Ice River

A friend and I went on a long walk in the park the other day and came across this scene. I almost didn't take the picture because my hands were freezing and I was worried I might drop my phone into the river but it all worked out!

Paige

This picture is from a couple weeks ago. Is it possible for a kid to look old and little at the same time?! I want to squeeze her!

Botanical Gardens

We went to the Botanical Gardens a few weeks ago and I never posted the pictures! The trip actually almost never even happened because it was so crowded by the museums we couldn't find a parking spot! We ended up parking in an area where we were probably supposed to have a permit...but we didn't get towed! Once inside, we checked out the gingerbread houses that were on display and rode the train through the very non-wintery outdoor scene. We had intended to visit the art museum too but for some reason we were all exhausted and Owen was eager to get back to his book so we headed home!
Check out past trips to the botanical gardens here!

Owen's Birthday!

Owen's birthday was on Sunday and the day was filled with celebrating! He woke up to a decorated house and a chair adorned with 9 balloons for his 9 years! I made him sprinkle pancakes for breakfast and then after getting ready for the day, we let him open up some presents. There was a short break in the action before family came over at 1 to help us celebrate! We ate lots of junk food (and some good for you stuff too!) and played games until everyone had to leave. Such a fun day!

9 balloons!

And a 9 balloon :)

Paige was very excited to get Owen some Pokemon cards for his birthday. They spent some time organizing the cards while we waited for guests to arrive.

Awesome and super easy cake! We had Owen and Paige wait in a different room while we decorated it and they loved the surprise! They also loved that there were a lot of M&M's leftover to snack on!

Cake time!

Owen and his grandmas!

Owen, Paige and Grandpa!

Happy Birthday Owen!

Oh man. This kid. I can't believe he's 9! 

One!

Two!

Three!

Four!

Five!

Six!

Seven!

Eight!

Nine!

Lauren!

Last weekend was awesome because not only did we celebrate our nieces first birthdays but we got to visit with Lauren! We started the visit at a local brewery and then headed back to our house for lots of games and some snacks. She came up with her boyfriend and it was great to meet him! Owen and Paige welcomed him right away and Paige especially made sure to give him a lot of attention by checking in on how he was doing during all the board games:)

1!

My two adorable nieces turned 1!! We were all so excited to celebrate with them and they were amazing hosts:) They totally killed it with the first cupcake eating:) Paige can not get enough of helping take care of them and is always trying to see what she can do with them. Owen makes sure to get some equal bonding time in with each of them too. I'm amazed by the new things they can do every time we see them, I can barely remember my kids being that little so I never know what to expect for the different ages! Happy Birthday Babies!!

Why do I love this picture so much?! Just babies being adorable. 

Ahh! Look at that face!

Balloons! So exciting!

Parrrrrty!

Owen is not technically 9 yet but he's less than a week away! He had his friend birthday party earlier in the month as a joint celebration with his friend, TJ. They chose a place called Skyzone that has a bunch of different trampoline areas to go crazy in. The boys spent most of their time in the dodgeball courts and Paige and her friend (TJ's brother! Convenient, right?) spent most of their time jumping into the foam pit and in the solo jump section. The kids went crazy for about an hour and then we wrangled them all in for some pizza and cake before sending them home with a hot chocolate party favor (instant cocoa, peppermint stick, two Oreos and some mini marshmallows).

TJ and Owen-Birthday boys!

The boys had to sit for a bit to get instructions before they were let loose.

I caught Owen and a couple friends on their way to dodgeball!

It was hard to get good action shots because the kids were so quick but here's one of Paige and Caden in the solo jump section. You could even bounce off the walls!

Cake time! 

Group shot from the end of the party. Find Owen in the back!

New Recipes!

Hello! Looks like I took a week off from blogging (again..) but I'm back and I brought food! Yummy food even!
First up-Black Bean Veggie Burger with Chipotle Ketchup! First advice-skip the fancy ketchup if you don't have the chipotle to put in it because without the hotness it just tastes like...ketchup:) The burgers were good though! They were more crumbly than I would have liked but that always happens with veggie burgers. The flavor is what was important and it was good here!

Next up (and the more popular of the two)- Baked Chicken Chimichangas! I made this recipe exactly as it was written-shocking, I know! I used a medium salsa, which we don't usually have and I think it was better that way than it would have been with mild. The guacamole I put on top was my own recipe (just guacamole, lime juice, and red onion) and I was the only one that ate it that way but everyone agreed the chimichangas were super good!

New Years Eve!

New Year's Eve and the celebration that almost didn't happen! The night before the 31st I started feeling a twinge in my throat and assumed it was strep because Pat and Paige had it. I barely slept and got up at 5 to make it to a clinic when it opened at 6am. My test came out negative so we were cleared to hang out with friends that evening! Yay! We had so much fun! There was a lot of dancing,, jelly-bean eating and laughing. See all the fun (out of order!) below.

The moms!

Pyramid! Nicole initially wanted to make a totem pole and Rachel and I declined:)

Midnight! 2016! Cheers!

We got the Dad's to do a dance together. It didn't take much convincing:)

Beanie showed Pat her amazing cup stacking skills.

The kids played Apples to Apples Jr.

The kids taught Pat how to play Beanboozled. It's a game where you spin to see what jelly bean you have to eat. It could be a good flavor or a disgusting flavor and you can't tell by looking at it. I got stinky socks when I played. I only played once:)

Pat got a bad one!

One of my favorite pictures-love those kids!

Trains!

We used to go see this model train display on Christmas Eve but this year it got pushed back to New Year's Eve-the last day it was up! We fit it in just in time! Normally they have a scavenger hunt to do but we didn't find any papers for it this year. The kids still loved crawling through the tunnels and seeing the display!

PG!

We made it to my mom's work to see the holiday display again! Paige and Pat had strep but only Pat was still contagious so he stayed home to rest.  The display was set up the same as last year but there was so much to look at and it's been so long that it still seemed new and fun. There was a life-size Candyland game again but instead of playing the game, the kids did a scavenger hunt through it instead. We had to go through three or four times but we managed to find everything!