Friday, December 31, 2010

Snow Cave & Gingerbread House

A few days before we flew home, we went and bought snow boots for the kids.  The deciding factor was when Ballerina came in crying that her feet hurt from the cold.  She'd just stayed out too long in her rubber rain boots.  My mom and dad ran to the store the next day and came home with them.   I wish we'd bought them snow boots right as soon as we got there! They also got a snowsuit for Captain Adorable.  We tried it out and while it fit perfectly right now, we wanted one that would fit next winter as well.  So we tried to exchange this one after we tried it out, which is why it has the tags on in these pictures.
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One of the days we took the kids out when it was snowing REALLY wet snow.  Handsome Husband took them sledding at a local park and their snowsuits were SOAKED.  Ballerina was really getting into sledding.  She even ran and slid down on her belly on her sled. My dad drove Captain Adorable and I over to join them, but we didn't last very long.  Wet snow is SOOOO cold!
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Ballerina loves her new camera from Christmas.  
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She loves it and talks about being a 'tographer like me.  Her little camera does video, so she was doing a video of Handsome Husband shoveling.
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Captain Adorable just toddles around in the snow.
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Handsome Husband loves to play in the snow and do cool things.  He made this snow cave that was big enough to fit two adults by the time he was finished.  The kids loved it.
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Captain Adorable loved exploring.  He's by our little rental car.
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This creature is a snow giraffe that Handsome Husband made with Ballerina pretty early on.  We were really surprised when the giraffe stayed together.  It froze and the kids could sit and "ride" on it for days after.
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Later the girls helped me put together a gingerbread house. A very fun New Year's Eve activity.Photobucket

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Earlier that day I met up with a friend and took her family pictures.  It was SO cold!  But they were troopers.  Stefanie came with me to be my assistant and help me to get the kids to smile.  
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We rang in the New Year by playing games.

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Dinosaur Museum

We love going to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point when we visit Grandma's house.  Look how tiny Captain Adorable is next to the dinosaur bones!
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The sand and water table is always a big hit for the kids.  This is the first time that Captain Adorable got to play in it and he loved it.
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He was mainly interested in swishing the water at first.
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I was surprised when Handsome Husband told me that this was his first visit to the museum.  We had come so many times that I thought for sure that he had come before.  
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Ballerina had the best time making a swimming dinosaur swim in the water.  I dammed up some water so she could have a pool for it.
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Sweetie wanted to bury all her dinosaurs. Every dinosaur she found was covered.
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Papa took Captain Adorable around for a little walk to get a break from the water.  Not that Captain Adorable WANTED a break...
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Captain Adorable came back and found that he really enjoyed throwing sand.
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He got his shirt covered in it.
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He always does this, winding up for the throw while looking straight at me.  Like he's making sure that I'm watching.
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Ballerina made a couple of friends at the table.  She had a great time interacting with other kids.  I think she'd been missing it since being on vacation and away from school and Ben.
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We always get a picture by this dinosaur statue.
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I wanted to get a picture of the kids by the triceratops.  Sweetie has spent much of the trip watching the Land Before Time movies over AND OVER AND OVER again.  She really likes dinosaurs.
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I love this picture.  Sweetie looks so cute.  Ballerina was too scared of the shark.  I wish I'd gotten a picture of Ballerina by the mammoth bones because she was really enthralled with them.  Even after our trip to Utah she was going on and on about "mammoth-es."  She wanted to tell her friends all about how they are bigger than elephants and that people used to hunt them.  She wants me to give her a lesson all about them.
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At the very end of the museum there is a big dig pit with bones hidden for kids to brush the sand off and discover.
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I had to carry Sweetie away kicking and screaming.  She was having too much fun and didn't want to leave.
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The kids had a total blast and they ALL fell asleep on the ride home!