Polar Vortex

This winter has been cold. Really cold. And snowy. It seems like it has snowed pretty much every other day the past two months. Last week was no exception and we got about a foot of snow for Thursday morning. It was enough for Bryan to be forced to work from home and for us to be able to play outside for several days. In fact, despite some pretty nice temperatures and rain the past few days, there are still huge mounds over a week later throughout town.

Noelle absolutely loves to play outside in the snow. Kellen is beginning to share the joy. I still don't love it, but this past storm was better since it wasn't quite as cold outside during the aftermath as it was the past few snow storms.

Thursday we went outside for about 25 minutes after naps as a family. We were forced inside when it started thundering and lightening and we made it in the door about 5 seconds before it started sleeting/raining and being crazy out there. On Friday, the kids played in the snow about an hour while I tried to build a channel towards the storm drains for the melting snow to get in. Bryan had already shoveled for about three hours and was able to make it in to work so I was up for this much smaller job. And on Saturday we played with friends in the snow for about an hour, mostly sledding, and then had lunch as we warmed up. It was actually pretty fun for being cold. Here we are enjoying the most recent snow.

We did also bring the snow inside to play with on one occasion. Friday afternoon I was uninspired to go back out in the cold. So thanks to pinterest, I scooped some snow in baskets, gave the kids colored water, and had them go to town. They loved painting the snow. And the project was surprisingly pretty clean.

 

 

 

 

It's nice to see yellow snow that isn't from something else...

Come on spring! And polar vortex, you can stay in Canada for the rest of the winter, please!

Frozen

Remember that day when you were driving home from work, not yet having picked up your kids, and you realized that you have listened to nothing but the Frozen soundtrack in the car for the past month or so? That happened to me yesterday. And I am pretty much okay with it. Let It Go gets lots of hype from the mommy and daddy crowd for being awesome, and it is, but pretty much the whole score makes me smile.

Our Frozen obsession started about a month ago, on MLK day, when Noelle and I went to see Disney's newest princess classic. It was her first movie in the theater and we brought (note, not bought!) some snacks, settled in to our stadium seats, slipped our 3-D glasses on, and watched the amazing story. I love Disney, as most people know, and this is definitely up there with Beauty and the Beast as my favorite Disney movie ever. The songs are great, the story is wonderful, and I love that in the end it is really about these strong women and not a prince that makes everything right.

I find it hilarious (most of the time) that Disney released this movie the year of the polar vortex and crazy repeated snowstorms. Especially when I read about the story and saw that they have tabled this project time and time again over the years trying to get it exactly right. Nice timing, friends of Mickey! And great casting. We'll be watching (or more likely, DVRing) for an Oscar or several for the only type of Frozen we love right now!

Be Mine

Valentine's Day is not a big deal for the older Saxton's. We have never celebrated and aren't really in to the whole Hallmark holiday thing. But even I am not cool with my daughter being the only kid in class not to hand out Valentines. So we made some. They weren't amazingly pretty. But they were homemade and cost very little, the two trademarks of an awesome product in my book. Here is our product:

On Valentine's Day itself, we were home again with lots of snow. We did do some regular toy playing and TV viewing, but we also played with scratch and sniff stickers and made some art thanks to grandma's Valentine Day delivery!

And since Bryan had to work late, I tried my hand at some heart shaped burgers for dinner for my little loves. Since I don't use any filler, I had a hard time keeping them together but this one sort of looks like a heart. Both my kids ate a bit, but were more excited about the Breadery's challah rolls than their meat or broccoli.

 
And for dessert, we had strawberries and chocolate. Mostly because I wanted it. It was a messy endeavor but super yummy!

So to sum up, I still think Valentine's Day is silly but it was nice to have a day with my two little loves!

The Three Disney Princesses

Last weekend, we surprised Noelle with our girl trip to Disney. She was so excited when she found out that we were going!

The three of us had an amazing trip! We found my mom almost immediately after landing at the Orlando airport. Even though it was just mid-60's and rainy our first day, we were so excited to be away from the arctic blast up north and enjoy some warmth so we headed for the magical express and the most magical place on earth!


As soon as we checked in to our hotel, we had our first and biggest semblance of drama for the long weekend. I had brought our nice single stroller on the trip since I knew we wouldn't head back to the hotel for naps and Noelle would be tired walking around all day. When we do Disney we walk 8-12 miles a day, a lot for even my super in shape four year old. However, since she was a big kid, I left the stroller against the wall during check in and we hopped the bus to play and eat without remembering to grab the stroller. Oops. Thankfully Disney is super awesome, and they nicely grabbed my stroller and put it at bell services for me for the day. We then didn't have it for our first day adventure but since we had an early morning and the weather was supposed to be much better the rest of the trip, we were planning on an early evening anyways. So on to the Magic Kingdom, and the spicy chicken waffle sandwiches we had planned! It was good to get the drama and bad weather out of the way fast!

Saturday and Sunday were pretty crowded at Disney. There was an international cheerleading competition and despite our best efforts to avoid the cheerleaders, they often were everywhere we looked. Noelle may have heard (and repeated) my less than polite under my breath pleas for the cheerleaders to disappear. Despite the heavy crowds til Sunday evening, we got a lot of rides and shows in, and even experienced some things we hadn't done before at Disney. Since I do my research, I had our fast-pass reservations figured out for everything and we were able to do all of Noelle's favorite rides, watch the spectromagic parade, see the fireworks at Magic Kingdom twice, meet some princesses and other characters, eat lots of goodies, and just have some great bonding time. Noelle was on her best behavior for most of the trip, and it was definitely a trip my mom and I (and hopefully Noelle) will remember always. Maybe we can do one again in ten years. Before then, I think B and Kel get their man trip. I'll have to stow away in a suitcase for that one!

Here are a series of some of my favorite pictures from our trip!

Barnstormer Fun!

We didn't hit the big boat but we did do Tom Sawyer's Island this trip

Safari Time!

Animal Kingdom Sunday - Animals and Sunshine

Rafting to the Island- Mom's Dollar Tree Glasses and All

Beauty's Parade 

Big Belle, Baby Belle, and Noelle

Woke Up Just In Time for the Parade

Grandma's First Test Track Experience

Minnie and the Princesses

Ice Cream Break in France

Toy Story Midway Mania

An Under the Sea Princess Encounter

Ride 3 or 4 on Big Thunder!

How We Ended Each Night on the Bus

Nemo

And His Friends

Noelle Lounging on the Land

Noelle's Selfie

Jake,With Just One Pirate

Cup or Cone? Why Choose?

SuperBowl 2014

Seahawks? Broncos? Who cares. This year the SuperBowl was all about food and friends. And this is how our friends travel these days:

I think this cooler is awesome. And it totally explains our life in 2014 - beer and sippy water bottles. What could be better?

While I did not watch any of the game, not even the commercials or the half time show, some of the kids did watch a bit.

I instead caught up with friends, ate yummy food, and had one beer in preparation for work at 7 am the following morning. Apparently that was unnecessary as my daughter woke up at midnight sick. Oh well, the best laid plans...

It was nice to see a team that doesn't get much media time win the SuperBowl, especially so decidedly. Our party ended at halftime, the way all good SuperBowl parties should. Who decided this event would be a cold Sunday night in February every year? Poor planning, America.

Thanks for the fun friends. Sorry if we exposed you all to tummy troubles!