Winter getaway!

This year for Valentine's Day, we decided to do something a little different and take advantage of Chris and the kids having an extended weekend. We made the short trek over to Jackson, WY and experienced what one of our favorite destinations has to offer in the winter season. We don't ski, snowboard, snowshoe (though that I'd personally love to try), or any of those typical Jackson activities. Still, we found lots of things to do that were plenty entertaining, and relaxing, for our little family. We took the kids on a horse-drawn sleigh ride across the National Elk Refuge, which was by far one of the coolest things we've ever done. The kids were quiet, still and in awe of being so close to the elk and other animals. We took several drives and of course, saw plenty of wildlife - elk, moose, big horn sheep, coyotes, wolves, deer and various birds. We can't get enough of this kind of stuff. All of the kids enjoy these "wildlife viewing" trips that Chris and I both like to take, but Sam especially seems to soak in every moment, working really hard at being our animal "spotter". Then, of course, we had to hit the Yippe-I-O Candy store in downtown Jackson. It's such a fun place with novelties like River Rock Chocolates, Huckleberry Taffy, and the best old-fashioned fudge and other chocolate confections. Yum!
One sour note, Sophie (who just had strep throat two weeks ago), woke up the second morning of our trip with a strange rash all over her body; poor girl. It looks like the roseola-like rash that babies get with a virus, so I'm hoping she'll be better tomorrow. If not, looks like she'll be off to the doctor's, and missing school this week. I always hate to come home, back to reality. Chris is trying to muster up the energy to do the assignments he has due this week at school, and I'm doing this blog post in between loads of laundry:( I guess I will save a blog with all the wildlife pictures we took for tomorrow.

On vacation: A Child's Perspective.

This is what happens when the kids get their hands on the "extra" camera.Sophie taking a pic of Sam looking out the car window.Sophie catches Noah playing his DS.Sophie snaps one as I'm getting the dog out for his potty break (while Chris is helping some guy who got his van stuck in a snow drift!)Nick admiring his own boots.Nick admiring his apple juice at breakfast.Self-portrait(i.e. his Facebook profile pic!)Nick captures a photo of a blinking Sam.Sophie took this one from the backseat, after calling my name incessantly.Daddy was loving on his baby boy, so Nick decided to memorialize the moment.Again, Nick's perspective.

My heart melts...

At the kids' elementary school, they have what's called the AR Store (Advanced Readers). The children accumulate points ("money") by reading books and taking quizzes on the books, then every so often they get to go to the AR Store and use their "money" to buy things - toys, candy, stuffed animals, books. Once Sammy saved up his points for a while so that he could buy this huge white stuffed bear. Today he came home and told me he'd gotten to go to the AR Store during school, and that he'd used his points to get something for me. What a sweetheart. Here's a picture of him holding what he got for me.

She does her own makeup.

That's my girl!

It's a human.

Noah and Sam spend hours, literally, playing with Legos. From the time they were little and got their first set of Duplo Legos, it's been their favorite toy. As they've gotten older they've been given various sets of the small themed Legos, which they also love, but once they've built the thing that it's supposed to be, i.e. Batmobile, Star Wars Starfighters, Spongebob's pineapple, etc., they're pretty much done with them. They always go back to the Duplo blocks, and they've come up with some of the most creative things. Animals, buildings, football fields, Mayan cities, berry stands, lemonade stands, restaurants, tanks and robots, to name a few. This morning they came downstairs to reveal their latest: a human. They said it had to be a girl or they might have gotten in trouble for creating the "boy parts". (I thought this was kind of funny, but Chris thought it was a little crass. Interesting coming from him...)

This is how Wii do it.

In our family, we're no strangers to turning to electronics and technology for entertainment. Chris has always liked to relax by playing a video game or two, I personally prefer the computer and Internet, and we introduced Noah at an early age to computer learning games. So it's no surprise that each of the kids would follow that example and enjoy playing them, also. I just never would have imagined quite how much - we have a kitchen timer that gets used quite frequently to set limits on how much the kids get to play. With all the new gadgets and games that come out every year, and all the promoting and advertising that goes along with them, it's also no surprise that there's always something more to add to the collection of consoles, games and other paraphernalia. Nicolas is now going through a severe Mario infatuation, in particular, Mario Kart. He LOVES this game! He first learned to play it on the Nintendo Game Cube, then he started playing Mario Kart on one of his brother's Gameboys. Then for Christmas the kids' grandparents gave the kids a Nintendo DS, along with some games, including Mario Kart and he quickly became proficient at that version, as well. Our family Christmas present was a Nintendo Wii (awesome, by the way - Chris and I like bowling, it's so fun), and of course now Mario Kart for the Wii is Nick's new obsession. He's even gotten to the point where he comes close to beating his older brothers sometimes! As I've mentioned before, this is a 3 year old child that doesn't even speak, but he sure knows his Mario Kart.
I've always tried to keep perspective on the whole video game thing. I'm acutely aware of the fine line between enjoying what the technologically advanced 21st century has to offer, and maintaining balance in life. I've always felt that if the kids don't get too obsessive and I set time limits, so they will become well rounded individuals, then it's probably harmless. With the 3 older kids, there have been times throughout the years that I've had to put all things video away for a month or two, but for the most part they all like to do other things enough, like reading, playing outside, playing with their other toys, that it hasn't been much of an issue. I may be coming to a point with Nick, though, that I'm starting to wonder a little...Here he is branching out, playing a little Wii Boxing!

Fruit smoothie run amuck!

This morning when Nick got towards the end of his morning smoothie, I guess he decided the straw wasn't doing it for him, and he tipped the cup up and it all fell into his face. I think he was just pleased with himself that it didn't spill on the floor, because he knew that would be his demise! (I seem to have a lot of messy-face pictures...hmmm...)