Snow Angel Evan!

Time for some sledding!

We finally got some snow today to cover up the brown ugly yard! The kids had a blast playing in it.

A dip in the hot tub

Tonight we took the kids out in the hot tub. Evan had a great time diving down for his Buzz & Woody dive toys. It feels great while you are in the tub, but it's really cold when it's time to get out! It is 23 degrees and feels like 14 with the windchill. Brrrr!

St Paul Winter Carnival

Evan at the ice information booth in Rice Park

Lawson Building view from Rice Park

A few ice sculptures

Spider Man scaling a wall

The St Paul Cathedral

We had time to walk over to the Crashed Ice course.  There wasn't any racing going on, so we didn't see any crashes.  They weren't going to be racing until dark, so we couldn't wait around for them to start.  This was the finish line.

There isn't a way to photograph the whole course, because it is too big.  This is the start.

We were waiting for the parade to start.  It was pretty chilly.  I gave Alex my mitten to cover his face, because he was very cold.

After the parade we headed to my work to use a warm bathroom and take off our warm clothing. 

We managed to get a huge bag of candy despite the cold weather.  They were dumping candy in our wagon!

Kindergarten Round-Up

Last night they had Kindergarten Round-up for Evan.  He got to meet  the teachers and spend some time in his classroom while Eric and I listened to them tell us about the school and what we can expect next year.  He is very excited to be in Kindergarten next Fall!  Class of 2026....Can you believe that?  It will be here before we know it(they tell us)!

They even had a bus to give us a ride around the block.  

January 22nd

A week ago I got a recipe e-mailed to me for making cinnamon rolls.  The recipe called for a bread machine which I've had out in the garage for years.  We got it out and dusted it off and made the dough in the bread machine.  It takes 2 1/2 hours for the dough to knead and rise so we weren't going to have them Saturday morning. 

We rolled out the dough Saturday night and put them on a baking sheet.  We will use a casserole dish next time as the cinnamon mixture made a mess in my oven and one of the edges touched some dough causing the oven to smoke!

They came out of the oven looking mighty delicious!

add some icing and they look just yummy!

Sunday morning Evan ate two cinnamon rolls for breakfast!  Alex still wanted his usual pancakes, but he did have a few bites of Eric's cinnamon roll and realized what he was missing out on:-) 

I made the boys each a photo album of their Christmas/New Year pictures and Evan had one spot left in his album and he wanted to take this picture of him in his bed for the last spot.  His comfy bed with his animals and flannel sheets!

Keepin Busy!

The boys found the camera on my phone!

Evan was trying for the Smiley on water tower...Nice job!

His view from the backseat!

Last week the boys started swimming lessons again.  They are having a great time back in the water!

Saturday Eric blew up the air mattress for the boys.

This is their silly picture..nice stretches boys!

They started a train track on Saturday morning and I had to get it all connected.  It was a pretty big track!

Sunday night Alex was so tired he fell out of his chair and got really crabby when I took this picture of him:-)

The boys got this conveyor belt from their friends Justyn and Nathyn who were getting to old to play with it.  Alex loves putting dominos on the conveyor and loading up the trailer and then dumping the trailer. 

Ice Skating

Today Evan started skating lessons.  It was session number 1 and they had about 50 kids come at the same time and they would assess and break them into 3 groups by skill.  Evan is definitely in the beginner group.  Alex and I freezing in the stands...I somehow thought it would be warmer in the arena.  I'll dress warmer next time for sure.  We were there for a couple hours, so we got pretty cold.

After a few minutes the coach brought out these assist walkers.  This helped Evan stay up.

by the end of the session he was skating without the bar and late this afternoon he wanted to go out on the ice again.  Eric said he did very well and was moving pretty good and getting up by himself unassisted.

 

 

This morning the boys got out the tools and were playing with a board Eric found in the garage.  They were both hammering away on the board and here you can see Evan is drilling. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New helmet

Evan starts skating lessons tomorrow.  Eric needed to get him this helmet, because he is required to wear it during the lesson.  This helmet can be used for all winter sports and has a cover over his ears, so he doesn't have to worry about his ears getting cold.  He is pretty excited about learning to skate.  They said he should wear snowpants, because he is going to fall down a lot!

Winter fun

The blog isn't letting me select pictures to post tonight, so I'm e-mailing them to the blog.  So I apologize for multiple posts.  In the summer the boys pull reeds from the side of the dock and stuff them in the dock poles and in the winter they use the hockey sticks to push the snow off the side of the dock.  This makes for a very long walk behind them on an already long dock!  At least I don't have to worry about getting mosquito bites today:-)

I bought these Crocs boots last year and I think I wore them once.  I wore them outside for hours today and never felt cold at all.  I've had these snowpants since I was a teenager and dug them out today.  The only thing that got cold today were my hands, because I was constantly taking off my gloves to help the boys with someting or take a picture.

Tonight there was a beautiful sunset!

A great day outside on the ice and in the snow!

Daddy and Evan take a break!

Winter Fun

The boys insisted on lunch outside today! PB&J sandwiches ice side on the dock:-). In between skating and playing boot hockey. We saw lots of snowmobiles, 4-wheelers and ice fisherman. Every time a sled goes by the boys stop what they are doing and wave.

Minnesota Children's Museum

Today after New Years Day breakfast at Bryan and Karen's we took the kids to the Children's Museum.  They had a blast in the water area playing with these boats.

Evan and I were at the museum about a month ago and he found some new favorites on this visit.  He enjoyed driving this bus.  The inside looked very similar to a bus you would ride around town.  He waited his turn and was able to be the driver.

He put on a postal shirt and pretended to be a mail carrier delivering mail.

Alex tried golfing.  He's not quite ready for this sport.

The conveyor belt was a favorite of Evan's during our last visit.  Alex also loved the conveyor as much as Evan.  We went back to play with it a couple times after going to other exhibits.

The boys spent a lot of time at this water table where you try to plug the holes so the ping pong balls will go through the PVC pipes and come out the other end.  You have to work together.  Alex's sleeves and front of his shirt were really wet!

Eric helped Evan use this crane to grab the board and put it in the truck.

Evan dressed up like a fireman.

Earlier in the day he dressed up as a fireman at Sophie and Jack's. 

Our breakfast group.  I think this is the 3rd year we have had breakfast at Bryan and Karen's on New Years Day.  Eric and I used to have a party, but then when everyone had kids nobody wanted to go out on New Years, so it turned into breakfast with kids.  We are missing Tyler and Jess who moved to Fargo this past fall.

A leftover pic from last night.  Happy New Year!  Eric and I rang in the new year at 11:00 with New York and I was asleep by 11:30.  Evan was up at 6:10.  I think he was excited for the activities of the day.  After the Children's Museum we met Nick and Steph at El Loro in Eagan for an early dinner.  The boys passed out on the way home and were exhausted from our busy, but fun day!  Evan told me tonight he wants to go back to the Children's museum when we don't have any plans.