Visit to Dallas (4 years and 2.5 years old)

My nephew Nick got married and we were invited to the wedding.  My parents drove down to Dallas and spent a week there before the wedding.  We flew down Wednesday night.  We did not arrive until midnight our time.  Sydney fell asleep on the plane however Austin did not.  They travel so great on planes now.  All the really need is their Kindles and they are good to go.  I do pack stickers and books to play with too but they mostly use the Kindle.  We don't let them watch TV or use their Kindles much at home (less than 30 minutes a day on average) so they really like getting to use them more when we travel.

Once the plane landed Austin and Brian went to the rental car company to get our rental car and get the car seats installed.  We brought our car seats and the umbrella double stroller.  Brian has a very nice way to carry the car seats though the airport.  After we got our rental car we went to our hotel to get some sleep.  By this time, Austin was asleep but Sydney was awake.  It took her a while to finally go back to bed.

On Thursday, we spent the day at Donnie and Cheri's house.  Everyone came over for breakfast.  The kids played at the park for a while.  The weather was only in the 60's with scattered rain so that was a bummer.  Then we did not go to the rehearsal dinner so we went to Whataburger with Dean.  I figured it would be too much with the kids and Whataburger worked out fine for us.

Friday was the wedding.  We took the kids to a local mall Friday morning to burn some energy before the wedding.  Since the weather wasn't good, they could not play outside.  They ran around the mall then we went back to Donnie and Cheri's house to get ready for the wedding.  The kids fell asleep in the car while driving to the wedding which worked out perfectly.  It's not easy to get them to take a nap in their beds while traveling.  It's easier for everyone if they sleep in the car during naps when we are not home.

Unfortunately it was raining and Nick and Courtney could not have their wedding outside like they were hoping.  However it was a very nice wedding.  Courtney looked beautiful.  It stopped raining right before the ceremony inside.  Austin and Sydney enjoyed playing in the back outside.  Brian spent a lot of time out there with them.  Austin really enjoyed dancing.  He was going strong until about 10 pm.  Then we left and went home to go to bed.

On Saturday, Brian and I took the kids to a bounce house for little kids called Coo Coos.  They had so much fun there!  The played there for about 2 hours just running from bounce house to bounce house.  It also has a train for the little kids to ride.  I highly recommend it for younger kids.  After that, we went back to Donnie's for a cook out with the entire family.  It was great seeing everyone.

Austin really enjoyed raking leaves at Donnie's house.  He filled 3 full bags.  Cheri got them lots of toys to play with too that they really enjoyed too.  It was nice especially since they could not play outside too much.

On Sunday, we went to see Dennis' truck.  Austin loved that!  Sydney was a little scared but went in the back with Austin.  After seeing the truck, we went to the Science and Children's Museum.  That was also very cool for them.  Donnie, Dennis, and Dean went with us.  Towards the end of the day, they decided to go home since it wasn't as much fun for them as it was for the kids.  We let the kids play basically until the place closed.  They even got to play outside for a while at the end too.

Then we went and got dinner.  Austin wanted pizza so we stopped at a Pizza Hut and Taco Bell combo.  After dinner, we checked into our hotel.  Then we promised Austin ice cream all trip and we never got it so we went and did that.  Austin really enjoys ice cream.  Sydney really enjoys eating the toppings to ice cream.  After ice cream, Brian returned the rental car while I stayed at the hotel with the kids and got them ready for bed.

Our flight was early so we got up early for the airport.  They did really great.  We ate breakfast at the airport and flew home.  Brian had to travel to Denver that day too for work.  We flew from Dallas, Brian drove home got his car and then went back to the airport.  At the airport, he found out his flight was cancelled.  They re-booked him on a flight from Akron so he drove down there for the flight.

While Brian was gone the kids were great.  I tried to relax and let things be what they were going to be.  I knew I had to do it all but it was okay.  We really had a great time together.  They went to bed fairly easily which is the hardest part.  The kids like us to lay with them until they fall asleep so that's difficult when there is only one of us and two of them but I would put the one to bed who was more tired and it worked very well.  They were both asleep by 9:45 pm every night.  They really helped me around the house.  I was glad it was an uneventful trip.  We were glad when Brian returned home.

Austin says some funny things these days.  He comes up with them on his own.  When Brian asks him to do something he likes to say Aye Aye Captain.  While traveling in Dallas, Brian asked Austin to push an elevator button and with an elevator full of people he said "Aye Aye Captain".  It was very funny.  He also calls whipped cream "wooden cream".  Austin rarely has a tantrum now.  When he gets mad he will sometimes scream for a few seconds but once reminded to use his words he does.  Austin understands what is going on and usually complies with any requests (but it just may take a few reminders).

