Happy New Year 2013!

To celebrate the end of 2012 and the beginning of the new year, we wanted to keep our celebration pretty low key.  I knew the chances of me making it to midnight were pretty slim, let alone the kids!  Instead we had a kid friendly party with two other couples to ring in the New Year as the clock struck 10 o'clock. 

Dylan dressed up in his New Year's garb.

All the boys!

Celebrating with a New Years toast at the strike of 10!

After the guests had left and the kids went to bed, John and I managed to celebrate the New Year with the east coast and called it a night.  Man, I sound old.  We really don't party like we used to anymore!!

Playing with Picasa

Gotta love those long, thick eyelashes.  She is so lucky!

 



Pinterest Inspiration

John is getting mighty sick of Pinterest this holiday season and it's only Dec. 2nd!  Our kids were both ready for bed early tonight, so I thought I would try out one of the photo ideas that I saw on Pinterest.  Here are two of my favorites out of the many (we took 161 pictures to get these two!).  They are by no means professional pictures, but good enough for me.

 

 

 

Not sure why this one isn't going vertical, but I'll try to fix it later.  Will be cool to see how these print out, if I ever get around to it! 

Reindeer Rides

We made a trip out to Gerten's on Saturday for the annual reindeer rides that they offer.  Last year was freezing cold, but there was no line and the kids were able to take a couple rides.  With the nice weather this weekend, the wait was nearly an hour, but the kids were super good.  They spent the time playing in the "forest" while the parents waited in the line.

 

 

I couldn't get Reagan to give me a normal smile.  She was acting super silly while they waited.

 

Squished kids!  Next year they might have to take separate rides.

 

 

Here they go!

 

 

Happy kids!

 

Kim and I were super lucky that the kids just sat down like this to watch the trio that was playing inside Gerten's.  They were mesmerized by the music.  The musicians told us one family spent ten minutes trying to get their kids to sit as nicely as ours for a picture.  We even had a random woman take a picture of our kids because she was so taken by their cuteness that she had to show her friend!

Fun with Felix

Dylan was the lucky one to spend last week with the class frog, Felix!  Each child gets the opportunity to have a sleepover with Felix during the school year and record their adventures in the class journal.  I was glad that we took pictures the first night Felix was home with us, because Dylan seemed to forget all about him the next day (Felix spent the next day wedged between our couch cushions, but we didn't mention that "adventure" in the journal!)

 

 

Snack time with Felix (Felix was sad we didn't have bugs to eat, but pretzels and hummus were okay too).

 

Riding on Mater with Felix

 

Horseback rides with Daddy, Reagan and Felix

Oh Christmas Tree! 2012

I love having an extra week between Thanksgiving and Christmas!!  Our tree is up, the house is decorated and now we can sit back and enjoy it all!  I can even do a few more projects than I normally would since I have extra time.

 

 

Surprisingly, Dylan helped decorate the tree more than Reagan did.  She was holding out to put the angel at the top.

 

It was looking a little bottom heavy . . .

 

Ah, there we go.  A few more toward the middle of the tree.

 

Ta Da! Complete?

 

Now the tree is complete!

(Notice how the ornaments magically spaced themselves out :))

Dylan's Birthday Party #2

I went with the Spiderman cake again for his 2nd birthday party.  Not sure why, but there aren't very many good pictures from his "adult" party.  I'm hoping my mom documented more, but John's parents came up for a party.  My parents were there along with my aunt, uncle and cousins, John's sister, Dylan's godparents and some of our neighbors. 

 

 

He sure is a lucky boy to have so many people who love him.

 

But look at that face . . . It's hard not to love.

 

 

Dylan's 3rd Birthday

How can my baby be 3 already?!?!

 

While it can make party planning difficult, it is nice to have Dylan's birthday around the 4th of July. I took the day off of work (why go back for one day after being gone for a week, only to have two more off again?) so Dylan, Reagan and I could have a relaxing day for his birthday.

 

 Since it was so hot, we decided to go to the St. Louis Park splash pad with his BFFs Ethan and Ella.

 

It's amazing how much different it is to go to the splash pad now.  The kids love playing in the water with the buckets and shovels and Kim and I got to relax by the water.

 

This was the first year that Dylan got a kid party in addition to his birthday, but I wanted to do some celebrating on his actual birthday.

 

This year's request: Spiderman cake. I think I did a pretty good job considering I whipped it up with in about 5 minutes.

 



 

The birthday boy with some of his presents.

 

 

It's amazing how much he looks like such a boy now and not a toddler anymore.  But still so sweet.

 

Love you, buddy!!

Dylan is 3!

"I this big!"

Dylan is 3!  Can't believe it's been three years since he rushed out to meet us!  He is such a fun, sweet little boy, always making everyone laugh and constantly keeping us busy!  Love my (little) BIG man!

Cameron Reunion 2012 - Colorado

After 12 hours in a car on the way home from a conference and one day sick at home, we were off to Colorado for the Cameron Family Reunion that happens every 4 years.  We were there with my mother-in-law's brothers and sisters and even some of their cousins.

 

While I was a little out of my element in the mountains, this was definitely Reagan's trip. She was able to do so many things that I don't do with her in Minnesota.

 

 

I love how Dylan just falls asleep when he's tired, no matter where we are.  My friends are all jealous that he will fall asleep and I can get him out of (and even in) the car, while he stays sounds asleep.

 

The first morning we were out there, John's mom had organized wagon rides, horseback riding, and square dancing for the families.  Reagan was immediately at the horse corral.  Kyle (our cowboy) gave her a cookie to feed to the horses.

 

 

Reagan started out with Kyle leading the horse, Intrepid, around the corral.  There were 3 other horses that then followed them around ring.

 



 

After about an hour on the horse, Kyle started moving further away from Reagan and letting her ride the horse by herself.  He still stayed close, but she was so comfortable (and Intrepid was so tame) that she really didn't need him to guide the horse.

 

Dylan was lucky that his sister did let him have a short turn on the horse. She really rode the horse for about 2 hours.

 

My niece Emma was not as adventurous with the horses. We colored with chalk and blew up some balloons.

 

Dylan with PaPa Mac

 

Reagan and her new BFF, John's cousin Caitlin.

 

Later that evening, John took Reagan down to the small stream near the cabins with a fishing pole.  All she could talk about was wanting to go fishing in the weeks before we went to Colorado, and asked non-stop to go after she saw the stream. We were so excited then, when she actually caught one! 

 

The next day we headed to Aspen with John's brother, sister-in-law and niece.

 

At the top of mountain in Aspen.

 

They had a number of kids activities after our gondola ride to the top of the mountain. Dylan found a bulldozer in the sandbox and was in heaven.

 

Reagan begged us to do the climbing wall.  She barely met the weight minimum and the operator of the climbing wall was so generous and let her climb a few times after she got the hang of it.  Seriously, this girl is not afraid of anything. She does not get this trait from me!

 

It only took a couple of tries to work her way to the top.

 

Gondola ride.  Not my favorite thing to do.  As I told John, I am not a fan of looking to my death below me.

 

 

This is out of order, but we made a stop at Independence Pass on our way to Aspen.

 

The boys and their daughters

 

Cousins

 

This is Chickadeedeedee.  Reagan had to take pictures of him where ever we went.

 

John with his siblings and cousins

 

 

Grandma Mary and PaPa Mac with their grandchildren

 

Last day we stopped in Vail Village on our way back to Denver for lunch and a walk around.

 

We all had fun, but seeing how much fun Reagan was having was the best part of the trip for John and I.