President's Day

On Monday, President's Day, Conor did not have school and their daycare was closed for a teacher workshop day. So I took the advantage of a fun day off with the kids, and we headed to the Mall of America to the Sea Life Aquarium (we had found a great deal on ticket prices online--75% off ticket prices--couldn't pass it up.) We were fortunate that Grandma was able to join us as well! We enjoyed seeing lots of cool fish, turtles, jellyfish, seahorses, sting rays and sharks, and touching starfish and crabs. Conor wasn't feeling the greatest, he had a low-grade fever off and on and his six-year molars seem to be coming in, but he enjoyed the scavenger hunt card he used to check off all the different species we would find throughout the aquarium.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Conor worked very hard to write out valentines for his 18 classmates. Before even being directed, he handwrote on all of them: Happy Valentine's Day, (name). From, Conor. Nice job buddy!

Adam was out of town in Owatonna all week for work, so I played single mom from Sunday night to Friday afternoon. Valentine's Day happened to fall on Thursday night, so we went to my parents' house for dinner and some playtime with Leah, Carmen, and Emma since Andy had to work late as well. The kids all checked out their valentine treasures from school that day and had a great time playing together.

Conor couldn't wait to hold Emma

Cousins

Riley wanted her turn holding Emma too

Riley and Carmen tipping over their "train" from the arm of the couch

Silliness

We made special Valentine cupcakes to welcome Daddy home

Snow!

Conor and I spent one Sunday afternoon making a snowman in our yard while Riley was taking a nap and Daddy was catching up on some work.

Pinewood Derby

Adam and Conor participated in the Pinewood Derby for the local boy scouts competition. We are lucky enough to be in a program where they are experimenting with starting Lion Scouts in kindergarten (normally it is first grade before boys can join). These two have been fun having "boys only" outings together with friends.

Here they are working on their car

Ready for the race

The funny things we hear

Some of Riley's latest funny pronounciations:
Pix:  Fix
Mustard:  Mustache
Walk-clock: Washcloth
Aura:  Aurora (the princess in Sleeping Beauty)
Jam-mint: Jasmine (the princess in Aladdin)
BAY-ul...with a nice southern twang!: Belle (the princess in Beauty and the Beast)
All of America (or Olive America?): Mall of America
Valentimes: Valentine's
Ed-a-mems: M&Ms...her treat for potty training which she is mastering very quickly!! Hooray!

We were at an event recently where Conor and Adam were in the men's bathroom later in the evening with some intoxicated young men who entered the room with no regard to who was in there (a 5-year old boy and his dad). They were cursing up a storm and acting very inappropriate, dropping the F-bomb and one said he had to go the bathroom so bad he almost s*#@ his pants. Trying to handle the situation right away, once they left, Adam spoke to Conor about how we don't speak that way or use the words they were using.
Adam said, "We don't say those words."
Conor said, "What words, Dad? Like shift?"
At this point, Adam was a little confused. "Huh?
Conor, "You mean I shouldn't say shift my pants?"
Trying to keep a straight face, Adam responded, "That's right, we don't say shift my pants?"

We were discussing the birthdays in our family, and Conor had gotten them all right, when we got to Adam's. Still correct, he answered July 17th. Adam tried to stump Conor, so he said, "Do you know what year?" Since we had been discussing upcoming birthdays, Conor confidently answered, "2013"...then realizing Adam was trying to stump him, quickly added, "Wait, I mean, every year!" Smart kid :)

10th Anniversary Dream Vacation

Adam and I spent a week in the Dominican Republic  in January for a dream vacation for our 10th anniversary!! The fact that we were gone during the coldest week in MN all winter (high of -3 actual temperature one day, not to mention the windchill factor!!), made me sooo glad that we were crazy enough to get married in Minnesota in January in the first place...a perk I never thought of all those years ago. We left the kids with Grandpa and Grandma, so they probably ended up as spoiled as we were!

How fun is it to fly to an open air, essentially outdoor airport?

 We chose an all-inclusive resort right on the beach with 6 or 7 restaurants, 24-hour room service, three pools, and a great entertainment team with daily and nightly activities. The view of our resort grounds from our room.

 Our first excursion was a bus ride from Punta Cana to La Romana, past sugar cane fields (which are still harvested by hand with machetes, and put into carts pulled by oxen), to a boat ride for a snorkeling experience. 

We did some open water snorkeling, seeing lots of fish and coral...

..then the boat drove us through the turquoise waters to an island...

...for a barbecue on the beach with native Dominican food and drinks, and a chance to do more snorkeling from the shore. 

We found a cool lizard with a blue tail, which we were told is rare to see.

The turn-down service in our room decorated one day with towel sculptures and rose petals for our anniversary

 We took advantage of the endless tropical drinks from the swim-up bar

 We enjoyed blue skies and palm trees. The temperature was in the 80s every day with lows in the mid 70s at night. Can't beat that!

 Our second excursion was an open air bus ride to the mountainous jungle in the middle of the country, where we went ziplining! What an adventure! 

 We got up early one morning to watch the sun rise. We slept in the rest of the time!

 We dressed up for many of our evening dinners, but this is the only night we remembered to take a photo.

Little Bear's Visit

Conor had a project at school, where he brought home a teddy bear, that is travelling home with each kindergartener in his class to visit their homes and write in a journal about his experiences. Little Bear picked a good time to come to our house, because he got to come to the hospital with us to meet Emma! He was bigger than her.

Welcome Emma Grace

Leah had her baby later that week, after a short induction and VERY quick labor, not even time for an epidural. What a superstar. Welcome to the newest member of our family, little Emma Grace Benedict!

C'mon Baby

In order to try to help induce labor for Leah and to get my toes ready for my beach vacation, we went for pedicures. 

Mom and Laura came to hang out

Then we all went to lunch afterwards. (Thanks for being the photographer mom.)

Congrats Travis and Liz

Congrats to my cousin Travis and his new wife Liz, who got married a few weekends ago.

Now we are not the only crazy relatives to get married in Minnesota in January!!