Growing Up Is Hard To Do

It seems with each passing month we are moving away from things that define the kids as babies or toddlers and moving on to bigger and better things.  It's bittersweet for me as a parent to move farther away from the reminders of them as little kids but it is so much fun to have big kids ready to take on the world.  One of McKenzie's last hold overs has been the sippy cups.  We didn't push the issue since it makes it much easier to keep things from getting spilled but it also was a limitation if we went somewhere and didn't bring a cup.  In January she finally made the move to big kid cups and gave away all her sippy cups to other little kids who needed them.  In reality I threw them away since no one wants used sippy cups.

As a reward for giving up her sippy cups she also got to move up in the world of in terms of car travel and become a big girl there too.  She passed her car seats down to Ben and got to pick out new booster seats for herself.  She was very excited to make the switch to being a big kid in the car and wearing the big seat belt.  I am glad we kept her in her harness seat for as long as we did since most likely Ben will need to be in the harness weight wise until he starts kindergarten too.

My babies are growing up way too quickly - next thing I know they'll be asking for the keys to the car.  I am not ever going to be ready for that day!

Totally Tubular

Two years ago for Christmas Auntie Anne gave us gift certificates for sledding at Snoqualmie Pass and last year winter passed us by and we didn't make it up but this year I was determined not to miss out on the fun.  We headed up to Snoqualmie Pass at the end of a very foggy week down in the lowlands.  The fog was unbelievable and hardly seemed to let up throughout the day.  I worried that it would be overcast up at the mountain but we headed up anyway and were pleasantly surprised to find a beautiful sunny day waiting for us to come sledding.

Waiting for our session to start, enjoying the sunshine

The sledding was fantastic, they had 12 groomed lanes you could tube down and their are ticketed sessions throughout the day so it was full but never had more than a few minutes wait between runs.  There is a rope tow that you can hook your tube onto that pull you back up the hill.  The kids loved that and wanted to ride every time   Matt and I preferred to walk but we let the kids ride up a couple of times while we walked near them.  Kids five and under can ride double with you so both kids just rode with us.  Matt and Ben perfected the double ride with Matt laying down first and then Ben running and jumping on top and hanging on as they flew down the hill.  I wish I had gotten a picture of them it was quite a site.  McKenzie and I preferred to sit on the tube with her on my lap.

We will definitely be up to the mountain again - we have caught the snow bug!  We are even thinking of braving the ski slopes but we may have to do sledding a few more times first.

Baby Love

We finally got to spend some time with our new cousins Conor and Ella.  Since they have been born someone in our family has been sniffling, sneezing, coughing or wheezing on a rotating basis so we didn't get to see the twins for way too long.  They are so adorable and it's amazing how much Ella looks like a little girl and Conor is clearly a boy.  It will be such fun to watch them grow up together.

I'm not sure the kids were prepared for how little they would be but they sure did like them.  McKenzie was desperate to be looking at one of them at all times and loved to hold their tiny hands.  Ben liked to look at them for a little bit and give them a tickle but then was insistent that everyone put the babies away because he wanted to play with all the loud toys.

McKenzie is very excited that Aunt Jennifer let her hold Conor.  Ben even got a turn to hold him.

Uncle Matt and McKenzie with Conor.

Grandma Z, Conor and McKenzie

Grandma Z couldn't be happier - holding both babies at once!

It was great to see the babies and remember how small and sleepy babies are.  It was especially evident how easy babies can be, minus the no sleep part, when we were trying to herd our two loud, rowdy kids back in the car.  

Fun in the Sun and Snow

After missing Winterfest over in Chelan last year we were all ready to get out and enjoy some sun and snow this year.  We went over for the first weekend of the festival this year which was Manson's' weekend and while it wasn't quite as much fun as the Chelan weekend it was just perfect.  We all were ready for some fun in the snow and the sunshine was an added bonus.  One other highlight of the weekend was on Saturday night when we went to see paper lanterns being lit down in Manson - they sold over 500 lanterns and it was amazing to see them go up into the sky just like in Tangled.  We had some but didn't do them with the crowd we had decided it was too cold to get out so we did just two of the ones Grandma C bought for us after dinner and decided to save the others for another visit.  

Grandma and Grandpa C had their usual snow fort in the front yard, perfect for sledding, climbing, shoveling and any other snow related activity.  We arrived late on Friday night but the kids insisted on bundling up and going out to play in the snow.  The 12 degree temperatures quickly drove them back inside to get warm.  

Grandma and Ben taking a ride down the side of the snow fort.  

We ate breakfast at our favorite place, Blueberry Hill. Ben ate all his waffle and then most of  McKenzie's.  She discovered Daddy's eggs benedict and abandoned her waffle for that until she tried my blueberry / peach topped blintz.  So good, we were all stuffed when we left as usual.

McKenzie and Grandma C out in the yard getting ready to sled down the big hill.

Beautiful view from the hillside behind the house.  Truly one of my favorite places any time of year.

Nathan and Ben on a wild ride down the side of the snow fort.

Kayla and McKenzie following them down, laughing all the way.

Ben climbed all the way through the snow fort - he was the only one small enough to still fit through.

The whole crew, downtown Manson waiting for the parade.  There were dogs and lots of candy.  One of the parade participants gave McKenzie an entire gallon ziplock of candy and told her she won the lottery.

After the parade we headed down to check out more of the Winterfest activities and the kids had fun throwing ice and snow into the lake.  Such a beautiful day with the sun shining off the lake  

While we were in town we celebrated Ben and my birthdays so that Grandma and Grandpa didn't have to make the trip over the mountains at the end of the month.  Earlier in the week Ben and hold me he wanted a wallet like mine but for him.  He said "I want a wallet for my birthday and I want it to have all the cards that I would need."  It was so funny how matter of factually he told me that, like he was a big shot business man and I was his assistant.  Just make it happen, get all the cards I will need.  Lucky for him he has a very nice Grandma who did get him his own wallet and filled it with all the cards he would need including some gift cards for Disneyland.

We all had a great time and are looking forward to next years Winterfest in Chelan to enjoy fun in the sun and snow.