Mid-January Mix

We've been doing a lot of random things this month.  Here is our last couple weeks.  Esme made a quest for me to go on.  Here are all the papers she made to take me on it.  The video is pretty cute too.

It's getting brighter at the bus stop in the morning.

We had a farewell celebration for our beloved Children's Ministry Director at church.  Her family is making a big move for the health of one of her kids.  She will be so missed.

Here is a silly dance Esme did one night.

It's been a while since we got cupcakes, so we stopped at yum! Kitchen and Bakery for a special treat.

We've had so much snow already this year and more was in the forecast.  I spent some time roof raking in preparation.  Esme was a great helper clearing it from the driveway.  Parker was pretty brave trying to ride his bike on the icy driveway.  He only fell once, but snow gear provides pretty good pading.

Menards has become a favorite place to get out of the house to.  Parker was loving this massage chair.  My work potluck was rescheduled for last week.  It was great being in the office seeing people and eating some delicious grub.

Esme's best friend from school came over for a play date.  This was one of the first times I have been able to really observe her interacting with a peer.  It was as much fun for me as it was for them.

Last Saturday we took in a showing of Lion King Jr. starring our good friend Ryelle.  I was so impressed with how great these little kids did.  She will have another show in March, Frozen Jr.

We got ice cream afterwards.

Esme made her own Target store, but she was getting a little crazy with the pricing...

And finally, silly pictures in front of the greenery wall at church.  I love this girl!

Weekend Trip to Visit Great Grandma

I embarked on my first solo long road trip with the kids last weekend to visit my grandma since Jimmy was working.  I picked the kids up from Adventure Club about 2:45 and we were on the road!

We usually stay in a hotel about 25 minutes from her house.  That makes for a long drive so I chose a spot in Sioux City, Iowa.  Our first leg was 4.5-5 hours, which meant just one stop was enough.  We checked in and the kids immediately put their suits on for the pool.

We had it to ourselves so I was able to call Jimmy and chat.

It's hard to see in this photo, but there were train tracks just outside the window.  Parker loved watching it go by.

We grabbed our continental breakfast before making the final 2.5 hour drive to Grandmas.  The lobby and breakfast area had two story ceilings with lots of ceiling fans, so Parker made sure to do plenty of inspections.

After lunch, we opened Christmas presents.

Esme got a set of 8 mini food squishmallows and Parker got a giant pop-it sensory mat that I didn't get a picture of.  Both of them got a few other small things and some cash.

I brought Esme's bingo cards thinking it would be fun game that all of us could play.  I picked up some small candy prizes for the winners.

Even thought these trips are quick and short, I love getting to catch up with grandma and Larry.

One perk of staying in Sioux City, was being able to take a slight detour to Wayne, NE for a stop at Runza.  This is the closest to our drive and it's either on the back half of a long, late drive or we are passing by before it's open on the way home.

The kids went for swim #2 after getting back.

We finished our time in Iowa with breakfast and one more dip in the pool.  It was nice not to feel like we needed to get going since it was a shorter drive home.

The drive home was pretty uneventful.  We did have to slow down once for a group of passing deer.

We picked up Dominos in Mankato for lunch and grabbed dessert at Dairy Queen in St. Peter.

I am much more confident about doing this again in the future if needed.

Tough Start to 2023

It really hasn't been as bad as I made that title sound.  Esme started the year with breakfast on the couch.

Parker had been showing signs of not feeling well off and on for many days, but didn't have a fever or throw up.  He finally started to tell us his ear hurt, so we decided to take him in to the doctor.  Sure enough he had an ear infection.  It's been almost 8 years since his last one.  Back then, we just did one antibiotic shot since he won't take oral medication.  This time it was 3 rounds of two shots each.  He got the first two Sunday, then I took him in Monday and Tuesday for the last ones.  

He definitely knew what was going down and kept an eye out for people coming in.  We had such kind nursing staff that helped o hold him down.  The third day he still fought it, but did much better.  They gave him in his legs and he pulled his pants down and climbed on the table on his own.  I was so proud of him.

More sledding!

Esme has been asking to play bingo, so I asked for cards in my local Buy Nothing Group.  I laminated them for each reuse and we were playing!

Even Parker joined us for a couple games.

Wednesday was a doozy of a morning.  We got more snow than expected, but I still tried to get the kids to school after digging Jimmy out at 4:45am.  I made it there (digging myself out once), but got really stuck about 50' from home.  I cleared as much of the road as I could, but couldn't move from this spot.  I eventually called a neighbor that came to help, but I was only able to move a few feet.  The plow then came by and threw salt under the tire tracks and I made it to the garage.  Then I realized I dropped my phone somewhere.  Thank goodness for Apple watch and the ability to ping it.  The plow had cleared the street and it was in a snow bank.  Whew, I was exhausted.  This was the first time we've gotten stuck in the van and in this neighborhood.  We've had large snowfalls, but not when we've needed to get places.