Webkinz Revisited

The kids love Webkinz, it's an obsession. It's become the main topic of discussion throughout the day at our house. At bedtime the last thing I hear when I tuck them in is a reminder to log onto their account at a certain time for a coupon or an extra spin on the Wheel of Yum as if the only thing I have to do in the evenings is Webkinz! Although if I'm being honest, I might love Webkinz as much as they do!

But alas, to be a good parent, we must limit their time online right? So today was our "Day Off" from Webkinz. What did they do? They set up the loft as Webkinz World. Katie set out a bunch of toys in a big circle and stood in the middle, eyes closed, arm pointing out spinning in a circle. "Look Mom, I'm the Wheel of Wow! You never know where I'm going to stop!" Ryan recreated one of his favorite games from the arcade- Bonanza. He had little bamboo sticks lined up, his stuffed monkey had to walk across the planks and Mr. Potato head acting as a coconut would fall from the shelf above and bonk the monkey on his head. Using the doctor kit, they gave all their webkinz pets a thorough check up, and Curly and Bow got baths. They also hid all Katie's princess jewels and I was recruited to be the Curio Shop owner. I had my script, and in my most gruff, country drawl I said "Welcome to the Curio Shop. I hope ya find what yer lookin' for." They reenacted their gem hunts, banging with little pretend mallots around the bookshelves until they found the "gem of the day."
Most people would agree that Ryan and Katie live in their own little imaginative world... now we know, it's Webkinz World!

Jumping Jack Sports

I really liked this gym a lot. My kids get tired of bouncing in moonbounces after 30 minutes or so, and this place has a great variety of other stuff to do too- the rock wall, the rope/net climbing wall, the flashing light smacking game, the giant soccer field, the blow up bouncing horses, all super fun for all ages. And don't even get me started about upstairs. Ryan and Katie loved all those video games- they are just starting to be into that kind of thing- (we recently tried out a Wii) this place goes one step further into physical fitness- the games are hooked up to bikes so you have to pedal fast to keep the car/snowboard moving. They have family fun night where you rotate through all the video game stations with your family- We'll definitely do that with our kids when they get a little older- I can't wait to see Katie doing Karaoke! Ryan delivers a knock-out punch!
They got the hang of this snowboarding game real quick!

Busy Baby

Nothing much to report today... as I walked around the corner into the kitchen this afternoon, there was Claire standing on top of the kitchen table, proud as a peacock. As soon as she saw me her eyes lit up, a huge grin spread from ear to ear and she started clapping. My little monkey. I wish I'd seen her pull out the chair and hoist herself up onto the tabletop. I'm always missing all the good stuff!

Fast forward a few hours to me scraping bits of a dog biscuit out of her mouth, blech! Her typical routine is to get 3 biscuits out of the cabinet each day, one clenched tightly in each fist and one in her mouth. I just didn't catch her quite in time today.

And then later I found a sippy cup of milk in the cabinet from who knows when. Mmmmm, chunky milk.

She did manage to sleep for 2 hours at Chuck E Cheese this afternoon so that was very kind of her. But this was after screaming during the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra, right after the nice lady asked us to all put on our listening ears so she owed me a good nap.

That's the kind of day it's been around here!

Niagara Falls

I just love Niagara Falls, it's one of my favorite places in the world. Tim and I have been there many times - every time we head up to Buffalo to visit my family we find time for a day at the Falls. Ironically, none of my relatives who live just 30 minutes away ever seem to go! It's just so beautiful and peaceful -I could watch the crashing water and look for rainbows forever! Although on this trip we found ourselves at the Wax museum, the Ripley's Believe it or Not museum, and the arcade (was it really me? Was I spending $4 to play air hockey?) We also played a really cool round of glow-in-the-dark putt putt. None of those pictures came out, but there is a funny video that is total blackness with 4 little glowing balls rolling around.

We decided to walk across the bridge to Canada this time. Ryan thought it was the coolest thing that he was halfway in America and halfway in Canada! Beginning next year, everyone travelling across the border will need a passport so, sadly, this was our last trip to the Falls for a while. I'm not in a huge hurry to get passports for all the kids (unless we win the lottery and plan for some big worldwide excursion).

The real reason for our trip to Buffalo was for 2 family reunions- my dad's and mom's families were each having family reunions and they both planned for the same weekend. What luck for us to visit everyone we knew in the same trip! That's 18 hours in the car well spent!

The kids helped me make matching t-shirts so everyone would know we belonged together at the family reunion. Tim was skeptical at first... but c'mon, how cute are we!! He soon was able to embrace his inner dork.

