More Winter Fun

I love winter.  By the end of the season I am ready to see it go, but I really love winter while it is here.  I am so happy that we got to have some real winter weather this year, even if we had to drive to Midland for a lot of it.  We went to Midland last weekend to see Grandma Kathy, Grandpa Mike, Uncle Mike, Aunt Misty and Lexie.  Michael suggested that we go to Snow Snake and go snow tubing.  So we all drove up to Clare to play in the snow.

 

Here is a shot of Isaac waiting in our "peanut" to get connected to the tow rope:

 

Here is a shot of Lexie and Mackenzie in their "peanut" getting towed:

 

Here is a shot of Isaac and me getting towed:

And here is a shot of Isaac and me after we went down the trail:

 

 

Here is a shot of the kids (Mackenzie, Lexie and Isaac) at Grandma's house:

 

On Sunday we went to City Forest in Midland and the kids got to use their skates.  They spent a lot of time climbing on the snow mounds rather than skating, but they both did well on their double-bladed skates when they were on the ice.  Once our toes were close to frozen we headed over to Michael's house to give Copper his Valentine's Day present (a big raw hide). 

 

Mackenzie and Isaac really like Copper, but unfortunately Brian and I are allergic.  In the summer Michael and Misty often bring him up to the lake and the kids can see him and Brian and I can stay away from Copper well enough to not have terrible allergic reactions.  Unfortunately in the winter when we are all inside it isn't as easy.  When we go to the grocery store we often walk past the pet aisle and Mackenzie asks to get something for Copper, so we got him a raw hide for Valentine's Day.  The kids loved hanging out at Unlce Mike and Aunt Misty's, playing with Lexie and seeing Copper.  Copper got Isaac pretty good with the licks right before we left.  It is probably mean of me to say this, but it was pretty funny seeing Isaac curl up in a ball on the floor while Copper licked him.  So you don't think I let him be tortured too long, I did go push Copper off and pick Isaac up, but I was giggling while I did it. 

 

We headed home Sunday afternoon and when we got home the kids worked on their Valentine cards.  I have never been a big fan of Valentine's Day, but it is really cute to see the kids so excited about a holiday that is all about love.

Winter is Here

Brian started his first tech of 2013 this weekend, so it is just me and the kids.  We were supposed to drive up to Grandma Kathy's and Grandpa Mike's, but we woke up to this:

 

 

That is the neighbors house across the way and you can't tell, but it is snowing pretty hard.  We tried to head out, because I was thinking that the main roads and expressways would be cleared, but when trying to get to the gas station and going much slower than that 55 mile an hour speed limit, I really could not see, so after I slid around a corner or two we turned around and came home.  The kids lamented that I broke my promise to them, but all in all they did okay.  I told them we would try again soon.

 

After quiet time we headed to the sled hill (it was still snowing at 4 pm):

Mackenzie was kind enough to drag Isaac's sled for him.

Sunil brought Manasvi over to go sledding with us.

Mom even got in on the fun.

 

 

We got Happy Meals after sledding and the kids watched the movie Mackenzie had picked out for the car ride.  So they still had a couple hours of TV watching, but rounded it out with plenty of hill climbing.

 



The last time I looked out the window there was still some snow coming down, but very lightly.  I think winter is finally here.

January Starts with a Splash

We have had a great January so far.  We got some lovely hats from Aunt Bonnie and had fun posing with them.

We went to Castaway Bay water park in Sandusky for Grandpa Butch's birthday.  We weren't able to get a picture with Snoopy with Grandpa, but we did get one with the kids.  They were not too sure about getting close to Snoopy, but they warmed up to him pretty quickly.  This picture is from the second time we saw him and they were much less apprehensive.  

The kids had a great time at the water park.  Mackenzie said it is her favorite hotel that we have ever stayed at.  She was just barely tall enough to go down all the slides including 3 tube slides (one of which was quite fast in Mom's opinion) and a really fun raft ride that proved that the park is owned by Cedar Point.  As Mackenzie said, "It made my tummy go flip-flop."

