vegas 2

So much food, fun, and laughs in Vegas!

vegas

Kicking off a big year where we all turn the big 4-0! These old friends went back to our first girl's trip for my bachelorette party in Vegas - oh man, so much changed since that first trip in 2004!  Celebrating Lara's engagement and upcoming June wedding too!

crafty

Lotsa crafts bouncing around lately! There are the owly friends made from that fleece ;) The crEATe sign from the ALX workshop. The Fern and Feather is complete and fits me and Aiden ;) Still going on the sideways cables in the red alpaca my parent's brought me from Peru a while back.

wool

This may be one of the crazier time sponges lately! An old preschool friend has sheep and he gave us the fleeces.  I could not believe how much work it is to get it in a workable form... but we did manage to get to combing some and using it to make some felted animals.

maker's mile

Alexandria figured out a way to be more charming, by setting up a bunch of shops with crafty stations (with a tote and pins to collect! my favorite!) I went with my friend to kick it off and the boys came back with me the next day to do two more spots.

snow day

Mr. Fox's adventures included an extra snow day to make his visit into a long weekend. He loved wear pants and boots for the first time and sledding tucked into Keaton's coat.

good list

Keaton was excited to start some ice skating lessons to pick up some more skillz ;)

Mr. Fox, Keaton's classroom mascot, made his weekend trip home where he discovered he likes tic tacs that match his fur and playing in the snow. Keaton added to the sweet journal that all the kids add to each time he makes a trip to a new home.

Keaton's best buddies celebrating T's birthday with a trip to the painting studio.  Keaton glazed that chubby penguin. They all followed up with a trip to Ihop, which has become a favorite for these buddies - They like to imitate old men, and even insisted on ordering the big steak tips meal one time ;)

game day

It was superhero day at the Mason basketball game! They boys come for the dippin' dots ice cream. They won but were 2 points away from the 70 points needed for free Glory Days wings ;)

in the zone

These guys were pumped to visit the Zavazone over break. They found their mitts just in time for the action. Aiden mastered the warp wall and the obstacle course. Keaton loved bouncing and was so brave to make it to the top of the towers with a spread longer than his legs. The bouncer area also included this dueling pit where they faced off.

botanical 2

I thought train stations may seem repetitive, but I was wrong! These were so unique and so detailed!  The precision that goes into some of the rooflines and the symmetry of the windows were amazing!

botanical

One of my favorite holiday traditions... It was such a nice day this year that it was more crowded than usual, but these good sports waited for about an hour to get into this year's train station themed exhibit.

midnight

These guys weren't finished celebrating so we pulled out the games and tuned in to the countdown shows... we played games and I knit to stay awake. I fully expected that they would crash before midnight, and I was surprised they made it!  They are determined nocturnal monkeys ;)  But it was fun to see their enthusiasm for the new year!

noon year's eve

The Science Center was hosting a noon countdown for the New Year! So we celebrated with experiments, handmade noise makers (that worked really well!), and handmade confetti poppers (that didn't really work, but made us laugh a lot).  There was a big batch of people to countdown with which made it fun ;)

hippo for xmas

The world premiere of this year's hippo video for G&P's anniversary! (which we almost forgot to make, but Keaton woke up in a panic one morning to remind me!) Hippo for Xmas from LB on Vimeo.

farmpark

The Farmpark really is festive this time of year! We caught a chill afternoon at the toy making workshop. Aiden and Keaton picked the minion and the minecraft dude... Cameron has a great set of toys and added to his collection!  We visited the animals, milked the cow, took a tractor ride from the front row, and rode the pony.

natural history

What a nice visit to the Natural History museum - where the main draw was seeing Balto. Keaton just read the same Magic Treehouse book that Aiden read years ago that inspired our last visit.  The Survival of the Fittest exhibit is very interactive!  We caught the animal show, where the highlight was the adorable owl named the Professor!

xmas family

So much fun unwrapping and playing with all the toys all day! I installed so, so many batteries ;)

Austin loved that drill...

We all loved the ornament exchange this year!  There were many stolen ornaments!

Keaton's letter to Santa is such a treat! He told Santa that he just tried to be himself this year, which is sweet and we should all live like that, eh?!

Billy brought the toys I affectionately refer to as "every boys dream come true toys!" A carnival of fun!

Top left is the whole family trying to win the "toy edition" of that online trivia game.

The grinchy cupcake cake fit the theme!

Bottom left is J's new Cthutlu mask - I can't wait to see him say hi to the neighbors shoveling with that on ;)

Bottom right are some serious trigger jammies - every cousin buddy has worn those tough cookie jams!

xmas morning 2

That VR goggle set may have been the biggest surprise hit along with the transformer robot! The game where you try to pronounce things with that thing that expands your lips is hilarious.

xmas morning

So much excitement and cinnamon bunnnns! I can't forget how many very fresh cinnamon buns were in these happy bellies - thanks to Liz! She was the by far the first one up watching that dough rise. Surprisingly, the first cousin buddy up with Austin, then Cameron, and the Brennan brothers were a late edition to the crew and I found them in their room waiting ;)  There were serious batches of Ninjago, lego, games, lotsa chocolate, and few hand knits in the huge piles of presents...

grinches

These grinchy jammies fit right in with the tshirts Gran found and our new favorite grinch movie this year ;)