Scars, illnesses, and maybe Spring? (4 years and 2.5 years)

Austin's scar is still not healed from when he fell on the playground in September.  The ends look great however in the middle has a red raised area.  A zit appearing thing appeared.  It looked terrible.  I took him to see the plastic surgeon.  Our surgeon is relocating however he offered to do surgery before he left.  Because it looked so bad, we scheduled surgery for Friday.  He did not want to do it in the office because of his age and prior experience with stitches.

Then on Tuesday night after seeing the doctor during bath time the "zit" broke open on it's own.  It opened again Wednesday morning.  Brian put a band aid on it and Austin went to school.  It looked much better Wednesday and Thursday morning.  I called and talked to the doctor.  He still feels there is something in there but he said there is no rush to "clean it out" so I cancelled surgery.  It continues to look better and Brian and I are grateful we did not put him though surgery.  Hopefully it will finally heal on it's own (update: it turned out it did!).

This winter we have been surprisingly healthy.  It has been so nice however Sydney got a GI virus.  It started Saturday night with vomiting.  Then the next day it was diarrhea.  She would be up a lot during the night too.  Since Sydney is a "big girl" she refuses to wear diapers and always wears underwear except at night.  That includes when she is having a lot of diarrhea.  Brian and I both tried to convince her to wear a diaper because she was sick but she adamantly refused.  She made it too the potty most of the time but there were a few accidents.  She continued to have diarrhea and was unable to attend school on Wednesday and Thursday.  That was difficult for Brian and I but Brian stayed home in the morning and I came home at noon.  It wasn't ideal but we had to do it.

Unfortunately around 11 pm on Wednesday, Austin started with diarrhea.  He was really good at getting to the potty.  It didn't seem to bother him too  much.  But he had diarrhea until Saturday.  We were worried because we had plans to go to Great Wolf Lodge on Sunday with our friends.  Brian had to stay home with them on Thursday.  By Friday they were pretty much better and they both went to school.  We were so happy they were better in time for Great Wolf Lodge.

On Sunday we drove up to Great Wolf Lodge for the night.  This winter has been so cold it was so nice to go somewhere warm for the day and night.  The kids love the water so it was perfect for them.  When we got there it was so busy.  I took the kids to the pool while Brian and Lisa stood in line to check into our rooms.  Sydney was a little hesitant as first going down the big slides but after a few times she was ready to go.  She always wanted someone with her though either Austin or Daddy/Mommy.  They played in the water until dinner time.  For dinner we ran out to Wendy's.  After dinner they played in the pools and slides until it closed at 9 pm.

The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel with our friends.  Then after breakfast we let Austin and Sydney play in the water park for an hour until we had to drive home.  Brian needed to be at work so we left by 10 am to get home.  We had a lot of fun at the water park.  February is a great time to go since there is not much else to do around here then.

The next week on Sunday Austin came down with a 102 fever.  The next day he developed cold symptoms.  Luckily he was better by Wednesday.  However Brian and Sydney got it.  They were really tired with cough and chest congestion.  When I picked Sydney up from school on Wednesday she was lying on the small couch in her classroom.  I knew she was now really sick too.  Brian and Sydney had to stay home on Thursday again.  We were doing so well this winter without any illnesses however we had 2 illnesses in 2 week's time.  The kids got over it pretty quickly however it has taken Brian a lot longer to get better.

This winter we have had snow on the ground since early January.  It has never warmed up enough for the snow to melt.  Just this week, we can see grass again.  The kids (with our help) built a large snowman in our front yard in mid January.  It just melted this week.  When we would walk back to the swing set, the snow would be up to my knees.  It was crazy how much and how long we've had snow.  Spring is finally coming.  It has warmed up into the 40's (which that feels like 60's to us).  Over the past week the snow has slowly melted.

However before the snow melted the one thing Austin wanted to do was build an igloo.  So Brian and Austin took a bucket and made like snow bricks to make an igloo out of his massive snow pile by the driveway (Brian tries to snowblow the driveway into one massive pile for the kids to play on).  Austin really liked it.  He wanted to do it because of the book Alaska's 3 Little Pigs. In the story the third little pig builds an igloo and the bear can't get him.  Austin enjoys that story.  Austin got his request before winter was over to build an igloo and he enjoyed playing with it for a day until it fell apart.  Fortunately no bears came to test his igloo.

Bahamas Cruise (4 years and 2.45 years)

 This year we took our annual spring cruise in February.  My nephew Nick is getting married in Dallas in March so we can't take a cruise during that time.  We considered not going this year because it's expensive but Brian found a great deal that we couldn't refuse.  The only concern is it was Carnival cruise and didn't have a good experience with them the first time about 9 years ago.  But we thought we would give it another try.

Because the cruise was in February we decided to fly out a day early to ensure we would get there if there was a snow storm.  We used our frequent flyer miles on United to fly into Ft Lauderdale.  It was a direct flight.  There were no direct flights to Miami and it was more expensive so we decided to fly to Ft. Lauderdale.

