Hawaii says hello

Seth and I just got back from our trip with the Knights of Columbus to Hawaii (the big island). It was our first time together away from both kids for longer than one night, and it was wonderful. Of course I missed the kids - especially when we saw something they would have really enjoyed, like all the places to swim at the resort. However, I'm not going to deny that I loved having a week to do whatever I wanted whenever I wanted without much interruption - I especially enjoyed the slow, lazy mornings.

The kids also had a blast staying with all of their grandmas and grandpas. Elena put it well the night before we left. I told her, "I'm really going to miss you while I'm gone, and I hope you have fun." To which she replied, "Well...I'm not going to miss you. And you'll have less fun than me." It probably sounds terrible written out, but she wasn't being snotty - just very honest :) She was absolutely thrilled to have an entire week of grandparents. (I hope that they were able to enjoy it a little as well).

Sam's biggest worry while we were gone was apparently that we would get too close to a volcano. The first time we called home, he asked if we would see hot lava. I said I didn't know, but that we had seen lots of cold lava. He then said, in a very concerned voice, "If you see the hot lava, will you be sure to stay far away so it doesn't burn you?" I figured I would be the one worrying about the kids on this trip - I wasn't expecting it to be the other way around!

We did see a volcano, but we were not able to get close enough to see the hot lava...

One of the highlights of the trip was when we went snorkeling in the lagoon pictured below. We came across a large sea turtle and were able to swim along side it for about 5 minutes. We were close enough that we could have laid our hand on its back (but they are an endangered species so we're not supposed to touch them).

While we had a wonderful time, it is always good to be home. And we have been fortunate to return to weather almost as nice as it was in Hawaii. I would dare say this afternoon was nicer than what we had in Hawaii - although it might just seem that way because I'm comparing it to what we've had in previous years at this time. I love the warm weather, but I think I love it so much because of the winter. There are not many things sweeter than watching everything come to life outside after a long winter.

The weather was so nice at our friend Toby's 3rd birthday party we had to play some games outside. We decided to have a 3-legged race followed by one of those baseball races where the kids spin around with their foreheads on a bat and then try to run.
Frankly, the kids were boring. They were too didn't get that dizzy, and even when they did, they still were coordinated enough to run in a straight line. And we didn't want to make them spin so much that they would puke or hurt themselves.
Enter the Dads. They were much more entertaining.

To really appreciate this video, I think you have to watch it 3 times: first for the overall effect, and then to watch Jason (gray shirt) and Dan (light green) each individually.

And then probably a few more times just to laugh at them. According to Dan, there was a brief moment just after he saw Jason go down where he thought to himself, "Yes! I have a chance!" before dropping himself. If you're wondering what Jason is doing, he is attempting to hold himself up by wrapping his arms around the tree. Seth won the race, but wasn't nearly as entertaining.

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

Minnesota Weather

This picture was taken the first week of January. The kids were outside. In shorts. And it was comfortable. As most of you probably know, we enjoyed an unusually warm start to the year here in MN.

One drawback to this was that Sam refused to switch back to pants and long-sleeved shirts for several weeks afterwards - even when the cold weather returned, which is what led to Sam's latest unique fashion trends.

I recall my mom telling me that we girls would change our clothes several times a day, and that my brother was on the opposite end of the spectrum, insisting on wearing the same clothes day after day (along with a belt that he always wore much too tight).

Sam is a mixture of the two. While he frequently decides to change clothes during the day (pulling out every article of clothing he owns in the process), he recently discovered what we like to call his "winter muscle shirt." His new favorite top is a green sweater vest with no shirt underneath. For quite awhile he wore it almost daily along with shorts and cowboy boots. I didn't get a pictures of that snazzy combo, but I do have a shot of the sweater vest.

Fortunately, we have had enough real winter weather since then that we have been able to talk him back into wearing pants.

Speaking of winter, I just want to say how extremely happy I am to have family right next door who are willing to play with the kids outside. A special shout-out to Austin and Madison (even though they don't read this) who pulled Elena and Sam around in sleds for almost 2 hours while I got supper ready.

Here are a couple of shots of our latest snowfall, which has already melted.

Here is Brooke, RJ, Elena and Sam. Those tree branches on the ground behind them are normally about 10 feet higher up.

Our street.

Ice skating

We almost went into the ditch today. I hit an slushy patch in the road and swerved back and forth between the 2 lanes for awhile before regaining control of the car. Fortunately it was a county road with no other cars in sight.

Elena's response? "That was fun, Mom! We were ice skating with the car."

The Power of Advertising II

I was browsing through my old blog posts and came across this one when Elena wanted to get a dog so we could buy a fancy dog brush. I forgot to mention that she topped that about a week later when we drove by the Ford dealership. There must have been a sale going on so they had balloons tied to the cars.

You've probably already guessed it. From the back seat, I heard Elena's voice say, "Mom! If we buy a car, we can get a balloon!!!"

We watched E.T. tonight

I figured if I skipped the "scary" parts with the scientists chasing and capturing E.T., the kids would really enjoy it. And they did; they especially liked the scene where he gets drunk and falls over.

The only problem was the ending. I knew it had a bittersweet ending, but I figured I could emphasize that E.T. got to go hom with his family and all would be well. Elena did pretty well: as she put it, she "almost cried" but was fine by the time the credits were rolling. Sam, on the other hand took the 'bitter' part of that ending a little hard.

When E.T. says "Come" to Elliot, and Elliot replies, "Stay," Sam's little lip started to quiver. After the movie ended, Sam was so heartbroken for poor E.T. that he sobbed for 5 minutes. Every time I tried to console him, he would cry, "But why did E.T. say 'come' and why did the boy say he couldn't go??"

In the end, though, it was nothing a couple of Curious George stories couldn't fix. In the future, however, I will be making sure to pick movies with very happy endings :)

(And I apologize, 12-year-old Sam, if this story embarrasses you 9 years from now, but I think it's sweet)

Happy Birthday to me

I turned 29 last month. I am now too old to audition for American Idol. Fortunately I've never had any desire to do so...

I was gone most of the day on my birthday and I came home to a mini-surprise party with Seth and the kids. The surprise mainly being that they baked a cake for me while I was gone. It was Seth's first time ever baking a cake. He even made the frosting from scratch since he knows I don't like the stuff from a can.

I don't think he realized that a bundt cake is one of the more difficult to make since they fall apart easily, but they managed to correct any damage and the cake turned out very well. I was quite impressed:

One of those moments...

You know those moments when you have little kids who are a bit too honest? I had one of those with Sam the other day.

We were at the doctor's office, and she noticed something on the floor under her desk. After she bent down to pick it up, Sam said to her very innocently, "Your butt-crack was showing." Lovely.

Fortunately, she just laughed and said, "I guess that's what I get for not wearing a belt today."

Let's Go, Boys!

This video is several months old, but I haven't had the time to upload anything more recent from my camera. Here's a glimpse of one of those activities that Seth came up with to play with the kids - one that I never would have come up with myself (and wouldn't have the strength to do for long). Gotta love those Dads!