Pigtails and Playing in the Snow

Mary Kate is now able to wear "real" pigtails that actually stay in for most of the day. They don't look too good after naptime and we usually end up taking them out when she wakes up. We think the piggies make her look older and I can't believe she's going to be two years old in just three short months!

She recently re-discovered the fun of tossing her plate off the table when she is done with her toast (she only does it when she has toast...we're not sure why?). It's a trick she did for a while and then stopped. Needless to say, I'm not thrilled that it's back in her repertoire of mealtime behavior. Now she eats her toast on a napkin instead of a plate.

In case you haven't heard, we've been having what folks around here are calling "a real Minnesota winter." I call it a real pain in the butt because it involves bundling up two children in multiple layers of clothing and outerwear whenever we need to go anywhere.

This winter's temperatures have been particularly frigid, with many below zero days that make it pretty hard to get outside play time. So, when it warms up to a balmy 15 or 20 degrees, we head outside for some fun in the snow. This weekend we had a heat wave and actually hit 25 degrees, so the kiddos got to play outside with a few less layers. Mary Kate even ditched her hat for a few minutes to help Ethan fill sand buckets with snow. Ethan wears his snowshoes pretty much constantly when he's outside...as you can see. And he's taken to wearing a pair of my old fleece gloves. He says he likes the fingers in mine because "it's easier to hold stuff." I guess the kid needs some gloves of his own instead of mittens.

Valentine's Day...oops, we forgot to post these!

I just realized that we didn't post any Valentine's Day greetings or photos. Ethan made Valentine's cards for his classmates. Glitter and lollipops were involved. Need I say more?

Mary Kate gives Nana a pre-Valentine's day hug.

All of us attempt a family photo with Nana. Ethan wins the dorkiest expression award. He has taken to boycotting posing for pictures and makes weird faces whenever we take pictures of him. Won't these be great to show future girlfriends?

Mary Kate gets ready to help Mom bake some Valentine's treats. She's really getting into wearing hats these days. Her chef's hat is a little too big yet, so it kept falling down over her eyes. Here she is pushing it back up onto her head.

The kids opened their Valentine mailboxes when they woke up on the big day. They got bouncy balls from Mom and Dad and now spend countless hours kicking them around our recently cleaned out and now spacious (unfinished) basement.

Sick Mama, Ethan Shaves, and Dance Party

Sorry for the lack of updates this week. I've been struck by the evil strep throat and have been wiped out this week. It probably wouldn't have been so bad if I'd gone to the doctor after three or four days of raging sore throat, headache and feeling lousy. Instead, I waited, thinking I'd get better. I'm finishing up my last dose of antibiotic today and am feeling much better.

Here are a few snapshots from last week.


Ethan practices his shaving technique. A great deal of concentration is required when you do the chin.

The finished product...what a nice job!

Dance party with Dad.

Ethan's Fourth, and Final, Birthday Party

As we mentioned in a previous post, we have done some serious partying in celebration of Ethan turning four. First was the party at Tamarack Nature Center, then his class party at preschool, followed by our celebration at the waterpark on his actual birthday. Finally, we celebrated with Grandpa Grilz and Grandma Brenda when we got home from the waterpark.

What could be better than four parties when you are turning four?

Here are the highlights of the final party. We had pizza at the Carbone's by Grandpa's house, which has a long and celebrated history in the Grilz family. We got to watch the dough guys toss the dough, play tunes on the old jukebox, and eat fabulous pizza, which by the way is Ethan's favorite food.

Then we headed back to Grandpa and Grandma's house for cake (race car) and presents (race cars and a cool stunt track).

Note to all: although we've had a fabulous time celebrating, we will not be having five parties next year to celebrate turning five. We (the parents, that is) are exhausted.

Our trip to the waterpark

We had a blast at the waterpark this year. Mary Kate took about a day to warm up to the slides, but after she found her groove, she didn't want to leave!

Both kids loved playing with the waterways.

At first, MK wasn't too sure about going down the slides, so Dad took her on a few.




Then she decided to try the little red slide and thought it was pretty great!




Loving the wave pool!




Juice break with Mom.

Most of our pictures of Ethan turned out quite blurry, since the kid was a sliding machine the whole weekend.

Making a silly face and the only time when he actually sat down for longer than 32 seconds.

The kids going down the slide together. This was a big hit and they went down together about 485 times.

And this pretty much sums up our trip...Mary Kate doing the sign for "More" on our last day. The kids didn't want to leave, despite the fact that we stayed 3 nights this time instead of 2. Needless to say, the parents were exhausted!

Ethan Turns Four!

Well, the big day finally came and Ethan turned four. He woke up to his bedroom decorated with streamers and got to open a few presents when he came downstairs, including a giant dinosaur collection from Mom and Dad and a remote control dinosaur from our neighbors, the Ridlehoovers.



Then Dad took him to get doughnuts for breakfast.

Then we loaded up the van and drove to the Dells for the long awaited and much-anticipated waterpark birthday celebration.

We stopped for lunch at McDonalds along the way and Ethan posed with Ronald. He really looks like John when he was a little boy in this picture.

Mary Kate took her afternoon nap in the van during the second leg of the trip. We tried to prop up her head, but the little blanket just kept falling out of her carseat.

Ethan got to decorate his birthday cake and chose a Diego Animal Rescue theme. Here he is decorating. Every square inch was covered by the time he finished.

Mary Kate really enjoyed the cake. Somehow we forgot to get a bib on her before she dove in.

Ethan's Birthday Party at Preschool

On 1/29, Ethan's preschoool class celebrated his birthday. Ethan brought chocolate cupcakes with dinosaur rings on top for a special treat to share. Here he is getting a birthday hug from his best buddy, Jack.

He loved wearing the crown with his name and the number 4 on it.

After he got home, Mary Kate took the crown for a test drive. She preferred to wear it upside down.

Nana helps Mary Kate accessorize

Nana arrived on Saturday and brought some fabulous accessories for MK...sparkly shoes, lots of beads and a sparkly purse, too! MK decided to wear all of her necklaces at the same time.

Ethan's Dinosaur Roar! Party

We have been doing some serious partying in celebration of Ethan's 4th birthday.

On Saturday, 1/26, we hosted a Dinosaur Roar! party at Tamarack nature center. Sixteen friends (mostly preschool classmates) joined us. We had a fabulous time excavating dinosaurs, tracking dinosaurs, looking at "fossils", learning some cool dino facts, and eating meatosauraus and veggiesauraus pizza and dinosaur cake.