And we're back!

So we got a new computer (that is D and I did...the kids use the old one) for Christmas this year. We think we have finally worked the bugs out and have networked them, so here are all the pics and stories that have been sitting around for the past six weeks. Enjoy!

Children's Museum

A little over a year ago the Children's Museum moved venues, and suddenly became twice as expensive! In my pinchpenny ways, I didn't take them back. That is until right before Christmas this past year (2007). We have friends who have passes and they invited us to go along. So we packed seven kids, two Moms, a stroller and several bags of food into a Suburban and headed north. They of course had a blast. Here are some pics of the kids enjoying the new and improved Children's Museum.





They still have a climbing wall, but it is about three times the size of the old one. Mimi let me take a pic of her climbing. What she really enjoyed (and I didn't really get to see) was her science lab...exploring dry ice! They did some really fun stuff, but the class was for 7 to 12-year-olds (they did let Mimi in, but not Buddy or Sweetsa).


All three of our kids got to go to the little scientist class on "Mars Sand". The sand had hydrophobic properties, so did not act like normal sand. When I asked the Teacher what they had done to the sand to make it hydrophobic, she looked at me like "?" So she gave me the "Teachers Info" insert from teh kit...it didn't have any real info just how to do the experiments. Ah well. The kids liked playing with teh weird sand, and they got some little ornaments and a souvenir picture of Mimi and buddy (Sweetsa was too timid to pose for someone else's camera!)

Sweetsa loved the kid-sized house and spent some time in the kitchen making a cake and eating it too!

Mimi's favorite place was (still) the grocery store. She went from the farm, to the delivery truck to the grocery store and back again and again.

Buddy loved the new construction area, where they had a crane, large blocks, and best of all, blueprints for different buildings/structures.

Much to the relief of my tired feet, we had to cut the day short to try to beat a storm home. Unfortunately, we left the parking garage just as the first hailstones hit the ground. the snow followed very soon after and we made our way home at about 10-20 mph! It was a LONG drive home! (Sandy got 13 inches of snow in two hours that evening!) We were very happy to make it home safely. It was a fun day, and maybe we'll go back again...but not until the storms stop coming!

Fun in the snow

Here are some pics of the fam playing in the snow, making the first snowman of the winter (this was back in early December I think). I am having trouble with all the snow pics this year...we've had snow every week since before Christmas and haven't seen the ground since then (And only seen it for 1-2 days since this early December snowfall.) Unfortunately it's a lot colder now than it was back in December (single digits at night these days...BRR!)

She lost her tooth...really!

Mimi realized one day that her tooth hurt. It was a little bit wiggly, so I said, "If you're lucky, you might lose this tooth before Christmas!" Ha! She lost it the next Sunday! Unfortunately, she took it to school the next day to how her teacher, and we haven't seen it since. She really lost her tooth!