Once we arrived we had to take a shuttle to the rental car place.  When we got there we were so surprised how busy it was.  We had to wait over an hour to get our car.  However they had a complementary food truck outside so we were able to get lunch.  That was very nice and it worked out well.  We got our rental car and drove towards the beach.  We stopped for some drinks since the kids were thirsty.  Brian also got us all ice cream bars inside the convenience store.  Then we drove to a local park and walked around.  It was so nice to be in warm weather.

After the park, we found the beach and we played there for a little while.  The breeze was cool and we really weren't prepared to swim so we just walked around.  The kids played in the sand some too.  After a while, we decided we needed to find a hotel and eat dinner.

We booked a hotel inland.  It was about a 30 minute drive there.  The hotel was fine and there was a Wendy's near by for dinner.  It was superbowl Sunday, so we ate dinner and saw a few minutes of the game on a TV they had.  After dinner, there was a CVS across the street so we stopped there to find some sand toys.  I was not able to pack the sand toys because I needed room for clothes and potty seats for the entire week.  So we thought we would just buy a small bucket of toys and give them to other kids on our last day at the beach.  Austin and Sydney were excited to get new sand toys.

The next morning, Austin had to poopy.  Austin has always pooped in froggy.  But we were hoping this trip he would learn to use the big potty.  We told him we didn't have froggy enough though we did if we really needed him.  After a little while he went on the big potty.  He got to go to CVS and pick out whatever he wanted.  He picked out a great construction site toy that they played with on the ship. After our trip to CVS, we drove into Miami.  The rental car place did not have a shuttle so Brian had to drop me off with the kids and luggage while he returned the car.  He did not want to wait or pay for a taxi so he ran to the cruise port about 2 miles away to meet us.  The kids did great waiting for him to come.  We stand on a bench and watch cars go by.  They were excited when he finally returned.  Then we checked onto the ship.

Once on-board, we grabbed some lunch and headed to the pool.  It was around 80 degrees so it was warm enough for us to swim.  The pools were small.  The main pools water was cool but we did swim for a little bit.  Austin got to go down the big water slide.  He really liked that.  They had a great little kids pool that they had fun in too.  It was awesome because that water was warm.  They had a lot of fun.  Before dinner, we signed the kids up for Camp Carnival.  We could drop them off during certain hours to play and do certain activities.  It was nice because Austin and Sydney would be able to be together.  We could get a break if we wanted.

We went to dinner in the formal dining room.  I was nervous on how that was going to go but they did fantastic the entire cruise at dinner. Carnival had a little activity book they got each night with a crayon.  There was a maze inside the Austin really enjoyed doing. Sydney would color or one night I had stickers for her to play with.  We were able to eat a 3 course meal each night.  The kids got fruit cocktail for appetizer.  For dinner they would have either plain pasta, hot dogs or chicken nuggets. Then they would get dessert since they were always so good.  We had at least 8 different people tell us how good our kids were during dinner throughout the cruise.  We were so proud of them.

The next day on the cruise was a sea day.  We went to breakfast at the buffet.  It was so nice because we could all get our food at the same time.  Usually Brian and I would have to take turns because we could not carry it all.  This time  the kids pushed there plate down the buffet line and we put food on their plates that they wanted.  At the end, Austin could carry most of his and Brian was able to carry his and Sydney's food while Sydney walked.  It was fabulous.  Austin really enjoyed scrambled eggs and hard boiled eggs.  Sydney liked cereal and pancakes.

We did drop the kids off at Camp Carnival for a hour so they could do an art project.  They went right in and never cried.  Brian and I could not believe it.  Actually we were a little sad because it felt like they didn't need us.  However we were grateful they did it.  We hung out in our stateroom and explored the ship a little bit.  After an hour, we picked them up and we all went swimming.

That evening it was formal night.  We all got dressed up and went around the ship and go some pictures taken.  We wanted a nice formal picture of us.  Austin and Sydney would listen to the photographers great however they did not smile much.  We were kind of disappointed on how they turned out but we did get a few good pictures.

The next day were were at Freeport Bahamas.  I booked a shore excursion at the beach.  Freeport is basically an industrial port so there is not much to do around.  The shore excursion took us to a nice beach that also had a playground.  The kids played in the sand for a long time.  Then we took a walk down the beach.  Austin and Sydney collected rocks.  Then we swam in the ocean for a little bit.  Sydney got cold quickly so we were only in there for about 10 minutes.  Then they decided to play on the playground.  We had a great day at the beach with them.  I really enjoyed it!

The next day we were supposed to be at the private island.  It was going to be another beach day for us. However there were thunderstorms and they had to cancel our port. We were all so sad.  We had such a great day at the beach we wanted to do it again.  But there was nothing we could do about it. Brian and I knew that we needed to look into going to the beach in Nassau since the kids were sad about missing the beach.  We decided that we would find a beach ourselves without during a ship shore excursion.

