Beautiful Snowy Weather

I love snowy weather. It is beautiful and fun to play in. 

On the other hand, when I look at these pictures I feel like this post could be titled "what a snowy day looks like for kids vs. grown-ups"

 Fun running with sleds down the driveway.

 

Versus getting the car dug out and excavating the driveway-- 

Birthday Adventure for Brother M: Duckpin Bowling

Brother M wanted to go bowling for his birthday experience. We decided to try duckpin bowling since the balls are smaller. 

   We fit it in before Grandpa J and Grandma S went home.

It was nice to have balls that were a manageable size for the kids.

 I think everyone really enjoyed themselves, although I was pretty terrible at it. That made it even more funny for the kids.  I had a significant number of gutter balls. Big sister A won the first game with 97 and brother M won the second game with 94.

More Photos of Good-byes

This "good-bye" is something my kids will always remember. Despite the grandparents probably being bored of photos of my kids' friends, I feel the need to make sure that these pictures are all here for the record. For future days, hopefully future hangouts with our W family, when my kiddos remember back to when the W family lived relatively close by and we saw them ALL the time. Connecting on Facetime for three hours is just not the same!

 Big sister A helping pack-up the last few things at the W family's house.

 Friendship sandwiches

Field Trip: Marine Corps Museum

We had a great field trip with Grandmama and Grandpa J (Retired Marine) to the Marine Corps Museum.

 I was impressed by the quality of all the exhibits. It went through the Marine Corps involvement in all the wars since the Revolutionary War.

 

 They had wonderful life size examples of trucks, tanks, aircraft, and boats.

 Many of the exhibits had video explanations and stories.

 One room showed life size examples of what it was like to be in the trenches (WWI) with stereo sound of bombs and the briefing notes he was typing.

 The exhibit about the Chosin Reservoir (Korean war) was life size in a separate room that they kept cooler than the rest of the museum, with it's own special sound effects and story. It was easy to imagine what that might have been like.

 I can't remember whether this plane was the A6 type that Grandpa J flew in Vietnam or a different type. It made it a lot more real for the kids and I to have Grandpa J there to tell us about his experiences though.

Hard Goodbyes

Right after Christmas our best buddies finished packing up their house to move to Utah. We squeezed out as much time as possible together those last few days while they packed up. One night at dinner Grandmama had them all singing "Do, Re, Me" from Sound of Music -- so funny. 

 Lots of sweet moments and hard good-byes.

  We are so happy for them and their new adventure with their own little farm. It's the long trip to get together that is a real bummer.

Christmas 2018

Miss L had a magical Christmas this year.  She had lots of questions about Santa and how he was going to get down the chimney. I am grateful the big kids played along and let her believe in elves and reindeer. 

 For some reason, I did not take pictures of our Christmas eve feasting. The kids received homemade pajama pants this year. We ate taquitos, bagel bites, and crabcakes.  And we finally watched "The Greatest Showman". 

 Everyone in the family received a big pair of slipper socks -- warm and cozy with sherpa inside.

 Brother M lost his two front teeth just in time for Christmas. And no he didn't think singing the song was nearly as funny as I thought it would be.  Looking at the tree behind him, I have to say I don't recommend getting a douglas fir.  It did not keep its needles well at all. Frasier fir was much less messy.

 

 

 Miss L was everywhere helping with the unwrapping and oohing over everyone's presents.