The Long Days of Winter

I have adopted two new pets . . . . I found them hiding in my room one day and now they are two of my best friends - Sam the Lizard, and Iggy the iguana. I love them! I named them all by myself. I take them with me everywhere. I feed them. They sleep with me under their very own blanket. And they don't make much noise - so mommy and daddy said they can stay as long as they don't make a mess! Meet Sam the Lizard and Iggy.

It was our daddy's birthday this week - I think he said he was turning 102, or some big number like that. We took him out for dinner at our most favorite steak place. I was persistent about telling our waiter that it was daddy's birthday so of course they brought out the saddle and sang happy birthday to him. He was a good sport and actually climbed up on the saddle unlike mommy when it was her 100th birthday. I shared his bowl of ice cream with all of us. Our waiter was nice enough to let me climb on the saddle too. Grandpa L gave me pointers on how to ride on his 80th birthday so I'm a pro at this thing! Sam didn't want to - ahhh, what a little maturity will do for a kid!

We did have a yummy dinner - and what's better than a free bowl of ice cream? The next evening we made dad a birthday cake. It took all of us - stirring, running the beater, licking the beaters, licking the bowl, watching the cake bake, wishing it cooked faster, waiting for it to cool, frosting the cake, and then of course singing happy birthday, blowing out the candle, and eating a a giant piece! Happy birthday daddy! We headed out on Saturday in the hopes of finding something fun to do. Mommy thought she had a good idea, but it ended up being more of a place to go to have people try to sell you stuff than a fun play place for kids. But we still got to do a few fun things . . . like explore a helicopter. We decided that Uncle Carl can definitely take us for a real helicopter ride the next time we go down to see him.I got to try my hand at La Crosse. I was pretty good for a first timer.
We played on a bounce house and a slide. Nothing too spectacular but enough to get us out of the house.Sam even went down the slide.

And we found the "tails and scales" people and got to pet a snake. Can you believe mommy got this close to it?

Or maybe the right way to phrase it is . . . can you believe mom let us get this close to a snake? Sam Alert: Hey everybody! I adopted a new pet as well. His name is Spinner, the turtle. Daddy made a "leash" for me to use to take him on walks, which I love to do all around the house. Here's to a great week!

While the Cat's Away . . . .

How does that old saying go? Is it that the mice will play . . . or is it that the mice will try to survive?

Well either way, we did both this week. Mommy had to go to Texas for the week for meetings and even with a bum leg, daddy was a great single-parent! We didn't starve (thanks to our neighbors and family who brought in lots of food this week) and we managed to clean up the house of all traces of messiness before mommy got home. All in all we had a good week. Of course we did miss mommy a little too!

Here we all are playing peek-a-boo.

We loved the food that everyone brought - the spaghetti was a huge hit. We had to undress to eat it, but it was worth it!

And this is our "wash down station" - to use a great Thomas the train term.

And a picture of us with our daddy - thanks for always taking care of us daddy!Sam Alert: Howdy - is this the best spaghetti face you've ever seen or what! Have a great week everyone - don't forget to stay off the ice!

We're Back!

A big shout out to all our faithful readers out there . . . we're still alive and kicking. Sorry for the large number of days between blog posts but we've had a busy and eventful couple of weeks and just needed to focus on other things for a few days. But we're back now. Thanks to everyone who worried about us because we didn't post last week - it's nice to know you care! Here's a quick summary of what we've been up to lately.

Daddy - our daddy isn't a very clumsy, accident-prone kind of guy. But he is thorough and tries to do whatever it takes to "get the job done". So one morning a week and a half ago, he decided to run the house trash out to the big trashcans on the side of the house right before we were leaving to go to work/school - and he knows it's a very icy area - but he fell on the ice. And it wasn't just a little slip . . . it was a nice big crash-bang-boom fall. Mommy took him to the emergency room - and 8 x-rays later they determined he was going to live. He sure is sore and swollen though - he banged up his leg and ankle pretty well. So we're all taking extra good care of him while he heals. Thank goodness I had my doctor's kit that Santa brought me for Christmas handy to help make sure daddy heals right up!

Once daddy felt like he could get up and around, we've been out and about a little more. We bought a pass to Thanksgiving Point this year and have been trying to enjoy it for all it's worth. On our last visit to the Dinosaur Museum (just a few weeks ago) we didn't get to do some of the fun things we wanted to do since it was so crowded - so we didn't feel bad about stopping in to just do some of the things we wanted to do - - - digging for bones in the desert for one! Sam and I found these huge bones!We also stopped in the discover center at the museum and played with the lightening ball and the wind tunnel. Super cool - did you know that they're building a new museum at T Point - - a Children's Discovery Museum (opening in 2011 they said).