The weather was yucky during our now second sea day.  We couldn't do anything outside.  There was not much going on around the ship either.  We played in our stateroom.  Brian, Austin and Sydney built a fort on our bed.  We played with that for about an hour.  I would pretend I was a bear trying to get in.  They had a lot of fun with that.  That evening we got dressed up again,  Before dinner, we went around the ship getting our pictures taken again.

When we arrived in Nassau, we got off the ship to take our annual family picture at the port of Nassau.  We have taken the same picture every year for 3 years now.  After we did that, we went and talked to some locals and found out there is a public beach within walking distance of the port.  When got back on the ship and got ready for a beach day.

It was about a 10-15 minute walk with the kids to the beach.  It was windy and a little cool so we didn't really play in the water much.  However the water was calm because of the break wall so the kids could get their feet wet and fill their bucket with water easily.  They played in the sand for a few hours. Austin and I built 10 sand castles and then Sydney stomped them down.  Austin was sad so we built 12 more.  Then Austin and Sydney both stomped them down.  They had a good time.  After we were done playing in the sand, Austin and I found a bunch of little kids playing in the sand and gave them our sand toys we bought at CVS.  It was only around noon so they had plenty more time to play with them.  I knew we didn't have room to pack them.

We went back on the ship for lunch.  Then got back off again for the kids to go shopping in the straw market.  A lady convinced us to look at her store.  We ended up getting them little bongo drums.  The lady put Austin and Sydney's name on each of theirs.  They really liked them.  Then Austin saw a cute wooden train and we let them get that to share.  It was cool to let them get something there.  We usually don't do much souvenir shopping so it was a special treat for them being so good a dinner every night.

The next morning we ported back in Miami.  We didn't have a flight home until 3pm.  So I bought a hop on hop off bus excursion with transportation to Ft Lauderdale airport.  Unfortunately there was a bike race going on in Miami and the traffic was terrible.  We only had time to do one tour of the city.  It was an hour tour and because the bus came every 30 minutes.  We could not get off.  We were nervous about not having any bathrooms on the bus for the kids but they ended up holding it fine.  Sydney was exhausted from the trip that she slept though most of the bus ride.  Austin just sat and enjoyed the ride on the top deck of the bus.

After the bus tour, we got on another bus to Ft Lauderdale airport.  Luckily we arrived in plenty of time for our flight.  Our flight home was with Spirit Airlines.  This was our first time using them.  I was worried about the weight of the suitcases.  They had a scale and we weighed them.  They were 48 and 47 pounds.  I thought we were great until we went to check in and found out that Spirit rules are they have to be under 40 pounds or you pay extra.  I was so annoyed.  They allowed us to try and see if we could put some things in our carry on bags.  Brian and I worked on that for at least 30 minutes rolling up clothes to put in our carry on bag.  The kids ran around like crazy children and destroyed a first aid kit by using up all the band-aids and supplies as stickers!  I was stressed out but finally but some miracle we got the bags under the weight limit.  It was nice to save some money.

It was past lunch time and we needed to feed the kids something.  Brian found a place with chicken fingers and fries for kids.  Austin wanted an apple and Brian told him to put it back but the nice person at the counter just told Austin he could have it because it was just an apple.  It was nice.  Austin ate the entire apple too.  We had some Mexican tortilla thing.  Finally it was time to board the plane home.  The kids travel great on the plane with their Kindles.  We no longer have to entertain them the entire time.  They were so tired they even fell asleep during the plane ride too.  It was fabulous.

Once we got home we unpacked.  Austin and Sydney played together nicely while we unpacked.  It's great they play together so well.  We had dinner and we put the kids to bed.  Brian and I laid on the couch for like 5 minutes and we both fell asleep.  It was a fun and exhausting trip.

Happy 4th Birthday Austin!

Austin had a great birthday week!  Because we are going on a cruise soon, I couldn't take off his birthday like I've done in the past.  But Brian and I made sure his birthday was special at school.  We ordered pizza and had it delivered to school.  Sydney wanted pizza too so I ordered enough for both classes.  Then each class also had cookies for dessert.  His teacher also made him a crown to wear for the day.  He thought that was cool.

After school, we all went to pick up his ice cream cake.  Austin decided he wanted a fire truck cake.  He really likes fire trucks right now.  Then we came home and I made him his favorite meal, sloppy joes and macaroni and cheese.  Nana was driving up during this time.  She was really hoping to make it in time however she got out of work late and didn't arrive until the middle of the night.

After dinner, Austin opened up his presents.  He got his own laptop computer.  He works on his computer after nap while we wait for Sydney to wake up.  Austin does ABC Mouse and Reading Eggs.  He is starting to learn to use the computer.  He very good at his Kindle because it's a touch screen. The mouse is tricky for him but he is doing well navigating it.  He also got some additional wooden train tracks.  He really enjoys building and playing with train tracks.  Meemaw and Papa got him some trucks to play with.  Sydney got a Minnie Mouse purse.