At age 5, Ryan is almost as tall as Granny! What a sweetie!
He's holding her hand and helping her walk through the field.

Ryan the Builder

Ryan has been going to Lowe's Build and Grow classes with Daddy. He has a little apron and for every project he completes, he gets a little patch to sew onto his little apron. He is becoming quite the builder. I have some built-in shelving that I want to put in the basement...

hmmm, maybe he's just the one for the job!

Claire using a spoon!

Today Claire wouldn't eat her oatmeal! So I walked away to do something else and the next thing I knew, she had grabbed the bowl and spoon and was doing it her own way! Thank goodness! Last time I walked away and left the bowl within her reach, she dumped the whole thing over and Roxy was just licking up the last clump of oatmeal as I raced back over!

Discovery Museum

Another fun field trip for us this afternoon at the Discovery Museum with our moms group. I was skeptical at first driving an hour for a little rinkydink museum in Winchester, but what an amazing hidden gem this place was! We loved it! There were so many exhibits and fun ways to play and learn! I'm always looking for interesting, educational ways to create memories with my kids... that's why I'm staying home with them, right?Dr. Katie playing in the ambulance
Chief Katie cooking dinner in the teepee
Farmer Ryan loading up some apples
My little bumblebees in their honeycomb

What?!?! No pictures of Claire?? Hmmm, well that's because she was hellbent on getting her second head injury within a week- up and down the stairs and leaning waaaaay over the edge of this huge drop. I had to hold her the whole time and if I could have shoved her into the papoose in the American Indian room, I'd have strapped her in it and tied her to my back!

Our Little Ariel

Katie has been rehearsing for the "Princess and the Pea" recital and we've had a countdown for weeks for the big moment. Today was the day! She was Ariel and she danced her little heart out! After the recital we had a wonderful celebration at her favorite restaurant, Olive Garden, where we ran into lots of other performers celebrating with their families. Then she picked out a new Ariel doll at the Disney store and that evening we watched The Little Mermaid!
It was an Ariel day for us! A kiss for luck

Waiting in the wings for showtime!

Shake that sassy skirt!

Ta Da!! Take a bow!

We're so proud of you Katie!! Our sweet little dancer!

Wow, look at that huge cupcake! A BIG celebration for Katie!

Unfortunately for me, even though I had a front row seat, Katie danced directly behind one of the other girls so I didn't get very good pictures or video of the performance... story of my life... but when the beautiful dancers were being introduced I was ready! See the video below:

Visiting Gavin!

We had a nice day visiting our friends Becky and Gavin today! Every time we drive to their house in the big city, I get lost! Today Ryan commented that the directions I had printed didn't seem to be helping us find her house!

Once we got there, we had a fun time at their pool, even though the babies only wanted to walk in circles around the pool and Becky and I were the only ones in the water!

The babies passed sippy cups back and forth during lunch and we had fun watching Gavin throw food at Becky. He's going to be a famous baseball player one day and was getting an early start on his fast pitch.

Weekend with Pop Pop & Nana

We had a nice visit with Pop Pop and Nana this weekend. We didn't make it to DC for the fireworks on the 4th... I cannot even imagine going down there?! The weather was stormy for one thing, but also, the crowds are not kind to people on the metro with strollers (or tired screaming babies at midnight). We saw a nice display right here in our neighborhood in walking distance to the house. Very convenient for when Claire had had enough and needed an emergency exit. In addition to our trip to Luray, Ryan and Katie were very excited to show their grandparents everything they've been doing in Webkinz World! And we spent an afternoon in DC touring some museums while the guys got to golf. What a fun weekend!

A picnic at Luray Caverns.

Claire chilled out at dinner.

The kids enjoyed seeing the Lincoln Memorial downtown.

Luray Caverns

Today was our long-awaited day trip to Luray Caverns. On the way there we tried to explain what we would see, and describe how the rocks form stalactites and stalagmites, changing and "growing" 1 inch every 125 years. We got a lot of blank stares... Ryan and Katie liked looking at all the cool shapes and had great imaginations to describe what we were seeing. Katie immediately thought the rock formations were all upside down Christmas trees hanging from the ceiling. And we saw lots of monster teeth and alligator teeth. It was a fun afternoon exploring the cave!

Tents and Tunnels

Today our playgroup had so much fun! Everyone brought their tents and tunnels and we built a huge maze for the kids to crawl through. Claire really loved it! I knew she would, she's such a daredevil!

Mommy Brain

Thank you to the random guy at Target today who chased me down in the parking lot to give me my bags of stuff... imagine buying $50 of stuff and just walking away without taking it with you? Where is my brain?!