And of course we just can't get enough of running through the caves - we NEVER get tired of this!We've also just spent some time around the house trying to keep daddy's leg up and rested. We've played with our blocks.
And gone horse back riding - this is Sam all dressed up (his doing) in my train conductor's hat and Batman (Sam-man) cape, a hammer, and his jammies. We love Dash our rocking horse.Then this last Saturday morning we went back down to T Point to a Train Show that they were having. It was packed with people but fun. They had model trains of every size and shape. They even had a Hogwart's Express with a full Hogwarts miniature town (Castle, Hogsmead, Forbidden Forest, etc). Daddy was a trooper and tried to keep up with us on his crutches.

Everywhere you turned they had model trains - we loved it!I could watch the trains go round and round for ever. Daddy makes quite a comfortable seat!And yes - we even found a Thomas the tank engine train there. Believe me, Thomas has led to a whole new generation of model train lovers out there - every kid in the place was watching out for Thomas.
Sam Alert: Howdy everyone! Did you miss me? I'm as cute as ever - just hanging out doing my thing.
I'm really in to playing hide and seek lately. I'm hiding and . . . . really, you can't see me. Call my theory - "if I can't see you, you can't see me"!And just one more super cute picture of me to end on - I know you missed these last week. Take care everyone - stay off the ice!

Random Pictures . . .

It was a nice quiet week at our house - filled with a few germs, but mostly just quiet. Enjoy a few photos of us from this week.

Here we are in our morning ritual of a light breakfast on the counter before heading out for the day. We're mostly still asleep but yet just a little hungry.

Daddy built a fun play area for us this week in the family room - - tents, houses, tunnels and more tunnels. It was super fun to play in!
A couple of bums!I know you've seen many pictures just like this one before . . . but we do love to have reading time . . . every night before going to bed. And finally, a picture of me wandering around the house in daddy's slippers. These are some BIG shoes! Sam Alert: Howdy there! Just a quick note from me to say that I wish I could grow faster. I've just spent another weekend with the croup again. My tiny little airways . . . . good thing for the humidity from showers and the cold air outside in the middle of the night. And for parents who stay awake all night long to listen to me breathe! Here's to a week of feeling better!

And a Happy New Year!

Another great week home with the family. It was the end of Christmas and then we rang the new year in. And we had tons of fun all the way through.

We started our week with some house cleaning. We had an old computer that dad let me take apart. We got to smash its hard drive to smithereens too. A sledge hammer is the tool for this job! Notice my goggles, remember safety first! It was fun!

Then we put away all of our Christmas things. We hated to see the big Christmas tree leave and even more than that, we really really hated to put our Christmas train away. We spent a few hours watching it go around before we put it up for the year.

I got to pick a movie and watch it with my dog. Pixar's Cars movie is a great one. Who doesn't love Lightening McQueen?Then we had a great day at the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point. It was crowded but still fun. Samuel really enjoyed being able to walk around and see whatever he wanted to. My baby brother is really growing up!And here we are with daddy - posing under the Supersauraus. He was HUGE! And here is Sam hanging out by the foot of the other Supersauraus. He would definitely be smushed if this dino was real!Here we are with the Triceratops - one of mommy's favorites. And now we're in the dino ocean - with a giant sea turtle.This scary guy is a super giant shark-like creature. He makes a great white shark look like a mouse - but he doesn't scare us! We celebrated the new year with a fondue dinner - mommy's tradition. We cooked chicken, beef, shrimp, and mushrooms in a yummy broth. The key to the whole dinner is the dipping sauces!The new year actually rang in at our house at 9:50 p.m. We had our party hats and noise makers and danced/marched around to some music. A fun time was had by all and we were safely asleep much earlier than midnight!We finally had a couple of good weather days and it got warm enough that we headed outside to take down the outside Christmas lights and to play in the snow! Ever heard of a snow angel?Sam and I got in a good snowball fight with mommy. I think it's safe to say that we won!Who can resist a fun day in the snow? Doesn't matter how wet you get (and I sure got wet!)!When daddy finished with the lights he brought out the big snow shovel to hurl snow at me. Check out this fun action shot of me getting snowed on!Finally - tonight Sam and I made Banana Bread with mommy. Tomorrow we all go back to work/school and we decided there's nothing like banana bread to make the transition a little easier.Sam Alert: Hey everybody! It's been a great stay-at-home vacation the last two weeks. We hate to see it come to an end! It has been so much fun to have my family at home to play with. Here is a picture of me drinking - and I know you might be thinking . . . so what? Well - I've only been using a straw for the last few months and this is a super fancy straw with lots of curls. It required an incredible amount of sucking power. My checks hurt for awhile after I finished my milk. I'm hiding . . . . I'm hiding . . . . you can't see me.And the picture that every parent hates to see - their son driving a car. Watch out mom and dad! This day is coming sooner than you want it to. Have a great week everyone!