Then he was time for Austin to blow out his candles.  He enjoyed us singing happy birthday.  Sydney knows the song too and sang.  I really like getting birthday cake pictures because it works out great for my yearly family calendars I make.  So it took some time to get some pictures.  Austin and Sydney kept putting their fingers in the cake.  Finally we got some good pictures.  Then everyone got to have cake.

On Friday morning, Nana was here.  The kids stayed home from school to spend the day with her.  They cooked a lot.  Austin and Sydney enjoy cooking.  They got to play with Nana all day long.  That evening Kaitlyn came over and they bounced in the bounce house.  The kids love the bounce house!

On Saturday morning, Brian had to go to the science center for his volunteer work.  Nana and I took the kids to swim class.  They do so well with swim class.  I can't believe how good of swimmer Sydney is.  Austin is doing great now too!

After swim class, we needed to pick up the cupcakes from Lauren.  She made fabulous spiderman cupcakes for Austin's birthday party. The kids got a quick nap before it was time to leave for Austin's birthday party.

His party was at the Little Gym.  I invited his entire preschool class.  There were 12 kids at the party which was a great number.  Austin had a great time!  They got to play in the gym for 1 hour and 10 minutes.  The staff did a great job getting Austin involved making sure everyone knew they were celebrating his birthday.  Austin did a good job interacting and answering all the questions too.  Many times Austin is shy and doesn't always interact with strangers but he did great during his party.  Brian and I didn't even need to be near him for anything.  They did fun things like having Austin sit in the middle of the parachute while they spun him around.  They played hide and go seek.  They also had plenty of free time to play on the equipment.  You could tell by all the pictures all the kids had a great time!

After play time in the gym, we went into the party room and had pizza and spider man cupcakes.  Austin and I made cute spider man party bags with a cup, stamps, and bracelets inside of it.  Austin enjoyed putting them together.  We were so glad everyone had a great time especially Austin.  He had a perfect 4th birthday.

It was nice Nana was in town.  Brian and I took advantage and went to a Cavs game alone.  It was only our second Cavs game we went to alone.  The kids do great when we take them to games but it's definitely easier when we go alone.  The kids have been to six games so far this season.  The Cavs are doing great this year.  It would be so awesome if they won a championship soon!

Austin also had his 4 year check up.  The doctor quizzed him to see if he is meeting all milestones.  He did great with communication.  When he wrote his name, he held the pen with a fist so we need to work on that.  He usually does good holding a pen but he does prefer his fist.  He spelled his name correctly though.  He was in the 60th percentile for height and weight.  He's almost 42 inches and 38 pounds. It's crazy how big he has gotten.  Time is really going by fast!

Happy New Year (3.99 years and 2.4 years)

On New Year's Eve, we took the kids to the zoo.  They have Noon Year's Eve.  They have lots of crafts.  They had an animal show.  Then before noon there is a count down just like at midnight.  It was very cold.  Most of the activities were inside though.  We had a good time.

That evening, Brian and I watched a movie.  I actually stayed awake until midnight.  I haven't done that since Austin was born.  The kids have been sleeping better at night which allows me to stay up a bit later.  Brian usually goes to bed around 1 am.  If the kids get up after that I am always up with them.  Austin likes to get up around 5 am for a diaper change.  Many nights he then come down to the couch.  However recently I've convinced him that his bed is better.  Sydney wakes up at weird times and all she wants is me to be with her and she falls back to sleep.  It's easy however it messes up my sleep cycle.  Sometimes I go right back to bed and other times I don't.

The kids have been in swim classes basically since they have been 6 months old.  Brian was always in the pool with them.  I did a few classes but it was mostly Brain.  However Sydney has graduated from the baby class.  She is now in toddler 1 class.  It usually starts at 3 but Sydney is such a good swimmer they recommended we move her up.  It was kind of sad for us but exciting to see how well she does with swimming.  Kaitlyn and Austin are in the same classes, toddler 2.  I was worried about how Sydney would do alone and she did great.  She went right to her teacher and swims great for her level.  She loves the water.  Her teacher told us she is the best in the class and also the youngest.  I'm so happy she does so well in the water.

Last year I learned about the Indianapolis Children's Museum.  It's rated number 1 in the country.  I wanted to take the kids there.  The best time is the winter since there is not as much to do.  We decided to leave on Saturday after swim class.  We drove and got a hotel.  After we checked in the hotel clerk told us about a winter storm coming.  And sure enough an ice storm was forecasted for Sunday afternoon and evening.  It was too late now.  We decided we would go enjoy the museum and hope for the best driving home.

