Snow Day

The snow finally came our way in the middle of the afternoon. After about an hour and half of trying to find the kids' winter stuff we made it outside. Just like anything new to her, Lydia didn't show much emotion during her first encounter with snow. I do think she enjoyed herself because she wasn't exactly thrilled when I took her inside.



Mommy, what's this "crunch-crunch" noise when I walk?

It's no!
{Lydia speak for snow.}

Is it me, or do his legs look freakishly long in these pants?

How can you be a kid and not do this?

Even Lydia tried to catch a snowflake.

Getting the hang of walking in the snow with snow boots just a wee bit too big.

What? You mean you can pick this stuff up? Awesome.

This really isn't a good idea.

Love it.

Lydia tried REALLY hard to get on the picnic table bench all on her own, but the snow bibs wouldn't let her lift her leg high enough.

She sat here for a while watching Cade and Rusty throw snowballs at a tree.

Bombarding Dad with his surprise stash of snowballs.

Holding her first snowball.

She couldn't reach the snowball because of her coat.

Waving at the birds flying into our tree.

Just thought this was a sweet picture.

Trying to warm up with Daddy.

Now on to the front yard where there was a break from the north wind.

Aren't these the cutest footprints?

Cade insisted on carrying his huge snowball during our "snow walk". He told us it was good exercise for him.

The whole time we were outside, I couldn't help but think that once again, Lydia reminded me of something:

A Tale of Survival

My tale of woe does not take place in some deserted or desolate place with me all alone left to fend for myself in the wild. In fact, quite the contrary. No, my tale begins in good old Topeka, Kansas during spring break. Yeah, that's right, T-town. But here's where it gets interesting: I'm talking about el Carlos de Queso, otherwise known as Chuck E. Cheese. {gasp} and {duh duh duuuhhh} Chuck E. Cheese during Spring Break. And during KU's first game of the NCAA Tournament. Can you imagine anything more ludicrous? Well, it was all worth it, believe me.

My friend Kitra and her family came to town and it's been ages since I've last seen her, so I was a good sport, loaded up the kids, made sure I had a working radio and earphones and headed for CEC. I had my reservations concerning the timing of our outing, but I don't get to see my friend and her family nearly enough, so it was important to me to be there. From the moment I was about 100 yards away from the parking lot, I could tell it was going to be mayhem from the get go. Literally, wall to wall bodies. Big and many, many, many little bodies. EVERYWHERE. Fast forward through lunch, giving Cade only 5 tokens at a time (I made him come back to check in with me after 5 tokens to keep tabs on him), and on to the on-stage antics of our youngest little cuties. OMG. They were adorable. Really. Dancing from one end of the stage to the other.

Somehow, Kitra and her crew made it out of there long before we did. But the most unbelievable thing about the whole visit was the waiting line to get in. You know in the movie Knocked Up when the sisters go out to a club and there is a long line with a bouncer at the front and he won't let anyone in because the club is all "one in, one out"? That pretty much describes the scene on our way out. No joke. But in this case, the bouncer behind the velvet rope was the teenage girl with the glow in the dark ink pad and the number stamp. Are you getting what I'm saying here? THERE WAS A LINE OF PEOPLE OUT THE DOOR VOLUNTARILY WAITING TO GET IN. And it was after 2:00 in the afternoon. Cra-zy. And I survived to tell the tale.

This is why it was SSSSSOOOOO worth it:

Could these two be any cuter?
(Mini-Kitra and Mini-Me)

Dancing on stage with the band.

Keeping an eye on the mechanical Chuck E.

Keylee is admiring Lydia's Jayhawk and Lydia is wondering where Keylee's is.

Checking out some other kid's haul.

Up close and personal with Chuck E.

A final wave.

Surfin, storage container-style

Give me surprised curiosity. Good!

Now, over the shoulder...that's it, yes, yes!

Pure joy, I love it! Work it, work it!

Disinterest...interesting...I'll take it.

Now the other shoulder, perfect!

I had originally got this storage container out to cull through Lydia's toys that she seems to have outgrown or doesn't play with anymore to try to gain control of the living room. She immediately claimed it as her own. I have since filled it with toys but I don't have the heart to take it out to the garage just yet because she is having so much fun with it.

I just had a thought...Maybe I could just put all the toys in storage containers and Lydia could play with all her toys while they are still in the containers (as she seems to prefer anyway) and still keep the living room in good shape...hrmmmmm...

Remind you of anyone?

Lydia has been letting me put piggy tails in her
hair the past few days and today it hit me:
she reminds me of somebody...

Do you see it?

Maybe if she had wings...

Or purple hair?

It's Abby Cadabby!! One of her faves.

St. Patrick's Day Fun

This St. Patrick's Day we took a day trip to Lawrence for the new exhibit at KU's Natural History Museum called Blood, Boogers and Bones
http://www.nhm.ku.edu/index.html. We took Cade's buddy Riley along
for the ride and had a pretty good time.

The boys got to do alot of hands on, interactive activites and demonstrations. I was very impressed with the simplicity of the demonstrations/explanations the docents
(I assume they were biology students) gave on what was really quite complex subject matter. I mean, they were explaining blood-typing to my 7 year old in a way that he could actually understand. That's beyond cool. And comparing the trachea and esophagus to a fish's gill? Genius! I'm still geeking out over the whole thing.

The boys participated in the scavenger hunt the museum had going and got a free rubber, sticky skeleton for their efforts. Oh and the day was BEAUTIFUL! We took a quick detour across to the parking lot to get a glimpse of the new digs at the football field-WOW! Maybe next year we'll be able to make it to one of the 'Hawks football games.

Road trip!

Everybody! "The wheels on the bus go round and round..."

Cool view. But it brings up an interesting question: Does Mangino really climb to the top of that tower on the practice field?

You KNOW I couldn't come here and NOT have him take this picture, right?

And him, too.

Madagascar hissing cochroaches. Sick.

White spot assassin bug. Could there BE a more intimidating name for a bug?

Giant cave cochroaches. Eeww.

What can I POSSIBLY say?

How stinkin' cool is this???? IT'S A LIFE-SIZE OPERATION GAME!!!! It even beeps when you touch the sides of the compartments. Only thing missing is the light-up nose. Yeah, I know. I probably got a little too excited about this one. I don't care. I believe this game single-handedly got me interesed in healthcare. Really.

Making his Mamma proud.

Boooorrrr-rrring!
Just kidding! Lydia was mid-blink when I took this picture.

Admittedly, I didn't quite get what this was about. How fish don't have necks, I guess.

Now, I've heard you can pick your nose and your friends, and that you can't pick your friend's nose but....can you pick a nose WITH your friend?

Yes those bottles really say "fart" on them.
By the way, I STRONGLY dislike that word.

The head bone's connected to the neck bone, the neck bone's connected to the...to the...to the..

I just put this picture in because I thought Lydia looked especially sweet.

Lydia was pointing to and saying my favorite word of hers, "Tur-toh!"

My little scientist.

I believe this was called a mosasaur.

Checking out the beehive in the tree.

This picture was a bit nostalgic for me. It reminded me of the summer I spent at KU and the first time I visited this museum. Seriously, where did the time go?

I don't even know how best to explain this "activity"...

...I was questioning the sanitation {?} of this the entire time. They were blind-folded and had to smell their way across the sheet following a certain scent. Why? Good question.

A bit over-exposed, but I couldn't help but wonder if the same picture wouldn't be taken about 13 years from now...

Lydia was too freaked out by all the construction equipment down the street making all kinds of noise to have anything to do with posing with her favorite "hah-hawk".