Bowling Party!

We had our first "out of the house" party this year and Owen wanted to have it at a bowling alley. It was a great time and left me less to worry about but was stressful in other ways (like how to contain some wanderers). Owen was so happy and excited and I'm pretty sure all the other kids had fun too! Owen bowled over 100 on his first game which is the best I've ever seen him play. We had cupcakes and ice cream and water (which the bowling alley was nice enough to provide...).

Waiting for the guests!

Blowing out the candles!

I bet you guys didn't think I'd put this on the blog. But you took such a good picture!

The bowlers!

Still 7!

There wasn't much to decorate but we brought balloons and put down some coordinating plates and whatnot.

Owen's Birthday!

Owen's birthday was on a Friday this year so he pretty much got an entire weekend to celebrate with all of his favorite people.  We started Friday off with a special breakfast. Then Pat (and Paige) surprised him at school as the mystery reader of the day and they came back home for presents. Owen made it super easy on me by requesting hot dogs for his birthday dinner and cupcakes for dessert!

Breakfast banana split! (Bananas with peanut butter, three different flavors of yogurt topped with blueberries, sprinkles and mini chocolate chips)

We had Owen pose with a giant 7 balloon so we can remember how old he is.

I'm not sure why we made him close his eyes when we brought out his presents but it seemed like the right thing to do.

Magic Treehouse Book!

My favorite picture!

Enjoying his cupcake

Paige also enjoyed her cupcake.

Pat did too.

Happy Birthday Owen!

Owen is 7 today!! Here he is through the years...

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Choo Chooooo

We went to a model train expo a couple weeks ago (do you see how I'm making no attempt to do my blog posts in an orderly fashion? lazy.). It was one of those things that you worry won't be interesting enough to be worth the money you'll spend there. We didn't need to worry. The kids looked around for 4 hours before Pat and I finally called it and told them it was time to go home. I think my favorite (and Pat's too?) was the Lego train with the amazing Lego backdrop. Owen was fascinated by a giant model train layout that had multiple tracks. Paige was happy with everything. They also loved watching a Choo Choo Bob performance, which is apparently a tv show in the Minneapolis area. Choo Choo Bob and his cohorts did their best to get the kids "on their feet" but my kids were having none of that.

Art Museum!

Our art museum is amazing. They have made some major improvements in the last few years and that, coupled with the kids getting older, means we get to enjoy our visits there a little more every time we go.Our most recent visit happened on a whim. I found out that the museum was having a family day with a Chinese New Year theme so we ditched our plans to do errands. We spent some time on crafts, some time in the interactive kids section and then browsed the galleries (guided by a scavenger hunt pamphlet from the museum). Paige was getting tired and I thought we might have to leave but instead we got a treat from the cafe and she rallied. Paige and I headed upstairs to the modern art and Pat and Owen explored the ancient artifacts.

Posing in front of the bamboo in the atrium.

Owen's Chinese zodiac symbol-Dog

Paige's symbol-Tiger

Our symbol-Rooster

The treats! Blood orange macaron, chocolate cupcake, fruit-filled scone.

Paige making some felt art

This is an interactive game in the kid's area where they show you pictures of artwork and you have to identify which ones contain a specific object

This is usually the sign that it's time to leave...

Tradition

Last year we started what (I hoped) would become a new tradition by getting outside early on New Year's Day as a small way of reminding ourselves to commit to a healthy lifestyle. It's only the second year but the meaning has sort of changed for me. Now it also reminds me to recommit to embracing the moment and not getting so stuck in how I think an activity is going to play out.

During the warmer months we often stop to see if we can find the beaver by his dam in the river so the kids wanted to check up on him. There were no sightings:)

This pose by Owen has been showing up a lot in our pictures

New Year's Eve!

We had the distinct honor of spending New Year's Eve with a great group of friends. Our New Year's Eve celebrating is typically pretty low key so this was new to us and it was also the first year either of the kids stayed up until midnight! I had my doubts that Paige was going to make it but she rallied and I'm glad she did! We ate some Chinese take-out, played some games and had our annual playgroup secret santa gift exchange. The kids pretty much played for seven straight hours so it didn't take long for them to fall asleep once we were in the car. 

Emergency!

I wouldn't have guessed that Paige would be the first of my children to require an emergency room visit but...you see where this is going, right? I'm a little disappointed with these pictures because when I look at the pictures now I think, "of course she didn't need stitches." But at the time I was thinking more along the lines of, "Paige's ear is falling off." That's not a surface scratch people, her ear was split where you see that bloody line! Paige was validly distressed about going to the emergency room so I may have mentioned getting a treat after we were done...then Owen said something about being thirsty in front of a nurse and she gave the kids popsicles. Promise fulfilled! And I didn't even need to find a vending machine! Thanks emergency room!

Monsters!

We took Paige to her first hockey game over winter break! I did quite a bit of prepping so she would know what to expect (loud, unexpected noises, crowds etc.). She seemed a little nervous at first and when they shut off the lights and brought out the inflatable monster head for the team to skate through I was a little worried but she came through it ok. I don't think she likes hockey as much as Owen but I don't think we'd have trouble convincing her to go again either. It was a great game that we won in overtime too! Afterwards we went to dinner with some family!

Paige and Owen before we sat down. She was a little distressed. Owen knows all about hockey games so he wasn't worried.

Family picture!

Paige got really tired and desperately tried to find a comfortable way to lay across the seats.

Dinner!