After breakfast on Sunday, we went to the museum.  We were there from open to close.  It had five levels of activities for the kids.  It was awesome!  There was a dinosaur area.  Austin and Sydney even made us dress up.  They got to dig for some fossils.  Another area was a train station.  Austin enjoyed working the ticket counter.

There was a special area for kids under 5.  It was perfect for Austin and Sydney.  They had a art class that they took and loved.  Later in the day there was also a music class.  Austin loves music.  During music class the teacher would ask questions and Austin would answer appropriately.  It was so great for us to see.  Austin is shy and he coming out of his shell.  He participated more and doesn't need us to be right by his side all the time.

There was China exhibit.  They had fun playing with the panda bears and at the market.  There was also a plane but they were not too interested.  They have been on real planes a lot and they were not that impressed.   They got to play all day long.  It was great for them.

They watched a movie in the planetarium.  It starred Big Bird and Elmo and Elmo went to space with his friend from China.  It was a cute movie.  It was perfect since they just had their "real" space rocket for Christmas.

We all had a great day.  At the end of the day, we marched in a parade with the dinosaur.  It was another cool experience for them.  Once we got into the car to drive home, Sydney went right to sleep.  She was exhausted.  Austin stayed awake.  It was icy buy luckily the roads were well treated.  We made it home around 10 pm.  It was a long but fun day!

We have been going to the library every week for about a year now.  The kids really enjoy story time.  There was some issues this time with story time because 2 year old and 3 year old are supposed to be in a different class.  That makes things a little hard.  We tried a new story time on Mondays and the kids were terrible.  And I did not care for the teacher.  So we are back to story time on Tuesdays.  They are doing well.  The teacher would prefer them to be in different classes but it's not practical right now.

Some of their favorite books are Pete the Cat books, Dinosaur manners book, and anything with trucks.  Sydney enjoys short books.  Austin likes reading longer books.  Austin knows all of his letters.  Sydney probably knows about 25%.  I am starting to work with Austin with reading.  I have tried to get him to get beginning reading books at the library but he doesn't like them yet.  However when I do read I show him words and he "reads" them.

It's so great to have everyone potty trained.  We have very few accidents.  If we do, it usually Sydney and it's because we didn't remind her to go potty.  Sometimes Sydney doesn't want to go potty.  I play a game that I have to go and I'm going first and she doesn't like that so then she will go.  She likes everything on her terms.  Probably about 50% of nights she is dry when she wakes up.  Austin is still wet every night.  Hopefully that will come soon but this doesn't bother me from where we were a year ago!

Christmas (3.99 years and 2.35)

On Christmas Eve, I had to work but I got off early so we could go to 4 pm Mass.  The kids did great in church.  It was obviously very crowded but it worked out fine.  After Mass, we went to McDonald's for dinner.  We always use to have Christmas Eve dinner however with Brian's family out of town and my parents not in the best of health we decided we would just do everything on Christmas.  The kids enjoyed eating and playing there.

When we got home we decorated Christmas cookies for Santa.  Austin and Sydney loved icing and putting sprinkles on the cookies.  They made the cookies with me earlier in the week.  They enjoy being in the kitchen with me.  They are good cooks.  They fight over who puts in the next ingredient however we have learned they take turns and it keeps everyone happy.  Then we got ready for bed.  Austin made the plate of cookies for Santa. He gave Santa about a dozen cookies.  He must of known how busy Santa was going to be.  We read "The Night before Christmas" book and went to bed.

After the kids went to sleep, Santa was very busy building Austin's request a "real space rocket".  It's a really good thing that Santa is an engineer.  He always comes up with the craziest and best ideas.  The Honda Oydassy became a "real space rocket".  It had wings that were hung up though the back windows.  Projectors were on the roof so we could have a front and rear view from the space rocket.  It had back exhaust pipes too.  It was covered with white trash bags and the appropriate decals to make sure it was clear it was a space rocket.  Santa did not finish until about 2 am.  It was an exhausting but fun project for him.

On Christmas morning, Austin woke up around 5am.  That is usually what he does and he wants his diaper changed and go to downstairs to sleep on the couch.  He knew that on Christmas morning he would have to sleep the remaining time in our bed.  It was fine but I realized why we never let them sleep in our bed.  My parents arrived at 7am.  The kids were still sleeping.  They waited downstairs until the kids woke up.  Austin woke up first. It was his job to go wake up Sydney and tell her what day it was.  That was awesome to see.

They came downstairs together and were excited to see all the presents under the Christmas tree.  We got a few pictures and then they started opening up their gifts.  Austin got a very large fire truck with a fireman dress up suit.  He also got a car race track and a cash register.  Austin also got a toy space rocket so he could always play with it after the real space rocket was taken down.  Sydney got Elsa, baby stroller, and a princess doll house.  She got a policeman outfit to dress up with Austin.  They had a really great Christmas.

