There are of course a few things we enjoy about winter such as drinking hot chocolate and making snow cream. And of course sledding! David was able to take the kids sledding twice this winter (we really didn't get much snow this year). On his first trip he took all three kids. That didn't go so smoothly with Ezra, so David was really a champ for attempting it! They all came back practically frozen solid and red as tomatoes!
His second trip turned into a Clara photoshoot opportunity, haha!
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| I love her face on this one, haha! |
Playdoh!
Magnatiles! These are absolutely worth every penny you spend to buy them. I love the imagination and creativity that these allow to happen. All three kids (and their friends) really love building with these.
ALL the toys get much more attention in the winter months. Eli and Clara were stacking and knocking down their creations.
Winter is also always a time of heavy sickness! We had a run through of pink eye (among other things). One day when Clara's eye looked swollen again I tried to take her picture. She made the funniest pose and her picture just made me crack up laughing! She had this funny forced-smile face and it made the picture turn out so silly. :)
We love to visit the Pet Smart store! The kids' first stop is always to watch the dogs getting groomed. Clara and Ezra could really stay there for a long time!
Eli became so obsessed with video cameras everywhere we went. He brought along his trusty homemade spy kit to the pet store and used his spyglass to help him spy on the video cameras. Then he darted around walls in a very undercover way, making sure he couldn't be seen. Hehehe.
At church, the Primary put together an evening called "Eight is Great." It was a baptism preview night for all of the children who will be turning 8 this year and getting baptized. We just have 5 boys this year! They are a fun group. It's been so nice to attend some baptisms and begin thinking about Eli's!
Often during the last 30 minutes or so of Ezra's nap Clara and I would play a game together. Having that quality one-on-one time with her is so helpful. She was always so cute with her mannerisms and always made it fun!
Video of Clara while we were playing Bingo. She was being so goofy!
We are so grateful for the awesome indoor play places we can go to to help get our wiggles out!
Trader's Point. The last couple times we went Ezra really took off! I wish he'd stay a little close to me in the baby/toddler area, but he runs off and climbs to the top of the big kid area! It's tricky to see your kids everywhere, but I finally heard him crying when I went looking for him (he's happy to climb high but then too scared to go down the slides by himself). He loves to go down the slides on my lap!
Sometimes Clara likes to play around the baby/toddler area to help the little ones. :)
Carter's Playplace. This is a new place to us that we just started going to this winter! It is just a few minutes down the road which is the BEST thing about it! It is a center that is specifically designed for kids with autism/special needs, but is open to all children. We bought a 6-play pass and have gone several times. They have a large trampoline, big zipline (Eli's FAVORITE, he just goes over and over and over!), lots of swings, slides, and tons and tons of toys. It's never been very crowded and is all just in two rooms (plus an eating room), so it's very easy to keep track of kids.
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| Loves the bumpy slide! |
Video of the kids jumping on the trampoline--
Video of Eli ziplining. He went over and over and over again!
I mentioned in Eli's birthday post how he got to take a week-long Tae Kwon Do class at his school and how much he LOVED it! Well, for Valentine's Day, one of his classmates gifted the entire class a card that said they could receive one private lesson, one free uniform, and two weeks of free classes from the same Tae Kwon Do facility that Eli took his first classes from! We were amazed! I was not about to waste that opportunity! He had his private lesson with Master Yoo (and received his uniform then). After that we attended three white-belt classes. It was such a great experience for Eli! I wish we could continue with it. Hopefully we can pick it up again a little down the road. But how awesome of his classmate! It was the perfect gift!
(David was always working when we attended his classes so I only got my blurry pictures. Hard to take photos when holding a toddler!) He looked so cute in his uniform!
Swim lessons! Eli and Clara were able to take two more sessions (7 weeks) of swim lessons! They both progressed well and really enjoyed themselves, too! Clara wasn't afraid of getting in the water this year, and Eli was brave enough to jump into the pool at the end of each class! Clara's so funny. She's such a little performer, and loves to put on a show for us (we watch through a large glass window). Whenever it was her turn she would keep looking at us and smiling really big. When her class made their way down to the end of the pool scooting down using the side bars, she would chant like a monkey the whole way, "Oooo-ooo-ahhhh-ahhhh!" :) Eli, however, was much more focused and really tried his hardest to do as his teacher said.
Bean operation! I pulled out our huge stash of beans and all the tins and tools for scooping and sorting and the kids went to work!
These are some of the best times, when David is playing with the kids and they are roaring with laughter. He is such a big kid himself, it's not hard for him to be silly and have fun with them. In this video he was holding a toy bear that pops out small balls when you squeeze its tummy. David was aiming the bear at the kids to shoot the balls at them. Before I took the video Ezra was involved in the play of it all, but by the time I got my camera he had been sidetracked with a book. I love how they are being so loud and goofy and Ez is in his own little book world. :)
We are always grateful to have made it through another winter!
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