Celebrating Big!

TJ and I celebrated big on New Years Eve!  We had lunch at the Space Needle.  It is something neither of us have done and I decided it was something I should do since I've lived here my whole life.  It was really fun!  The restaurant rotates and it takes about 47 minutes to go all the way around. The seating area moves but the center and outside of the restaurant don't (hard to explain but was really cool)!
People put post-it's on the windows.  The window's weren't moving but where you were sitting was.  So you'd move past these notes that would say things like "Where are you from", "Who's your favorite super hero." Mostly kids wrote them so they were totally random.

The restaurant has a reputation of having bad food.   Neither of us thought it was bad.  I think it's because everyone's expectation is SO high. It was much more casual than I expected which was good.  It was something fun to do on a special occasion (belated birthday present).

 

Our kids also celebrated big with lots of champagne (sparkling cider).  Then they passed out around 7:30!  We were suppose to go to a friend's store to celebrate with a bunch of other families but stayed home since Nolan hadn't been feeling well (and had partied all day long with Aunt Claudia).

I'm obviously having a wild and crazy New Year's eve since I'm writing my blog at 8:30pm :)

Still Believe!

They still believe in Santa which makes Christmas super fun!  I'm not sure how many more years the magic of Santa will last.
The kids had a great Christmas and got everything they wanted and even some stuff they didn't know they wanted.  Keaton got his gum lollipop and Nolan got his lollipop too.  Nolan was lucky that Santa brought him a few more things that weren't on his list (since all Nolan wanted was the lollipop).

Keaton got some Minecraft and Plant vs. Zombie toys along with a cool race track, a smart watch and some other stuff.
Nolan got a race track also so they were able to combine the two and make a giant track.  Nolan got a lollipop drum!  Some play dough toys.  They both got a giant Super Man vs. Batman play house thing.  They got mini lazor guns to shoot each other with (it's great they are small so they can't hit each other with them).

Santa always remembers Manny!

During Christmas break Keaton got his rental skis since he will be doing ski school this winter!

  

We took the kids bowling and they both had tons of fun!  The first time Nolan tried he didn't understand that he was suppose to roll the ball and then watch it go down the lane towards the pins.  He ran down the bowling lane to push his ball again, I came running after him and fell since it was so slippery.  He loved it and put his arm up in the air each time he bowled like he won or something.

 

Looking forward to 2017 and all it brings!

5 Days of Fun!

The kid's Christmas vacation started with a trip to the Great Wolf Lodge with our friends.  This was Nolan's first time and he loved everything about it!  I wasn't sure how Nolan would do at the enormous water park since he hasn't wanted water in his eyes during swimming lessons.  He did amazing and didn't notice the water at all.  I didn't get any pictures in the water park since I was playing too.  Keaton's favorite part was the giant wave pool.  Nolan went down a big water slide (that he was probably too young for) and LOVED it!

The place was all decorated for Christmas.  It was really pretty.  It snowed in the lobby throughout the day!

 

They had a giant (and real) gingerbread house you could eat in.

The kids did yoga!  It was one of the cutest things I have ever seen!  They have tons of different activities to keep them busy.

Nolan fed Colesen a lollipop!

They found gold!

After the Great Wolf Lodge we headed down to Portland to visit Uncle Jason and cousins Crystal and Emerald who were at their grandparent's house.  We planned to stay two nights but had so much fun we stayed a third night.  Grandpa Morgan met us down there which made it even more fun.  The kids always have SO much fun when they get together!  It was so cute to watch Nolan wanting to be just like them.  If they had their coat zipped up, he wanted his zipped up.  If they were eating with a spoon and he had a fork, he wanted a spoon instead.  I'd tell everyone we needed to go to the bathroom before we left and I'd find Nolan in the bathroom with his diaper off trying to go.  He was just old enough to hang with the other kids and thought it was pretty cool!

