shot.  Definitely needs a shot"

 And somehow, these two talked me into letting them have another sleepover the other day....I'm a sucker for them saying "Please, pretty please mommy?  We really want to snuggle!"  And sure enough, what did we find when checking on them later that night?  This heartwarming scene:

So, that's been us lately.  Hope you're staying warm!!