We left the water park and went directly to Imagination Station for a birthday party for one of Mackenzie's classmates.  Since we are members, Brian, Isaac and I stayed and played and Isaac had fun getting to choose where we went and what we did the whole time.  Right now there is a Sesame Street exhibition at Imagination Station, including Elmo's house:

After the party was over the kids enjoyed some of their favorite parts of Imagination Station before we came home for a well-needed quiet time.

Brian went back to work yesterday and we are getting back into our normal schedule.  So far things are going well, other than the Check Engine light coming on in Brian's car.  It is at the shop now, hopefully it won't be anything too serious.

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Another Tooth Lost

I am due for a full post, but I wanted to get this up now.  Mackenzie lost tooth number 3 today.

I also had to write down this conversation Brian told me he had with Mackenzie.  This child is always thinking:


Mackenzie:  Is there lava under our house?
Dad: Yes, way, way under the house.
Mackenzie: Can it come up through the ground?
Dad: No. They usually don't build houses where lava can come up from the ground.

Time passes.

Mackenzie:  I am still worried about the lava thing.  When we dig in the ground we can't get to the lava, right?
Dad: No.

Merry Christmas

 

We are just about ready for Christmas at our house.  Our tree is up and the house is decorated inside and out.  A lot of the Christmas shopping is done and we are just finishing up the final few purchases.

The kids have been enjoying playing Christmas by packing up empty boxes and pretending to be Santa and putting the presents under the tree.  Then they open their presents and act surprised about what is inside them.  It is very cute.

 

We went to see Santa at Bass Pro Shop this weekend.  Mackenzie sat on his lap and let him know that she wants Octonauts for Christmas.  Isaac got very nervous once we got up to the front of the line and wouldn't go anywhere near Santa, even for a candy cane!  So no shot of Isaac on Santa's lap this year.

The last few nights I baked gingerbread for a gingerbread house and I tried to put it together last night.  It was going well until Hurricane Isaac came along and broke the roof pieces.  I was able to repair the damage but we had to wait to decorate the house until this evening after the repairs had dried.  They had a great time though and the house looks great.  Mackenzie had been eating the left over gingerbread like crazy and even told me that I was "the best gingerbread baker."  Tonight though she decided she doesn't like it any more.  Perhaps she had a little bit of a bellyache yesterday.

 

More Good Times

So we continue to have good times in the Phillips family lately.

We went to the Holiday Spectacular at ONU the weekend before Thanksgiving.  The kids really enjoyed it.  They took some pictures before the show with Grandma and Grandpa by the Christmas tree.  Mackenzie even took a picture of the rest of us.

 

After the show Santa and his entourage were out for pictures and Mackenzie got her picture taken with them.  Isaac was too shy to take a picture with them after the show.  A little while later though, after they had left, he was upset that they were gone and that he couldn't get a picture with them.

Last week was Thanksgiving, of course.  Brian had the week off and on Tuesday he hired a couple of ONU students to head to Perrysburg and move a swingset that our neighbors had offered us.  The kids love their new swingset.  Thank you random neighbors!

We spent Thursday at Linda and Butch's house with Brian's family.  We had a lovely time and even had some adult time to watch the Lions and chat.  It is really great that the kids are old enough to entertain themselves and their younger cousins.

On Friday we headed north to spend time with my family.  We were fortunate to get to hang out with Grandma, Grandpa, Mike, Misty and Lexie as well as my Grandma and Grandpa Conklin.  The kids were so happy to be at Grandma and Grandpa's house and Sunday morning when they woke up to snow, Mackenzie was truly in heaven.  As soon as the sun was up she was outside making snow angels, brushing off the front porch and anything else she could get her mittens on.  The kids were a bit sad when we came home Sunday afternoon and there was no snow here.  I am sure we will have snow soon though.

Today we had gas logs installed in the fireplace in our den and I am now enjoying a romantic night alone in front of the fire with my current favorite wine, flipping between Bones and The Voice.  I would prefer to be doing this with Brian, but I am not going to complain about a bit of quiet time.

 

Oh and by the way, for anyone that doesn't know, Notre Dame has completed an undefeated season and will be playing in the BCS championship is Miami.  Awesome!  Earlier Saturday, we had the Michigan, Ohio State on and someone scored a touchdown.  I was upstairs and I heard Brian yell "Touchdown!" and Isaac finished up with "Go Irish".  Awesome!

Life is good!