Thankful

 

I thought for sure by now I'd have tons of snow pics to share but sadly we have only had one significant snow fall.  So the one day that enough came to cover the ground we made sure to get out and enjoy it!  It really made me excited for snow now that we have so many hills.  I'm way more apt to go sledding if I can do it quickly then run back inside and warm up! 

 

But lack of snow doesn't stop the holiday feeling.  After a great Thanksgiving at Gammie and Papa's house we decided it was time to put the tree up.  Despite moving to a larger house, we actually have a smaller space for the tree and it's on brand new carpet so for the sake of convenience we decided to purchase an artificial tree.  I think I was the only one a little skeptical about it.  I really liked the look and smell of a real tree.  But the kids didn't care at all and when it went up so easily, the lights all worked immediately, and it fit snugly into the nook we had I came around.  Not to mention no needles to sweep or watering...yes, I think I love it.

 

We left it just like this for a few days and then decorated together as a family one evening.  So fun.

The tree box made a great "canoe" for the kids!

We were so happy that Best was able to get us tickets to an afternoon Wild game the day after Thanksgiving!  It was Sis's first game and she was so proud to wear her brothers old jersey. 

My loves.  Well, two of them anyway.  Thanks to my other for getting this picture.  Smile.

We got there early so the kids could go down to the glass to watch warm ups.  Those guys are huge!

Peanut picked a hot dog and Sis picked the family sized pop corn which was supposed to be shared with the family... but truthfully I think she ate about 85% of it.  

My boy wearing Dad's hat.  He was in heaven.  I love hearing him cheer for his favorite team!

Sis and I walked a very long way to get this first game certificate and puck.  But they are nice keepsakes and she did several meet and greets with the ushers along the way.  She was also fascinated with the concession workers calling out "Cold Beer!" in their various signature styles.  She made friends with a Minnesota legend "Wally the Beer Guy" who high fived her and called her "little buddy." 

After that exciting weekend we slowly unpacked the Christmas décor.  This singing and dancing Christmas tree was one I'd forgotten about but I was so happy to find it.  The kids love it, especially Sis.  She had me push the button for her at first but then she finally worked up her courage and happily exclaimed, "I did it and he didn't bite me!"  Ha!  Not sure why she thought he might bite but I guess better safe than sorry...

Another favorite is the Elf on the Shelf game and all of our Christmas books.  I like to keep them packed away all year and it's like an early Christmas when we open the boxes.  Our elf "Jack" was not out at this point but he has since arrived and brings chocolate and a treat each day. 

As well as keeps an eye on who's being naughty and who's being nice.  I'm sure you are the latter...
Have a great week friends and family!

Colorful Fun!

I always feel so fortunate that although we live in a small town we have access to 2 very large cities just about an hour away.  Which really isn't too far, when you have coffee and a built in dvd player with headphones, smile.   Mall of America is now home to The Crayola Experience and I was so excited that we got to go as a family to check it out.

 

 There were so many different exhibits inside and almost all of them were interactive.  And each exhibit had plenty of room for lots of people to be experiencing it at the same time.  Here Peanut is controlling his own virtual reality crayon.  He enjoyed making it move and dance but he found out if he was still for too long it would fall asleep and snore!

A giant coloring station with more crayolas than I've ever seen before in one place.  On the wall behind there was a really cool time line that showed a lot of history of the product and company.  Fun facts like how the boxes changed and when and why some colors had to be renamed. 

One of my favorite parts was the theater that combined video with a live tour guide to take us through the steps of making a Crayola crayon.  There's plenty to it!  There was also a huge led sign on the wall that was counting in real time the number of crayons ever made!  Well, that's what they said anyway...it was a incredibly huge number that I forgot to make note of.

I've seen plenty of projects on Pinterest that involve melting crayons.  Thanks but I'd rather drive and pay to let Sis do all that fun right here!  She loved dripping it on the paper and watching it build up and cool so she could touch it. 

 

 
Another project with melted wax. 

And this one was a favorite too.  The kids each got to make a crayon in the shape of their choice. 

That is a racecar in Peanut's hand.  I was so happy Best was able to join us not only because it's fun to have him along, but it's nice to have a parent for each child to help with simultaneous projects.

Here is Peanut making his racecar.

This was a favorite of mine and Best's.  Electronic drawing pads were provided for you to either free hand or color a provided picture and then watch it come to life on the giant screen.  You could also add special effects like twirling or sparkles.  We each did several and I wrote a message to each kid.

With your entry ticket you are given several tokens.  One choice is to use them to make your own personalized crayon and pick it's name.  We had Wild green and Blast off Blue. 

The other choice was to purchase Crayola magic dough.  We had fun with that too and I'm glad I got a picture of Dad. 

Really a fun outing and we finished it off with lunch in the food court and a stop at the Pop Up Children's Museum playspot where we renewed our membership through summer 2018!  Woo Hoo!  They open their newly remodled location in April of next year and we are so excited.  Glad they have the mall spot to tide us over in the meantime.  Thanks Best for trekking along with us on this adventure.  It's so much fun when you can join us. 
Have a great week friends and family!