After they opened up all of their toys we ate breakfast.  Brian's grandma always use to cook Christmas breakfast.  It was an important tradition for him.  Now that she is gone and his family lives in South Carolina I always make sure I cook a special breakfast.  We had scrambled eggs (Austin's favorite), pancakes, cinnamon rolls, and sausage.  It was simple but nice.

After breakfast, we showed Austin there was a letter from Kristoff (Our Elf on the Shelf).  The letter was very nicely written and told them they had one last gift and to follow the signs to the real space rocket.  The also opened their real space rocket helmets before going out to the garage.  When the arrived outside they got to see the "real space rocket".  Austin was very excited and enjoyed his ride.  The first mission was only the 4 of us but then Austin got to go back inside to get Meemaw and Papa and show them how the space rocket works.  Austin enjoyed showing them.  It was very cool for him!

The kids took a nap and then we went down to Meemaw and Papa's house for dinner.  Santa also made a trip to their house.  It was really cool watching them open gifts there too.  I really did not know what they got so it was fun to see.  Each of them got a remote control car which was a big hit.  They got a lot of bath toys such as bubble paint, bath crayons and spray soap.  Sydney got Rapunzel and Austin got some more trains for his train set.  He enjoys his train tracks a lot.  They had a really good Christmas.

I had to work the day after Christmas.  Brian had a fun days with the kids and all of their new toys.  Kaitlyn even came over to ride on the real space rocket.  Brian was off during the holidays and it was awesome!  We had some much needed quality family time.  It was the best Christmas break ever!  We even got the kids sleeping in until at least 7 and many days 8am.

The weekend after Christmas we rode Lolly the trolley in downtown Cleveland to look at Christmas lights.  It was fun to ride the trolley and listen to Christmas music and see a lot of cool Christmas places in downtown including the Christmas Story house.

Also during break we also took Austin and Sydney bowling for the first time.  It was fun.  They needed help getting the ball down the lane however they preferred to do it themselves.  Austin was able to by the end of the game.  Trish and Kaitlyn joined us for the bowling trip too.  It was a great time!

Activities before Christmas (3.99 years and 2.30 years)

December is our busiest month of the year. There are so many fun Christmas activities to do around this time of the year.  We started the holiday season with the polar express.  We took a train ride all the way to the north pole.  This year Austin and Sydney really enjoyed it.  There are elf's on the train to help keep the kids entertained until we arrive at the north pole.  They read the Polar Express book and sing Christmas songs.  We also get to enjoy some hot cocoa and chocolate chip cookie.

Once we arrive at the north pole we got to see what everyone was doing.  Elves were signing and dancing.  It's very nicely decorated.  And we even got to pick up Santa Claus so he could visit with everyone on our train ride back.

Austin and Sydney warmed up to Santa very nicely this year.  The liked telling him what they wanted for Christmas.  Austin decided on his own that he would like a "real rocket-ship".  We are not sure how he came up with this idea but that he what he told Santa.  One morning he told me that he would like a real rocket-ship and Sydney needs a toy rocket-ship to play with on the way up to the moon.  While on the train ride, we had paper to write a list of Santa and Austin told Daddy he wanted a real rocket-ship.  Sydney told Santa she would like a princess.  It was a fun train ride with them.  They really enjoyed it.

On my birthday we went to dinner with Santa at our local recreation center.  My parents joined us.  They had several crafts to do.  They made Christmas ornaments and reindeer food.  We ate dinner and then Santa arrived on a fire truck.  Once again, Austin and Sydney were excited to see Santa.  And once again they told him the same thing.  He would like a real rocket-ship and she would like a princess.  They got to wave good-bye to Santa in the firetruck and we went home to celebrate my birthday.  We had some cake and ice cream.  Austin and Sydney enjoyed blowing out the candles.

We decided this year we were getting a real Christmas tree.  Before kids we had a really nice large Christmas tree.  Then we got rid of it because it was too big and the glass icicles did not work with kids.  We got a cheap prelit tree that we did not care what happened to it.  It worked for the baby years but I never really "loved" the tree.  This year we thought we would try going to cut down our own tree.

We did not know what to expect.  We had to get Brian's car ready to bring home the tree on the roof.  I was afraid it was going to be a muddy mess (it was too warm for snow).  I had clothes to change into.  We thought it was going to be a lot of work and messy.  We arrived and went out to look for a tree.  After walking around for a little bit, we found the perfect tree for us.  It even had a baby pinecone in it.  The kids loving getting pine cones when we go around the block.  Brian cut down the tree (with the kids' help of course).   Austin really enjoyed pulling the sled around the tree farm even with the tree on it.

We went back to the front to pay for the tree and for them to package it up.  We had never been there before so we weren't sure what we were doing.  Brian had money so he was going inside the building to pay for the tree.  Both kids were with him then I heard Austin say he wanted to come with me.  I thought Sydney was staying with Brian.  Brian thought I had Sydney.  Once Brian came back out of the store, we realized neither of us had Sydney.  We were scared.  I ran to the parking lot and luckily a family had found her.  Brian asked Sydney what she was saying while she was lost and it was "where's my mommy".  She kept repeating that.  We felt horrible!  We were always cautious with knowing who had who but know we are extra careful.

