Saturday, December 28, 2013

Fort Time

And no trip to Wausau would be complete without some fun in the snow.
Uncle Ryan helped the boys get started with a snow fort.



Owen isn't used to walking in such deep snow, so it is safe to say we had 
a few unintentional face washes. ;)




 He still had a blast and had even more fun warming up and cuddling with
Drew once they got inside.


Christmas Round 4

Our final Christmas celebration was with my dad and Sharon.  We always take tons of pictures in front of their Christmas tree and this year was no exception.  






And it was the perfect time to take our next couple of attempts at a family Christmas picture.

Photo bombed by my dad and Ellie

Owen comforting Joe

Owen comforting Joe again

Owen smacking Joe. I guess he figured the comforting wasn't working.

Looks like we have a winner.

Let's hug it out!

Who's had enough attempts at the perfect family Christmas picture?

Thanks for the great night Dad and Sharon.  Love you!


Friday, December 27, 2013

The Grand Lodge

What better thing to do when you're trying to survive the freezing temperatures of WI
than visit the indoor water park.  My mom and Larry thought it would be fun for all of the
boys, but little did they know all the grown ups would have a blast too!

Owen went up and down this water slide about 97 times while we were there.

 

It was actually a 3 person job getting him up and down this slide.  Grandpa would help him
up the stairs, Grandma would help him at the top of the slide, and then either Ryan or I
would catch him at the bottom.  We all manned our positions and let him 
slide until his little heart was content.

Thankfully after a little while he tired himself out and agreed to ride with Ryan and I
on the lazy river.  I wasn't sure how he would do sitting still on a tube, but after
all that sliding he was more than happy to sit back and relax.  In fact, we all were. :)





Even Joe decided to join us for some relaxing in the water.  His very first time in the pool.

 
When he wasn't in the water, he just slept through all of the commotion.

 
And no trip to the water park would be complete without a ride down the water slides.
I watched as each of my nephews went down time after time.



Then when I saw my 72 year old Stepdad take his turn, how could I pass it up?
 

Sarah and I (who happened to unknowingly buy the same swimsuit) thought it would be
funny to go down together.  As we were walking to the top of the slide I mentioned how long
it had been since I'd been on a water slide.  We waited our turn and when the time came,
boarded our double tube.  We shot out the "toilet bowl" as they call it and swirled around
and around...no big deal.  We even hammed it up for the pictures.  

 That's when things took an unexpected turn for the worst.  You see, you're supposed to
go around and around until you get to the bottom of the "bowl" and shoot out the tube to
the pool.  Well we went around and around, started nearing the bottom at which point our
tube spun around so we were going backwards, and then rode over the hump which
caused our tube to flip over.  Yes, fortunately we have an excellent cameraman who
catch all the footage.  Here we go....







As if the situation wasn't embarrassing enough, I smacked the side of my face on the slide
and it instantly started to bruise.  We figured it would be best to put ice on it, but in order to
get ice I needed to fill out an accident report.  How embarrassing!  Walking around the water
park with a bag of ice and this lovely bruise on my face.


I guess I need more practice and shouldn't go so long in between my water slide attempts.
Injuries aside, it was such a fun day and an awesome idea!  Thanks for the great
memories Mom and Larry!!  We love you and look forward to many 
more great adventures to come.




  

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Christmas Round 3

Thursday morning we woke up bright and early and drove to Wausau.
It worked out perfectly that Christmas fell on a Wednesday so we could celebrate with
both sides of our family.  And celebrate we did...


 One of the many perks of having my sister Sarah in town at the same time as I am is
she LOVES taking pictures and always has her camera out.  She takes excellent photos
and after going through all 775 of them (no that is not an exaggeration) here are some of
my favorites from our Christmas Round 3.










And finally our first attempt of the weekend at a family Christmas picture.
 

Ryan just happened to blink for the 2 seconds we got everyone still for a picture.
Joe decided he didn't want to cooperate and be happy.
The only way Owen would cooperate is if he was able to hold the shovel in the picture.
And what could I do but just laugh through it all.  

Merry Christmas!!  As always, it was so much fun spending time with the people we love.