Zoo Day with B

 B's school was canceled today and so we took advantage of the warm (but windy) weather and went to the zoo.  He wanted to see the elephants, penguins and lemurs.  Mostly the lemurs.  He somewhere heard that they sort garbage and was surprised they weren't performing this at the zoo.  

 So sweet looking in each other's eyes.

Also requested was the merry go round and train.

Middle Middle Kid Ski Date

Each year Ads and I manage to squeeze in a middle middle child ski date.  Last week he came up with B and I for B's ski lessons.  While B was in lessons, Ads and I got a ski date!

10 Years Sober!

 Last Monday was a big milestone for Brian, 10 years sober!  We always make him a cake and celebrate.  This year we had an extra guest for the night (his mom got stuck in the mountains and so he spent the night, on a school night!)  He was happy to partake in the celebration.  Tuesday night, Brian and I went to dinner to also celebrate, just the two of us.  No picture taken.

Brother Snuggles by the Fire

First Ski Lesson for B!

 B had his first ski lesson last week and it was COLD!  He didn't seem bothered by the cold, but did report that "it was pretty boring because I wanted to go on the big lift".  I told him he needed to know how to stop and turn before he could do that.  He didn't seem very motivated to learn either.

 So cute dressed warm.

Week in the Mountains

 We spent nearly a week at our new mountain place over break.  The big guys skied 3 days and Brian and I traded off watching B (he hadn't started ski lessons yet).  On our day together, we did science experiments, played Sorry over and over again, completed several mosaics, played rescue bots and read books.  

 With our older kids able to babysit, Brian and I snuck out a few times for some snowshoeing.

 We have several friends with places in the mountains, so the kids were able to go swimming with another family and we had dinner with other friends one evening and decorated cookies.

It was really cold, but we had fun :)

NYE Fondue!

 Continuing the tradition of Fondue with friends on NYE.

Cousin Time

 We were able to spend 2 hours with all 6 cousins together on Christmas Eve.  They were all so happy to be reunited for a short time.

Ads

In 3-4-5 at the kids school, they have choice time 2 times a week (Monday and Friday).  The week before break, Ads created this super creative board game that's actually really fun to play!  The characters are each teachers from the school and the point is to get through the whole school collecting items from each room (library, gym etc).  Once you have all your items, you have to get back to the main building.  But... there are monsters you have to fight throughout the whole game by rolling dice and trying to defeat them.  

Assist a Family

At the boys school, in 3-4-5, each class adopts a family at the holidays.  The kids then raise money through chores, bake sales etc and bring that money in.  The teachers pool it together and divide it among each family member.  Then the kids (with parental help), go shopping at Target with the family members requests.  A and his group got a 12 year old girl who wanted teal clothing.  It really is a great experience for these kids.