Maddie's Playtime

Little Miss Maddie loves her play time. One of her favorite toys right now are little people. She takes them out of the bucket and puts them in the bucket, takes them, puts them in. Now this doesn't mean she is a neat child, no no no, she can make one huge mess of these little people. We have them everywhere; in the kitchen, under the table, on the stairs, by the bathroom. They multiply at night I think. Well here are some shots of Madelyn playing in the dinning room today.
Of course she has to pose for the camera.
Thinking really hard.

Winter Vacation

I won a over-night vacation package from the local tv station a couple weeks ago to a resort up north. So with Brendan being out of school last week for his winter vacation Brian took monday & tuesday off from work to have some fun. And fun we did. The place is near Boyne Mountain up in the north west side to the lower pen. (by the ring finger of the Michigan glove). It is a full out ski, golf, spa, waterpark resort. We drove up monday after breakfast and spent the day at the Avalanche Bay waterpark, it was hard to get photos in here b/c the water was warm (85') and the air was also warm so everytime we got the camera out it would get damp in a couple of minutes. But here is one that I got of Brendan.They had two slides in the kids area that Brendan got to down all by himself and two tube slides that he went down in our laps. He loved it. They also have a slide that you ride down on a mat head first, of course Brendan loved it too! We had him (and Maddie) in a lifevest on the rides & lazy river. Maddie liked the kid's area where it was zero depth entry with little jets shoting water up about 10".
We stayed the night at the Grand Lodge Hotel and went to the indoor/outdoor pool after breakfast. It was cool swimming outside while people are skiing down the mountain.We also drove through Boyne City & Petoskey (both citys are on a lake shore). Then a stop at Brian's favorite sporting/camping store Jay's, of course the boys talked me into getting Brendan a real bow & arrow set since he likes the toy one that he got the Renessance Festival so much. A stop at Grandma & Grandpa's house for dinner then back home. We all had a lot of fun.

Daddy's Helper

This weekend was a weekend to work in the basement. We had set it aside for that. On saturday, when I started, Brendan was right there with me. It was very boring, so I was really surprised. So, I asked him "Are you sure you want to help me?" It was so cute, because he said "Of course, I'm your buckaroo." Also, if you want to hear about a recent hunting adventure, check out the story at my blog site here.

On Sunday, I had to crawl under the stairs. Now, the kid has flashlights galore, but he really likes using one of mine with a pocket clip on it. So, we share it. I asked him to go get it for me and he came downstairs with it. The next thing I know, I hear him say something about getting a hat, and he is off again. I have no idea where he came up with this, but he put the light on his hat, and was ready to go.

He went under the stairs with me the whole time, and held the light where I needed it the whole time. Here is the little goof.

Cardboard Ghost

Jen ordered a new background, and it came in a big box. Brendan kept putting it on, and calling himself a ghost. So, I cut him out some arm holes, and eye holes.

Oakland Mall/Snow Day

Yesterday Brendan had a snow day from school, which was sad because it was his Valentine's Day party. Hopefully he will have it on friday. What do you do with a 4 year old who has been cooped up and a almost 11 month-old who is no longer sick? You go to the mall to play. Here is Maddie playing at the mall.
How much snow do you need to close school in Michigan? A LOT! That is just what we got. I am thinking 6-8 inches (closer to 8) but judge for your self from the pictures.
The side walk going up the street.
Brian out shoveling.
Madelyn watching at the back window the WHOLE time that Daddy & Brendan are outside.
Maddie with Brendan outside in the snow.
We hope that you had a wonderfull Valentine's Day!

Nothing Too New

I wanted to up-date the Blog but we didn't do anything to take pictures of. On Wednesday I had a kindergarten information night and tomorrow I am registering Brendan for kindergarten. It is so sad to think that Brendan is old enough to start school. But I will be saying the same thing next year b/c with his birthday in Sept. I am going to hold him back and have him in full day kindergarten next year.
Brian went up to the Upper Penicula this past weekend with his friend Mike to check out some land that Mike bought up there. It was very cold but my have a camper top on his truck so they both sleep indoors and on a bed. His camper is pretty cool, it has a bathroom that is a toilet & shower too, a mini kitchen and table that turns into a second bed.
Brendan went to grandma & grandpa's Andrews' house since daddy was gone. Poor Madelyn has an ear infection & a lower respiratory bronchial thingie. The doctors took a sample of her throat & nose to make sure that it is something more serious. And of course with her sick I didn't get much of a break, but at least she doesn't pitch a fit yet when she has to take her medicine. With Madelyn sick I have a little cold too. So other than a trip to JoAnn's on saturday because we both wanted out of the house for a little while and on Sunday we met Daddy & Brendan at the mall.

We hope that you enjoy this next week and we will check in with you next wednesday after our Mid-Winter Vacation.

Maddie's Hair Days

One of the great things about having a little girl is you get to play with her hair. And now that Madelyn finally has a head full she can where clips and bows and all those girlie things. But that also means washing it. That part is a little harder, and her hair keeps getting longer. So to be sure that her hair is clean brendan likes to help me 'play' with it some times. And this is what we get.
And of course the after bath curls.

Rock Wall Climber

Last night we took Brendan to the local REI store where we have a membership that allows us to use the rock wall. Everytime we visit a store that has one brendan wants to try it. Last night was his night. Now how high do you think a four year old can climb, note that this wall doesn't have the pegs sticking out that you climb with - it has the cracks and grooves that you use to go up. Brendan got to go two times. The first time he went about 8 feet, just over our heads. The second time he almost got to the top! He is now really a spiderman. And of course what type of mom would I be if I didn't have the camera in the diaper bag? So here are his pictures.

First is him in his harness looking at how high the wall goes and telling us that he wants to ring the bell at the top.
Second Brendan starting to climb and learning where he needs to hold on to.
This is how high he got on his first climb.
This is Maddie watching. I don't know if she liked him doing this, wanted to do it herself, or just bored.
Finally, this is how high Brendan got on his second climb. So close to the top.