Gotta Love Them

Tonight, I was rocking the kids. They like to both sit on Drew or I's lap in the rocker recliner sometimes; they think it's hilarious. But tonight, Alex asked me to tell them a story. So I told a story for a few minutes about 2 kids named Alex and Lauren who had a mom and dad who loved them so much, blah blah blah. When I finished, Alex said, "That's a really nice story mom." Then he said, "I SO love you mom!" Too cute, made me want to never let them go! They are growing so fast. We are excited for Christmas, it's so fun to see the kids get excited about it, makes me realize that Christmas really is for the kids. I hope you all have a fantastic holiday too!!

Winter Fun

Last Saturday, Drew and I took the kids outside to play in the snow. They have never played in the snow before. Last year, Alex wasn't really into it and Lauren was so small so this is actually the first year that they had interest in going outside. So we dressed them up in their snowsuits, put on their boots, and headed outdoors. THEY LOVED IT!!!! Absolutely loved it. We were outside for nearly 2 hours. We built a fantastic snowman if I do say so myself and went sledding. They absolutely loved building "Frosty" in their front yard and they thought sledding was a riot. They really have no fears when it comes to barreling down the hill on a sled! We had a great time and I look forward to another "warmer" winter day where we can do it again!

Holidazzle Parade

Drew and I, along with Nana and Grandpa Vohs and Aunt Betsy, took the kids to the free Holidazzle Parade in downtown Minneapolis last weekend. The kids loved the parade though their dad is a bit of a scrooge (he hates crowds, hates parades, hates parking downtown, etc). Just teasing honey, kind of. :) But the kids loved looking at all the Xmas floats and all the Xmas lights. Here's a couple of pics from dinner before the parade - the reindeer headband is compliments of Aunt Kate, who we met for dinner before the parade. Yes, Lauren was not happy about the headband!

Alex and mom's date on the town

Last week, Lauren went and spent the night at Nana and Grandpa Vohs' house so that Drew and I could spend some one-on-one time with Alex. It was much needed and we had such a nice time! First, Alex and I went to Nickelodeon Universe at the Mall of America - it's a big indoor amusement park with all the rides related to characters on Nickelodeon. Alex LOVED it! At first, he was a little hesitant to ride any of the rides, and I'm talking rides that were made for toddlers and small children, but he just didn't see into it. So, we went and had lunch just the 2 of us and then came back for more. And he completely bypassed the "little kid" rides and went straight to the BIG rides. He so wanted to go on the Log Ride - you all know the one, where you ride in a log boat in water and go down huge 40-foot drops into a pond of water. I was like, "Alex, I really don't think you want to do that." I didn't want to pay for it and then have him not want to do it but he promised me that he wanted to. So, we walked up to it, got in the log boat, and off we went. I was terrified. Now, I have always loved rides but I was scared of holding him in (no seatbelts) and I was worried he'd freak out! But we did it and he loved it! Even though he got splashed and we got wet (for those of you who don't know - Alex hates getting his face wet). And after that, he wanted to go on EVERYTHING!!!! Little kid rides and all the big rides - we had a blast. It reminded me that I'm not as young as I once was - I was more scared than I wanted to admit, but watching Alex get such enjoyment out of it was worth every dollar that I spent that day. He was so excited and just loved it. We were there for 5 hours!!!!! I needed a Dramamine when I got home to get rid of my motion-sickness. :) And then that evening, Drew and I took him to his favorite restaurant (behind McDonald's), Panera for dinner that night. Alex couldn't believe it that just the 3 of us were going to dinner. It was so cute. But even though he loved basking in all the attention, he kept asking when Lauren was going to get home and told us that he missed her. It was a great day!