Ice Skating

The past 2 or 3 years we have met up with my brother Charlie to take the boys ice skating sometime over Christmas break.  This year we met up the day after before meeting up with my side of the family.  The boys had a blast!  Zane fell quite a bit, but got right back up and kept on going...he definitely improved by the end.

The place we went to had either walkers or these riding seals you could rent for the younger kids...we opted for the seal.  So glad we did.  Landon loved it and it made it so easy for me to ice skate!!  I can do decent, but I'm pretty wobbly, so it was so nice to have this crutch and Landon loved getting pushed around!

 

Date Night

I got home from work tonight and within about 5 minutes could tell that Josh had had his fill of the boys for awhile!  With summer winding down and their restlessness and never-ending bickering sometimes - I can totally understand why!  I decided to take the boys out for awhile and give him a bit of a break...yes, I'm such a nice wife like that!  You're welcome Josh!

After a trip to a couple stores, we ended up at Red Robin for dinner.

Landon chose what he wanted from the menu...the pepperoni pizza (which comes with a smiley face of pepperoni).  When the waiter came to take our order, I let him know that Landon wanted the smiling pizza and Landon chimed in and said "no, I want a sad face pizza"...well, apparently, its an ask and you shall receive sort of motto at Red Robin :)

Maybe it was sad to be going into someone's tummy!

And ketchup with apples?  Because why not!  This kid dips EVERYTHING in ketchup if it's available to him.

Grossology

Josh took the boys to the Pacific Science Center today to check out their Grossology exhibit they have going on right now.  This exhibit is right up the boys' alley...all about farts, burps, boogers and more!  I didn't get much information out of them tonight when I tried to pry - they probably didn't want to offend me with all the new stuff they learned :)  Thankfully, I have an awesome husband who know how important photos are to me!

Superbowl Sunday

The Hawks did it again - they went to the Superbowl the 2nd year in a row...not a common occurrence for many teams!   I won't lie and say I wasn't nervous heading into the game - I was even a little superstitious which is something I am not normally.  I was worried about not watching the game in the same place we did last year and I was worried that I was wearing a different jersey this time around.  And as we know from the outcome - I had every right to be worried and superstitious.  I promise next year guys I'll go back to my Wilson jersey and we'll be watching it in our own home again and host our friends like last year!  I won't let you down!

But like I've seen all over Facebook - win or lose, I'm a Hawk fan until I die!  I have loved the Seahawks since I was a little kid when my grandparents had 3rd role goal seats in the Kingdome...I spent many Sunday's at the game yelling my little 5, 6, 7 year old heart out.  I had a favorite t-shirt (that I so wish I had for my boys now) that said Easley Does It (regarding Kenny Easley), haha!  One un-smart call isn't going to change my love for these guys and that team!  Until next year!

blue and green hair

old lady hands, but awesome hawk bling

Shilo the Hawk Dog

For some reason, I didn't log into MyFitnessPal on Sunday, hmmmm, wonder why!

My one drink...I was the DD!

So sad :(

Gingerbread Village and more...

I asked Zane what he wanted to do on his Diabetes Anniversary and he said he wanted to go downtown to see the Gingerbread Village at the Sheraton Hotel - which ironically is a big fundraiser for JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation)!  You got it buddy!

The weather was LESS than ideal to say the least...but we are true Seattlelites and did not let the rain get to us!  In hindsight, I should've had the boys wear their rain boots, but we all survived - wet feet and pants and all!

Zane and I have been to the Gingerbread Village one other time, but it was a loooong time ago...PD (pre-diabetes) which also means PL (pre-Landon)!  So it was fun to go back!  I'm always amazed at what these culinary artists are capable of!

The first thing we did after finding parking was hit up Starbucks...Zane asked if he could have a caramel frappicinio (a once in a blue moon treat) - because it was his special day, I told him of course!  I had him run over to a table and check his blood sugar while I ordered...he reports back to me with a blood sugar of 43...extremely low!  Good timing for that sugary drink :)

We then walked over to the Sheraton where we had to wait in line for a VERY long time to get to the Gingerbread creations...the boys did amazing in line!  Sure, they got restless from time to time, but they were respectful and they waited very patiently.  It helped they got to see the jolly ol' man himself partway through the line!

It was finally our turn to see the creations and it was worth the wait!!

After the village, we headed over to Westlake for lunch and then our friends Kristin and Luke met up with us for a monorail ride over to the Seattle Center!  This was Landon's first time on it and he was IN LOVE!  He's already informed me that for his birthday he wants to go back to Seattle (he's OBSESSED with downtown Seattle) and ride the monorail and go up to the top of the Space Needle!

Luke & Zane met up with Star Wars while at the Seattle Center!

Snow

Snow in November on the west side of the state is almost unheard of, so when there was a prediction for snow last Saturday - I laughed!

Then I woke up to this:

I'm not complaining, I love the snow!  And this snow was the best kind of snow in my book.  It looked beautiful falling, it stuck only to the grass and the streets stayed pretty clear - and it melted within 2 days!  I remember going to school in Ellensburg and getting pounded with snow...I loved it when the season first started, but then it just fell cold and the snow froze and stuck around for.ever! The pretty white snow became gross dirty snow and again, stuck around for.ever!  This west-side snow is more my type!

I drove to pick up the boys and they were so excited to get home and see how much snow we had - they just had a little dusting at grandma and papa's I guess.  This picture above is on our drive back on Hwy 18.  I had to pull over and take a photo, it was just so pretty to me!

The boys couldn't get into their snow clothes fast enough!

Josh and our neighbor Jim keeping warm with some ice cold beers while keeping an eye on the kids :)

I hope this was the first of many snow falls this season - last year we were pretty jipped!

Birthday Surprise {Great Wolf Lodge}

Zane (well, and Landon) has been asking to go to Great Wolf Lodge for a very long time!  When we'd ask Zane what he wanted for his birthday, he always responded with "Great Wolf Lodge" - we'd always respond with "save your money"!

Well, last Sunday - we surprised him {them} with a trip to Great Wolf Lodge!  Thanks to a dear friend for sharing her work's promo code - we scored a decent enough deal to pull the trigger and go! He was SO excited when he found out!  So glad we were able to do this - we all had a really good time!  Oh and if you're thinking of going ever...one night is plenty!

Our good friends the Nilsson's joined us as well!  I was talking to my friend Lisa (not talking to myself, promise) a few weeks ago and telling her of our grand plan!  Then on a whim I asked if they wanted to join us and go the same night!  They did!  Their kids are younger, so having them there wasn't a big excitement for Zane, but having Natalie show up was a big surprise and excitement for Landon!

Yep, he wasn't a fan of this slide the 2nd time around - 1st time down, he liked it!

Andrew avoiding his knees touching the rough ground!

There is a ropes/obstacle course outside - Josh and Zane tried it out before we left on Monday!  Both really enjoyed it!