One of our favorite Christmas activities is going to lake farm park.  They have great toy building workshop.  The night we were going to lake farm park, Brian's car wouldn't start at his work.  I needed to leave work early to pick him up.  Luckily my key worked so he just needed to get a new key made.  After the car issues we headed to lake farm park.

We went to see Santa first.  Austin didn't want to see him at first but he did once we got to him.  Once again Austin told him that he wanted which of course was a "real space rocket".  Santa took his time with the kids which was nice.  They got a candy cane after talking with him and that made them happy too.

The kids played in the playroom until it was time for them to build their toy.  It's so awesome at the toy workshop.  There are at least 20 different toys the kids can pick to build.  Then an elf helps the kids build the toy.  This year Austin made a plane and Sydney made a princess castle.  They both really enjoyed painting it.  Last year Sydney missed some parts painting but this year she made sure she got it all.  Then they put glitter on them.  Glitter is messy but they have so much fun putting it on.  We let them go all out.

While the toy was drying, we played and explored some more.  We took a wagon ride out the barn.  They had an horse show with the movie "Frozen" theme.  Sydney really enjoyed that.  She hasn't seen much of the movie but she definitely knows all the songs.  They had a model train area that Austin really enjoyed.  Afterwards we walked back.  The kids iced and put sprinkles on a sugar cookie.  The love eating cookies.  It was a great evening and again probably one of our favorites.

A long family friend always has a Christmas party and invites us every year.  It's great because each year Santa comes and delivers a gift.  They have lots of fun food.  It's nice to see everyone since we only see them once a year.  Sydney was very excited to see Santa this year.  At the party they got Play-doh toys.  They love playing with play-doh.  They have a table downstairs they play with all the time.  After Santa, the kids decided they wanted to play outside a little bit and get their pictures taken. They know how Daddy loves taking pictures.

After the Christmas party, we went to the mall to see Archy the Snowman.  Brian and I remember seeing him when we were kids.  It's a very large snowman inside the mall.  There were several years that Archy was not around but he's back.  He's a little smaller but still very cool for the kids.  Austin and Sydney told Archy the same things they wanted for Christmas, a real rocket-ship and a princess.  Austin had to help Archy understand Sydney and he was good at that.  Austin has started coming out of his shell and is not as shy as he was.  He's still shy but willing to talk to socialize much more.

Another fun activity we had before Christmas was my local mommy group Christmas party. They had several crafts. One of the kids favorite things were balloons to play with they really enjoyed it. They got to see Santa again too. We had pizza for dinner.  We have realized that Austin's favorite pizza is Pizza Hut.  I think he ate 3 pieces of pizza that night.

Our community has a great program where Santa comes in a fire truck/ambulance and gives kids a present (supplied by the parents).  The first year we did it Santa came on a fire truck which was really awesome.  Last 2 years, it's been an ambulance.   It's very exciting for them to watch and see Santa come to their house and stop and see them.  We love it!

Tower City has Mr. Kringles Inventionasium. It was something new we wanted to try this year. Mr Kringles is an interactive tour of Mr. Kringles laboratory. We started the tour with receiving lab coats. Then we got to meet Mrs. Kringle and help her decorate her Christmas tree.  Austin and Sydney built toys and then sent them to Mr. Kringle.  They played with music and bubbles.  They tried catching bubbles with gloves on.  We ended the tour with meeting Mr. Kringle.  Again they went right up to him and told him what they wanted.  It was the same, a real rocket-ship and a princess.  It was a very cool experience.

Every year, the kids school has a Christmas party after nap right before holiday break.  They got to decorate Christmas cookies and have fun snacks.  Austin put all of his treat bags for his friends into their cubbies.  He enjoyed doing that.  He helped make all of his friends treat bags.  There are 24 kids in his room so that's a lot of kids and treats to make.  There are only 14 kids in Sydney's room.  Austin is in the puppy room and Sydney is in the Bee room.  I really like the kids teachers right now.  Miss Emily and Mary are great with Sydney and Miss Jamie is great with Austin.  Santa made a trip into each classroom.  Sydney was in Austin's classroom so they got their picture taken together with him.  They had fun at their school party and we were happy to be there.

The final activity we did before Christmas was my parent's club party.  I always went to it as a child and loved it.  It's much different now but still nice they do it.  The kids got to eat a cupcake and chips.  Then they went up to see Santa.  The got a Leapfrog game which was extremely generous.  Austin loves his.  The best part is it's has a camera on it.  Austin likes to take pictures like his Daddy.  My parents had a great time with them.  It was a fun day had by all.