Ice Skating

There is a cute little ice rink by the library.  We rented our ice skates last night so we could go ice skating this afternoon.
The kids had a blast! 
I realized that I have old woman ankles.  It was so hard to keep my feet from wobbling.
The kids did much better than me.
I didn't rent skates for Josh.  He had fun just running around.  He never even fell on the ice.

Big boy

Today after his bath, Josh indicated a worry with his naked self whilst running around.  I asked him if he had to go potty.  After a little maneuvering we settled on sitting on the potty with a stool for his feet to rest on.  Then he commenced to pee in the potty!  Yay!  It is our very first time! 
It's the little things that make my day.

Ski school part 2

Today was Sawyer and McKinley's turn for ski school.  They were able to be in a class with a couple of neighborhood friends who are off track right now too.
The day started off well for everyone.  I got a lunch time report that everyone was having a blast.  After lunch...I think they were done.  I got a phone call from McKinley that Sawyer wasn't feeling well.  So he stayed up at the lodge until lessons were done.  He wasn't too keen on having to do the "big hill" aka the blue intermediate run any more.  It was his first time ever skiing after all.  He said he liked the "little hill".  I told him next time we went skiing we would stick to the little hills.  They're my favorite too.
McKinley, who always gets dehydrated, didn't have a water bottle with her.  So, of course, she got dehydrated.  She looked exhausted when I got her at the end of the day.  She came home and took some medicine and had a nice warm bath.
Moral of the story:  Half a day of skiing is plenty for us.

Ski school part 1

There are great deals in January for first time local skiers.  We are off track so we were willing and able to do it.  Unfortunately, they fill up fast, so Hayden had to go today while the older two will go tomorrow. 
Hayden was not on board when I told him what he was doing today.  He said he was not going!  I did a lot of reassuring throughout the day though, and what started out with worries of hitting a tree or running over a twig and waking up a bear, ended with declarations that he would start on the beginner hill first, but then he was doing the black diamonds. 
It is a drop off camp with no contact until it is all over.  So I worry-warted all day.  But when I picked him up he said he had fun.  He wants to go again tomorrow!  I am so relieved and happy he got the chance to do something he found he liked after all.

Konichiwa

We got "Little Passports" program for Christmas this year.  Each month they get a package in the mail with a new country to visit.  Our first country was Brazil, so we had Brazilian lemonade.  Tonight we opened our package from Japan, so I decided to make us finally try sushi.  I asked for a good sushi place, Tsunami, then I asked the lady there to recommend the most child friendly sushi for us to try.  We went with the California sushi with the soy wrap (instead of the usual seaweed wrap).

McKinley liked it, but said she could only do one piece with the meal.  But it was good.

Hayden thought it was gross and dumped it to the side of his plate.  At least he tried!

Sawyer refused to try, as did Kent---shocking, I know.

I ended up eating the sushi for dinner instead of the stir fry I had made.  I think it was very yummy!  But I bought way too much for my little picky family.  It was a good introduction to sushi, and I would order it again.

All mine!

The new activity day leaders stopped by to meet McKinley and brought a plate of cookies.  When Josh got up from his nap he wanted a snack so I offered a cookie.  He didn't want 'a' cookie.  He wanted 'all' the cookies.  So he plopped down on his chair and commenced to take a nibble out of each cookie.

Oobleck

Today was the judging for the science fair.  McKinley entered again, and is moving on to district again. When they got home from school, she and Hayden pulled out his science kits that he got for Christmas.  We whipped up a little oobleck and they had a fun time making a little mess.  They also used the graduated cylinders to experiment with mixing colored waters.

Winter work vacation

Kent had last week off, so we started framing our basement.
8 long days later we are almost done.  We have to fur down for the pipes in the ceiling, Sawyer's doorway, and a couple closet door headers, but it was a major accomplishment. 

Nascar on ice

Kent's employer is a sponsor of the Olympics and had tickets for the speed skating trials available.  We took a break from framing and took the kids (minus the 2 year old).  It was fun to see and made me excited for the upcoming Olympics.