Playing

My friend Lacey went on a trip with her husband to Hawaii, so we got to hang out with her daughter Hallie for a day while they were gone.

Between playing dress-ups, making sugar cookies, painting finger nails, they somehow managed to find time to play "Throw the snake at the princess." Yes, that is what they told me the name of the game was.

 Oh yes, and then there was the time that they put Hallie in the toy box. Throwing snakes, stuck in the toy box, sounds fun right? At least she's still smiling.

And then on Saturday, we had a moment of snow on our ground, and had to take advantage. I've been promising Meili a snowman for months.

 Don't judge me! There pretty much hasn't been snow on the ground since his birth. Why would we get him snow clothes? However, after he wore them for a little while, I started wondering why we need to buy him snow clothes ever? I mean they are warm! Okay, maybe you can judge me a little...

 Everyone needs some ridiculous pictures in their wedding video right?

 I was pretty much on Grant and picture duty. And the result? Meili got to participate in building a snowman that stayed standing for longer than an hour.

 Grant wasn't so sure about this whole thing at first, but when I took him inside to put him down for a nap, he cried the whole time we were taking off his pink clothes. He loved them! Or loves outside? One of the two.

Josh's intuition was right. 24 hours later, the snow is pretty much gone.

Fun, Fun, and More Fun!

For President's Day, my sister in law Kami, invited Meili, Grant, and I to go her to the museum of Natural Curiosity at Thanksgiving Point and the Living Planet Aquarium. Through a couple of connections, we were able to enjoy the whole day for free. You can't beat that! She and her mom also brought a couple of her nieces along as well.

 I've decided that they should do an "adult-only" day at the museum of Natural Curiosity, because I think it would be so fun to play with everything myself, but all those darn kids were in the way!

 Grant spent most of the day being pretty tired, because he didn't get either of his regular naps. It actually made the day a lot easier for me though, because he wasn't as active as he usually is. 

After the museum, we met up with my parents at Cabela's for lunch, and then continued on to Meili's favorite part of the day...

 We went over to the farm at Thanksgiving point to ride the ponies. 

 She probably would have stayed there riding the ponies all day (and she always demanded the biggest one, fyi) but it was a little cold, and there was more fun to be had. So we headed over to the aquarium.

 We even went to see one of the 4D movies, and Grant was mesmorized the whole time.

Thanks Kami and Shanna! We all had a blast!

Valentine's Day

Josh tried to plan a romantic weekend for the two of us the week before Valentine's Day, and I kind of ruined it. So it's still in the process. But for now, we had a very kid-centered Valentine's Day-which is turning into my favorite way to spend the holiday. (Not that I don't like spending time with just Josh and I too!)

 If it were up to me, we would have had 12 straight hours of heart shaped and pink food, clothes, hair and activities. But we settled for heart shaped pancakes, eggs, and bananas (notice Grant's high-chair tray in the background.)

 Meili's Grinch face that she's done for years and we've just never taken a picture of.

 I'll have to keep practicing this heart-shaped hair that I stole from one of my friends-and how to get a better picture of it. We had a family picnic in the park. 

Ha! I don't know if I'll ever be able to say those words again in my life. We had a family. picnic. in. the. park. on. Valentine's. Day. in UTAH! So crazy! But so fun too!

 Grant's Valentine's day present was a toy mop and broom. I promise I'm not a mean mom-starting with the fact that he is wearing no pants in this picture. I refuse to admit how long he was pants-less on this day. But I will say that it happens far less at our house than I think it does for most. 

Also, I didn't get him a mop and broom because I'm trying to make him a slave already. He truly loves the real mop and broom, and just chases me around the room the whole time I'm trying to get the floors clean. And I've tried letting him use the actual mop and broom, and they are just too big for him, and he is too determined to let it go. 

 So far, they've been a hit with both kids.

 I really just can't let go of my family's Valentine's traditions growing up. My parents always did a somewhat festive dinner, where we each got a little cheesy box of chocolates, a small gift, and our favorite 2-liter of soda. (Meili doesn't like anything with carbonation, Grant has not had the chance to try it yet, and I've cut out soda for the year, so I improvised a little on that part.) Josh suggested that we have crepes, which I was totally fine with because that's my favorite meal!

 Meili came to me and said she made this Valentine for Grant.
Me: "I love it! It looks awesome!"
Meili: "It's Brayden!" 
And I just busted up laughing. Silly me! I figured the baby that Meili drew on Grant's Valentine would be Grant. But no, she explained, that Brayden is Grant's best friend, so that's why she drew him on Grant's Valentine.

 We tried Meili's curlformers for the first time for her Valentine party at preschool. She loves how crazy they make her look. 

As far as the curlers? So far, so good. She's asked to do them three times since, and I think they work pretty well, and don't take a ton of time to put in. Plus, they save a lot of time in the morning if she wants curly hair.

 More pictures of our little janitors in training!

 If only his sweeping was actually effective. My floors wouldn't look the way they do.