Even with a "shortened" winter break (because of Sandy) we still had a long enough weekend to justify going up to Boston to stay with our friends. On Saturday the husbands took the big kids 2 hours north to New Hampshire to go skiing.
Rachel and Andrew were "two peas in a pod" and really enjoyed skiing together while Jake and Dave took care of the younger ones.
Originally, Jake was just going to take Rachel. With how much he likes to fall down, we didn't think he would last that long. Rachel only lasted an hour her first time. But when we learned that rentals, lift pass, tubing, and roasting marshmallows was included in one amazing price...we figured why not, there was enough activities for him to take a break, if he needed, and have fun.
Before they left he asked me how fast he would go. I took that to mean that he was a little nervous and I told him he could go as slow or as fast as he wanted with putting his skis in a pizza.
I got a text from Jake a few hours into it saying that he was fearless and reckless. He defied all of our expectations! He wanted so badly to be good enough to ride the ski lift and do the green, but Jake wasn't going to let him until he learned to turn and stop. He was so determined, he asked every time he got to the bottom...he didn't even stop to eat dinner. He had an absolute blast. It made me so happy!
They had a great time tubing as well. We were fully expecting to get a phone call after dinner time telling us they were tired and coming home. They started at 3pm and went strong until it closed...10:00. I was even told that they had to tear Tommy off the mountain because he DID NOT want to leave. Crazy boy!
It was so heartbreaking to watch Katelyn get her snow clothes on because she saw the big kids getting dressed and then cry because she wasn't going in the car with them. I tried to make her feel better by taking her outside to play. We made snow angels and a tiny snowman. I know there's a lot of snow, but only the top inch was workable. She calmed down pretty quickly and had fun. She really wanted frosty to have a hat.
We had a really enjoyable quiet day with the babes. We played play dough, watched a movie, played dress up, and read lots of books.
On our way up to Boston we saw a Billboard advertizing this Pez museum. We figured we'd do it on the way back. It was small but perfect for a short pit stop to break up the driving. (The kids never even asked for a movie!)
It was fun to learn some of the history and fun facts.
It is where they actually manufacture all the pez candy. We learned that you can take a tour through the factory if you call ahead in advance, but you can see a little bit from the windows.
Part of the small admission price can go toward merchandise. So all the kids got to pick out the pez they wanted.
Rachel chose a replica of the very first dispenser that was created.
If it's going to be freezing outside, there might as well be snow!
Winter is so much better when it's white and beautiful and there is
something to do outside. We finally got enough to play in with the big
"Nemo" storm (I think it's funny they name them).
My Valentine's Day picture taking was pretty pathetic. But Tommy got this Knight armor (suppose to be Christmas gift that arrived a day late) and he loves it.
Rachel was super excited about the book I got her that she really wanted and a chocolate calculator
Uncle Steve was here and the kids have loved having him around to play with. And we enjoyed a nice date night to dinner and movie!
I love that Tommy still had his armor on...over his coat. He even went to sleep with it on that night.
I feel somewhat rejuvenated now that we've made it through the most dreadful month of the year. Here's a couple of pictures I've managed to take.
On January 6 we pulled together a last minute celebration. We have some neighbors who are from Spain and they celebrate 3 Kings Day (I think that's what they call it) and Jake has a couple memories of celebrating it when he was a kid. We basically found a cake mix in the cupboard, baked it with a small toy inside and then whoever got the slice of cake with the toy was crowned king for the night and could do whatever he/she wanted. Tommy was the lucky winner and he had some pretty crazy/funny requests. I think we'll do it again next year. It was nice to have a reason to celebrate something in January.
I don't think I've mentioned it before but Tommy has started preschool. He's been doing it for a few months now. It's a program with one of the nearby high school's (then again, I say close but it can easily take me 20 minutes to get home because of traffic). It is everyday for two hours, which I do not love because of all the driving and how quick it is. But, the price is right. For the first little while it was hard getting Tommy motivated to go (he's quite a homebody) but he has started to make some friends and he's enjoying it more and more everyday.
Kate and some ping pong
playing kitchen
and she has discovered the Cinderella dress and we're both loving it.
We had some spare time over the Christmas break and we decided to do a small trip to DC to see the temple, enjoy a free night in a hotel, and go to Jake's little Brussels American School reunion.
The temple was stunning with all the different colors of lights around the visitor's center.
And inside the visitor's center they had a large display of lots of different nativity figures made from different countries. I LOVED it, they were SO beautiful!
It was also fun to seen a handful of familiar faces :)
Course this is really what we came for. The pool is the biggest hit!
