Disneyland July 29th- August 2nd, 2013

Aunt Kristin and I decided to take the girls to Disneyland just for fun.  Jordan had been gone a lot in July for work and to Alaska to go fishing and I thought the girls would like to go to Disneyland.  They are always asking about it and really wanted to go, and who wouldn't right?! We left Drew with Dad and he had the help of his sister who was in town that week.  We left early Monday morning and drove all day.  That afternoon we arrived at our hotel in Anaheim and went swimming in the pool and went to Disneyland that very night.  The next day was Disneyland again, the next was the beach and Disneyland and then Disneyland on our last day.

Madolyn is a little adventurous and wanted to go on all the big rides.  So Kristin and I would take turns going on Indiana Jones, Splash Mountain, Grizzly Rapids and Hollywood Tower of Terror with her because Avery wasn't tall enough to go on them.  Avery was actually not tall enough to go on Soarin' Over California which we didn't realize until we were about to get on the ride and a worker noticed.  She was quite sad about it but we made up for it by going on The Little Mermaid a number of times.  Lucky for us that line is never long and we never had to wait more than a minute to get on.  Avery also liked watching the parades while Madolyn preferred to go on rides, so Kristin would sneak off with her to some big ones while Avery and I watched the parades.  The girls really liked Small World so we went on that a few times.  For some reason Avery really wanted to go on a roller coaster and the only one she was big enough to go on was Thunder Mountain and it was closed, so maybe next time.  We did go on Gadget's Go Coaster which had a long line for a fifteen second roller coaster ride, but the girls liked it anyway and didn't mind the line.  They both love characters although at first Avery wouldn't really go near them. I would have to hold her for pictures with them.  She finally warmed up and followed Madolyn to give them hugs.  We had fun and made it through all the driving and were happy to have gone.

 The beach was so cold while we were there.  The girls still ran around and wanted to play in the sand and water and collect sea shells.  Eventually Avery realized she was quite cold and burrowed under my sweater.

                                                     We had an exhausting but fun trip!
                                      
                                      

Winter and Christmas time! December 2013

Well, I guess we'll start with a picture from Madolyn's Kindergarten Pow Wow at school right before Thanksgiving.  She loved her party and really liked her new Indian outfit and wore it for the next few days after her party.

Christmas time means Christmas sugar cookie making by these little bakers who are so creative and put it to use rolling, cutting and decorating their cookies.  This is one of their favorite things to do.

 We usually try to do the cookie making during Drew's nap, so here's a little pic of something he likes to do- wear shoes (in this case, Dad's).

We have had a bunch of snow this December and the girls had been wanting to make a snowman each time.  We finally had some good packing snow so Dad helped the kiddles build a nice tall one.                                                    

First big snow of the season that the kids were able to go out and play in.   Drew's first time in his one- piece snowsuit and boots.  It took him awhile to figure out he could actually move in them and then quite enjoyed wandering from place to place in the snow.  They love being outside in the snow, so when it's not freezing cold and just cold, we bundle them up and out they go into the snow.

 Snow angels!

 Our friends/neighbors, the Larsens were out playing and shoveling snow as well and the kids all ran around and played in it and took turns riding on the sled behind their four wheeler.

 Some pictures in front of the Christmas tree for our Christmas card this year.

Due to our lack of hills in the surrounding area, I had to improvise a sledding trip as promised to the girls.  I was busy working in the basement so I decided to pull them around in the backyard for a bit.  It started out great until the yells of "Faster Daddy! Faster!" filled the air.  I'll tell you what, if you are looking for a workout, try doing sprints in the snow while pulling a sled with two little girls in it.

 For a much needed rest, we decided to shovel the snow off of the trampoline so the springs wouldn't be stretched out.