Please, Dad?! (I totally remember doing this as a kid! Dads are such good sports.)
Yep, it was as fun - and as crazy - as it looks. Happy birthday Zach! (It appears, as Zach's all-or-nothing personality goes, that this will be the year of Lego Ninjago. Apparently, Star Wars is so last year. :)
Apparently not Zach. The frigid (in the low twenties) temperatures and the snow on the "field" didn't stop him from a little time with the pitchback - he'd just shovel a path to wherever he needed to go.
snow! preschool frog (at our house this week) had to get all his gear on. yay!
Meg pulls herself up
Carter creates sea art and an awesome octopus at preschool; as well as a very big, very cool (and unfortunately very fragile, this smile didn't last long) lego airplane.
Steph breaks out the flip flops in early January, since Minnesota is seeing record temps in the 50's!
And Zach commences giving Carter and Emma lessons in Kendo (a Japanese martial art) - although I'm not sure what qualifies him to be an instructor, other than knowing what Kendo is (I thought he made it up.)
In January. In Minnesota.
it. was. heaven.
(yeah, leave your coat unzipped while you search for pirate treasure at Silver Lake Park kind of heaven!)
This picture is a couple of years old but it is one of my favorites. We are lucky. Life is good.
We took a trip to the ice rink during the break, and Carter had his first experience with skates! He did a great job, and gave Nate and I quite a workout! He felt super cool in Zach's hockey helmet...
We finally had some snow - and some wind - and the kids (home for winter break) picked that day to ride their bikes in the cul dec sac. It was short lived, but they thought it was quite the adventure. Here is Zach helping out Carter, who was stuck on the ice.
Crazy, but true. Emma walked him to his first day of primary, and he came home with a crown, a project, and some gumballs. He loved it!
If it weren't for our friends living in Japan that told us Meg was born in the year of the rabbit, we would have never thought to wonder what 2011 would be. Lucky for us, 2012 is the year of the dragon! Which worked out perfectly with the Lego fire dragon Zach got for Christmas, and gave Emma the chance for a dragon puppet art project (right up her alley).
We went out to a late dinner at Culver's, played Monopoly Jr., ate muddy buddies, and enjoyed staying up until *midnight* - the kids yelled on the deck, toasted the new year with Sprite, and Zach claims "I fell asleep at 12:03, I was so tired!" Incredibly, Nate and I still had time afterwards to watch a movie...
We all agreed it was one of the best new years celebrations we'd ever had.
Meg hasn't seen that many empty laundry baskets in her lifetime. Too bad... she really enjoyed it!
