We completely surprised the kids today with tickets to see Disney on Ice. It was a BIG splurge. We told Paul on Friday that we had a big surprise on Saturday. We didn't tell him a thing other than we were going somewhere we had never taken him. He came up with some good guesses but never guessed right. We didn't even tell him when we pulled into the Wells Fargo Arena parking lot. We waited until they scanned our tickets and he saw the Mickey stuff but it didn't really click until we saw the ice and talked more about what was going to happen. Here is the ticket to happiness.
Paul and I went for a walk to score some super overpriced swag. It is actually disgusting how much stuff they have to sell and how expensive it is to buy. We knew going in that we would have to buy something and I didn't want it to be anything tied to a ton of sugar since much of the swag comes with cotton candy or a snowcone or whatnot. Paul landed on these spinner light-up things....that were $22 a piece. Gads. He picked his (Mickey) and then picked Lillie's (Tinkerbell) and then we hit the concession stand before heading back to our seats. We had to snag some popcorn and big daddy wanted a beer (seems appropriate for a kids event, right). Back to our seats to play with the weapons - oh I mean spinners - until the show started.
Some quick selfies right before the lights went down.
Maybe Paul could shave off daddy's beard with that thing?!?!
Keeping it classy.
Someone ate half a bag of popcorn.
Their faces were priceless when the show started. We weren't sure if Lillie would freak out and be scared or if she would love it....she loved it. But what's not to love. It had great music, lots of bright colors and action to keep little eyes occupied. The Little Mermaid is one of our favorites and that part of the show didn't disappoint.
A little taste of the show:
And of course there was Mickey and Minnie.
Check out Lillie's chair dancing....and joint hand clapping with daddy:
Oh yeah, she's got moves:
And some great sharing of popcorn. She was handing Paul his popcorn instead of letting him grab it from the bag. Hilarious that he let this happen and didn't seem to mind.
Another favorite was the Peter Pan portion of the show. We loved the flying!
Awesome props....huge pirate ship with Captain Hook....
....who ultimately met his demise in this huge crocodile.
And the big finale....with pyrotechnics and all. It was really a great show:
I am so glad that we could splurge and take the kids for such a fun time. They certainly don't make it easy for families to do stuff like that so we are fortunate. And we won't be doing it again any time soon! I am glad the kids had fun and I actually had tears in my eyes a few times when I saw how much fun they were having. It is definitely one of the greatest joys of being a parent.
We packed up the car and headed to our normal stomping grounds for turkey day 2013. It still amazes me how much stuff it takes for 4 people and a dog to survive for three nights. But I digress. We arrived on Tuesday around dinner so we could spend all day Wednesday having fun with family! First stop on Wednesday was the Bettendorf Family Museum. Such a great treasure of the QC area. The kids started with the coin spinner.
A little fun with mirrors while we waited for GranJo and Auntie Jen!
We don't always let Paul play in the water area....but today I decided to be a nice mommy and he had a blast. He was very careful and didn't really get wet at all.
We hit up the new area of the museum that lets the kids work with REAL tools and play with REAL wood and hammers and nails and a super sharp working saw. Paul thought it was really cool. I thought it was a precursor to a trip to the Emergency Room! But I watched him carefully and we sawed and hammered and screwed and filed and anything else we could do. He had a blast.
Safety first - everyone must wear safety googles in this area.
After two whole hours of crazy playtime, we were famished and hit up Old Chicago for some lunch. Lillie got to hang next to Auntie Jen!
Reading some comics before our food came....we had plenty of time for that as the service was SUPER slow. But the manager gave us some free dessert and the kids were great through it all - so who can really complain?
After lunch we headed back to Gram and Pa's house for some general fun playtime. Lots of reading.....loving his book between his two grandmas!
And some hilarious cuddles with Auntie Jen.
After a good night's rest, it was time for the annual challenge of how much food can you stuff into your belly in a single sitting?!?! Paul made special place cards for everyone this year. It took us a week or so to finish them up and he was quite proud. He picked out the foam turkey kit and assembled the turkeys. I cut the cardstock and then Paul wrote everyone's name in marker. I glued the turkeys onto the cardstock and we were ready to roll! He was very proud of his project.....he put them out on the table as soon as we arrived at GranJo's house.
Here is a closeup of Paul's namecard on the table.
And a big hug from GranJo for making such wonderful placecards.
We watched the Macy's Day parade....SEE!
GranJo had a fun turkey art project for the kids.....cutting, gluing and imagination. Lillie partnered up with Auntie Jen for hers.
Paul was messing around with the biggest glue stick I have ever seen!
Just chilling out.
More reading...check! Gotta love a good Pete the Cat book.
Such a cute pair.
Playing Aggravation with Pa.
A family tradition.....cranberry ice!
The whole clan (minus the photographer) sitting down for a fabulous meal.
Hey look....more reading!
We really had a nice day. The kids were really well behaved both days and everyone seemed to have a fun time. Felt bad that Auntie Jen and Uncle Chris had to drive home yet today because they are stuck working tomorrow. Glad we could all coordinate schedules and be together for the holiday. Much to be thankful for.
I have been terrible the last few weeks....no blog updates and I haven't taken very many decent pictures. So this will be a random post with phone pictures only. Deal with it. The little ladybug's ladybug outfit from Gram...she wore it to a fun party we attended to celebrate our friend Jeff. He was just crazy enough to bicycle from coast to coast - a lifelong dream of his. Definitely deserved a party!
Mommy and Paul saw the movie Free Birds and gave it two thumbs up.
Paul with his new Ninjago Lego set. It only took me 30 minutes and 62 steps to help assemble it. Good times.
Lillie decided to try on Daddy's fleece pullover.
I had to be out of town for a few nights last week so Paul drew me a picture to take along with me to the hotel. I hung it on the mirror by my bed. In case you can't tell, it is me and Paul at the ocean.
Weirdos.
Lillie's new Minnie Mouse vacuum cleaner....thanks Uncle Dan and crew!
Paul also got a fun gift card from Uncle Dan and gang....his new obsession is BeyBlades battle spinners.
I found the little yogurt drinks that Lillie's omma gave the kids in Korea...picked up a case of them at the Asian market. Everyone was excited.
The new big obsession in the elementary schools is a little thing called the Rainbow Loom. You make woven bracelets with rubber bands. Several little girls from his school have made bracelets for Paul.....and now he was in the money with is very own loom. Things are not as easy as they seem....and what a good sport Daddy was watching youtube videos with an 8 year old girl telling him how to make bracelets. He didn't totally get it down and Paul merely watched and helped put rubber bands on the loom.
Mommy scored some new Rainbow Loom information and now we make cool fishtail style bracelets. Here is our handy work....it's still a team effort but I think with the new method Paul will be able to do it on his own soon.
And finally I will leave you with Paul's first official school picture. Keep in mind this is the retake after his first picture had a very grimaced look on his face. I think this one turned out just great and really shows off his personality.
So there you go...all caught up! We have lots of great picture taking opportunities in the coming weeks with holidays and activities galore.
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