Michael's 38th Birthday

Michael took the day off of work on his birthday and we decided to take the kids to "Kids In Motion," a bouncy house playland that they love in Woodbridge.

Then we met his mom & dad, and sister & niece at the Macaroni Grill for lunch. I brought the cake along so we could enjoy it. Mikie kept asking daddy what theme he wanted for his birthday and he never would say what he'd like; so, I chose based on what he loves....and that is: SLEEP!
So, we were suppose to have a "sleeping" party where we all hung out in our p.j.'s all day and maybe even slept on the floor together as a family, but when you have me as a wife, that just isn't going to be possible! I kept us busy and out of the house from 9 am until 10 pm!

Here's the cake. Mikie insisted that daddy have 38 candles this year!

And by the time I lit the last ones, the first ones were almost half way melted! They were smoking so badly I really thought the smoke detectors might go off at the Macaroni Grill.

The ball of fire!

After lunch, the boys slept in the car while we drove south to Richmond to pick up a very large giraffe that was being held at a store for me (well, for Mikie's party, but really I always wanted one!)

We ate a quick/light dinner at Panera and then took the boys to the Festival of Lights at the Botanical Gardens. It was COLD that evening, but we stayed pretty warm dressed in our ski/snow gear. The boys enjoyed the lights but especially loved the model trains in the conservatory.

A peacock was my favorite display.

The dragonfly was neat too. I liked all the lights around the water because they reflected off the surface.
We got back way too late for Michael to open his presents, so the next day we had our "jammie" party and the boys gave daddy their cards.

This is the present (unopened) that fit the theme. I think he likes it!

Here's a little video of the "party":

Christmas

Christmas morning was enjoyable and a little faster paced than last year. They played with each gift for a little while and then asked to open another one, so it didn't take us all day! The boys came down the stairs to discover that Santa had left them their beloved pachyderms: Christmas Morning Video:

Mikie got a huge elephant that will be used for his birthday party.

And Zachary instantly fell in love with his little "Edapant" that makes noises and even gives kisses.

Video of Zachary saying "Edapant":

Video of them opening their stockings:

Mikie reads his letter from Santa in this video:

Then he reads Zach's letter:

One of the most played with gifts on Christmas morning was the shark pool table that the Wymans gave Mikie.

Another video:

After all the presents were opened, we headed north to our family Christmas at Aunt June & Uncle Wardie's house. Here's a picture with Grandma & Paw Paw Seger. Grandma will be 90 on January 17th.

Gingerbread & Christmas Eve

One day while Michael was home during December, I let the boys make gingerbread houses. Mikie was all into his and having a great time decorating it. Zachary just enjoyed eating the candy while Daddy decorated his. Michael tells me that this is the first gingerbread house he ever remembers making. I'm sure he made them as a kid, but just doesn't remember. Proud of their creation!

Of course, this year Mikie had to have numbers on his house again and insisted that I take a picture of every side to document his hard work.




Christmas eve we dressed up and went to church. This was the first time we took Zachary to the service with us. Both boys sat very nicely until the very end. It was a candlelight service, so while we were singing everyone lit their candles, the lights dimmed, and the boys starred wide eyed at the glowing flames. As the congregation sang the final chorus of Silent Night, the time came to blow out the candles. Mikie blew mine out and Michael blew his out (without thinking!) which sent Zachary into a shrieking tantrum because he didn't get to blow one out. We quickly ushered him out and found another flame to relight the candle for his turn. I can guarantee Michael won't ever blow out another Christmas Eve candle! When we got home, the boys opened their Christmas Eve gifts (new jammies) and put them on to go sprinkle reindeer food on the driveway. Can you tell by the picture that it was quite frigid out?

Video:

Then it was time to put out the milk, cookies, and carrots (for the reindeer).

Zachary couldn't help but snitch a little bedtime snack. But, he didn't reach for the cookie; he had a carrot instead!

We always place our plates for Santa next to our nativity because Santa looks for that first when he goes to each house. The boys used their plates that they made at our Christmas party.

Let It Snow!

The first snow fall of the season didn't produce much, but it was a very wet snow....perfect for making a snowman. I grabbed a carrot for the nose and some M&M's for his mouth and eyes. If you enlarge the picture you'll see that some of his mouth is missing, then you'll see the culprit in the foreground. :)
The second snowfall on December 19th was the biggest storm in 20 years and left us with 24 inches of snow!

The snowdrift on our deck has buried poor little Rudolph!

Later that evening the wind turned the snowdrift into a lioness guarding our house. A little eerie!

Michael shoveled the driveway 3 times during the storm in an attempt to make progress before it became too much.

The next day we went sledding down the hill at the middle school behind our house.
My boys think the best part of winter is eating the snow.

Michael shoveled a path in our backyard so we could get out of our back gate.

Here's a little sledding video taken on Christmas Eve day:

Lions & Monkeys & Polar Bears, Oh My!

The day after Thanksgiving, we combined field trip #11 and field trip #12 into one very quick and cold experience. Mikie just finished The Magic Tree House books, Lions At Lunchtime and Polar Bears Past Bedtime. The closest zoo with a polar bear was the Maryland Zoo, and since we were in Maryland at Michael's aunt's house on Thanksgiving, we decided to spend the night at the Double Tree Hotel that evening and go see the animals the next day. They were calling for cold temps and rain so I was hesitant to stick with the plan, but I'm so glad we did. It wasn't raining, but it was VERY cold and windy. We were there when the zoo opened at 10:00 and left by noon. Here's what we saw: First stop, Africa for our field trip #11 Lions At Lunchtime

Mikie was so excited to see a leopard since they are closely related to his favorite rain forest animal, the jaguar.

He came right up to the fence and sat down as if he was posing for our picture.

The cheetah was restless, which made it fun to observe him through the window.

We found the lions!

Next it was time to get warmed up in the primate house.

The boys had fun watching the chimpanzees, until one of them scared Zachary by banging on the glass right in his little face.

The boys discovered Zoboo from Zoboomafoo. (small black and white monkey above Zach's head)

The giraffes were in their barn enjoying their breakfast in the warmth. Leave it to Mikie to find numbers!

Mikie's favorite part was seeing the baby elephant, Samson, on the left. One of the "friends of the zoo" told us all about the baby elephant and signed Mikie's book.

A short walk across the zoo and now we're in the Arctic for field trip #12 Polar Bears Past Bedtime.

Mikie shows us the snow owl page (small white dot behind him).

We found the arctic fox!

And finally, the polar bears!

The polar bears were pretty inactive, but once we climbed into the tundra buggy (observation deck) we did see one of them walk a few feet before lying down again. It was warm in the buggy and we would have stayed longer if Mikie didn't need to use the bathroom. I really thought the polar bears might be more fun to watch since it felt like we really were in the arctic that day.

Several animals from Africa and the Arctic spotted, two field trips completed, and the warmth of the mini-van waiting for us just over the hill. Time to go!