We made gingerbread houses and Christmas cookies at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

I took the girls for two days so their would be some peace and quiet at the grandparent's house.  I was very proud of myself for taking care of the 4 kids and having everything go smoothly.  Very proud.  And then I remembered a friend I have who has 4 kids and does it everyday. Guess I wasn't as great as I thought I was :).
We went to a really fun indoor swimming place.  It had a giant wave pool with inter tubes and water slides and sprinkler things to play with.  I had 4 kids who can't swim and nothing went wrong!  We went to Target and we only ended up buying a few extra things.  We went to the Portland Children's museum and spent almost 5 hours there!  I asked Keaton and Nolan what their favorite part of the trip was.  Nolan said "his blanket."  Keaton said "that Emerald knew about Plants Vs. Zombies."  I think my favorite part was all the smiles and laughs.  And that every time we were in the car they wanted to play the quiet game.  But instead of peace and quiet they paused the game many times so they could talk.  And they were always getting second, third, fourth chances if they accidentally talked.  

Winter Wonderland

It's December! It's almost Christmas! It snowed!  Holiday fun is everywhere!

It snowed for my 40th birthday!  It was a great gift because it was a distraction from my birthday (that I especially didn't like this year given how old I am). It was beautiful!  School closed and the kids got to sled on some amazing hills in our neighborhood.

 We ventured out in the snow in Dad's big blue truck and went to see some reindeer and played on a decorated pirate ship.

The kids visited Santa.  Nolan was super excited until he sat in Santa's lap!  All Nolan wants for Christmas is a giant lollipop so I'm sure Santa will get his everything he wants!

Of course Manny got to see Santa too! He's gone every year so I have to keep the tradition going. 

Nolan had a really fun holiday party at his school. I was in charge of the cookie decorating activity....super fun but total chaos.

We've seen a couple of really cool light displays in the area. 

We got the family picture done for our Christmas card.  Now we just need to get them and mail them!  They will probably be late this year since they seem to be lost in the mail.

We are now heading to the Great Wolf Lodge and then down to Portland for a few days and then back for Christmas!  I hope the kids are having LOTS of fun during the holiday's this year!  This is the time of the year that I feel especially lucky for having kids because it makes everything SO much fun and I love to see them have SO much fun!

Randomness

Just some random pictures I wanted to add to the blog so I can capture the memories.

Kids enjoying an early release day awhile ago (Keaton gets out at 2:05 every Wednesday). Last week I took them to get flu shots on their early release day because I'm such a nice mom :).

Toothless Tarr. Keaton lost a tooth a few weeks ago and just lost the other bottom one today. 

 

 I filled out this form when Nolan started Preschool. I had a little too much fun with it.

 

Had some pictures taken for a friend's orthodontics office.  Supposedly they made the cut and are on the wall in the office.  They look like famous models with the glasses!

 

 Smashing whip cream in our faces. 

Happy 3rd Birthday Nolan

Nolan is 3!!  I'd say time fly's but I feel like we should already be celebrating a 4th birthday, not 3rd.  Nolan has always seemed older to me (I think it's because he's the second).
He was kind of a grump on his birthday (kinda like I am) and would make a very mean face and get mad if someone said Happy Birthday to him.  He also made it very clear that he did not want anyone singing "Happy Birthday...".  At school they sang "The wheels on the bus go round and round..." so that's what we did at home too.
This picture pretty much captures Nolan's personality on his birthday! I wanted to take his picture at school with his birthday hat on and he got so mad at me.  He's got a strong personality and I'm expecting him to be a very challenging 3 year old.

 

Nolan got a big lollypop from Keaton.  This is the only thing he said he wanted for his birthday.

  

Lots of birthday fun!  School party, McDonald's with friends and Grandpa, new Minion friend, presents, cake!  He must have really partied hard because the next day we went to dinner with Aunt Claudia where he laid on my lap the entire time and later we found out he got a 102 degree temperature.

 

Scholarly Student?

Nolan looks like he's in Kindergarten practicing his letters instead of in the "Little Explorer's 3's class" at Woodinville Country Day School.  Maybe he will skip ahead and start Kindergarten  next year if he keeps this up.

 

Right now he tells me in a grumpy voice that he "did nothing at school" and when I ask him if he likes it he says "no" in a grumpy voice.  He also says he cries because his mommy leaves him.  I know he doesn't cry because the teachers tell me this.  And I know he has fun because his teacher's share pictures of him having fun at school.  But I don't think he's quite ready to skip ahead yet (although he does love to do homework)!