Lots of snow

We spent soooo much time outside in the snow today, that our coats were soaked when we came inside.  If this were 20 years ago, we'd need bread bags in our boots, too!

Looks like somebody is gearing up for mowing season a little early this year. 

So, the snow was absolutely perfect for snowballs or any other snow concoction we wanted to make.  At first, I tried to talk Henry into making a snowman, and then he asked for "Santaland," and then he changed it to "a house," and then I finally negotiated to keep it simple with a fort, because forts are way awesome in his eyes right now.  

We made it as tall as he was before he couldn't resist the urge any longer to crash it down, shocking, I know!

I was quite tired when we came inside.  I asked Henry if he was tired too, and the response I got was "NOOOO" as he sprinted away.  I'm thinking he really was a little worn out at least, as he did take a good nap this afternoon!

Snow Day

The Wargo Nature Center held their annual Snow Day this weekend - sledding, ice fishing, snow-shoeing, indoor projects, and treats.  Henry's favorite part - roasting (frozen) marshmallows - didn't care for the kick-sledding which shocked us, as the boy does love a good sled ride!

Once again, my plans for today were cancelled by this sleeting weather we have going on outside.  We've never been to the Winter Carnival in St. Paul and I wanted to go and check out all the ice sculptures.  Maybe next year we can finally get there, I guess.  

too many bubbles

The boy does know how to rock a good beard - he is a Krump :)

guarding the door

So, my little Henry sure likes to push his boundaries with me :)  One of my rules is NO TOYS IN THE BATHROOM WHEN YOU'RE GOING POTTY (what a mean mommy I am, huh)!  Well, he likes to get his toys as close as he can possibly get them without them being "in the bathroom," as you can see here.  

These are two of his Little People, who he has named - Matthias is on the left and Katie is on the right.  He told me they were "watching out so Lucy doesn't get in!"  Thank you for guarding the door, Richter's!

Hockey Day Minnesota

This past Saturday was Hockey Day Minnesota, so what else would we do, but play hockey, right?!  It was such a beautiful morning, we were out on the lake forever.  In the afternoon, we had every intention of going to Minneapolis for the Pond Hockey Tournament on Lake Nokomis and the Kite Festival on Lake Harriet, but unfortunately, the wind came up a little too fierce that afternoon, so it kept us snuggled up at home instead.  

Henry's pals, Rohit & Diya, came over to sprint around on the ice too, along with lots of sled races out there!  I think everybody napped well that day :)

Fruuuuuit Loooooops

The boy has never eaten Fruit Loops until the other day, and now he can't stop saying "Fruuuuuuit Loooooops!"  Who knew, the first ingredient in Fruit Loops is, yes, Sugar?!  So, I borrowed this cute little rainbow project idea from my sister, and it sure was a big hit.  Owen and his Mama came over the other morning for little play-and-project-date!  We're loving our play-dates right now as I'm trying to keep Henry away from flu (as best I can) by staying away from some of our favorite winter play spots (Children's Museum, any indoor playground).

Monkey see, Monkey do!  Man, all that sugar makes you parched.

Aren't they so cute - the boys and the rainbows, of course?!

As you can see here, Henry was NOT wanting to get out of his jammies that day.  Actually, he may go through a few pairs in one day.  He's definitely in a "pj" phase and regular clothes are the enemy.  His favorites right now are still his Christmas jammies - Merry Christmas to me!

Oh how we've missed you

After a play-date with some friends in South Minneapolis the other night, we couldn't leave the city without stopping at our favorite ice cream place for some dessert - Pumphouse Creamery.  

Mmm Mmm Good!

MIA family day

Yep, it was family day at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts this past Sunday.  It's really fun to see how much more Henry can do at these events as he's getting older.  I can't remember what the official topic was this month, but he really got into 2 different projects - decorating clay (he was supposed to make a pizza) and making a candy necklace (he much preferred stabbing his candy on toothpicks instead).  Whatever the project, as you can see below, he gave them his full concentration :)  We also sat through 20 seconds of a movie on China's Terracotta Warriors; who wouldn't want to see that movie?!

She & Her

Yep, Henry named these two She & Her.  She is the one in blue and Her is the one in red (also known as Llama Llama).  He tells me Her is the mommy and She is the baby.  Boy, does he ever LOVE She & Her right now.  He loves them so much that he agreed to a trade deal to get them into his crib - his crib is starting to get a little ridiculous with the number of stuffed animals and blankets in it, so he agreed to get rid of 3 little animals in order to make room for these two.  They go everywhere with him, as you can see here, they're having lunch :)   

What's up?

It's almost the middle of January already, that's crazy.  What do we have to show for ourselves?  I feel like we've had a lazy couple weeks around here, but I guess that's ok sometimes.  We're about to rev up our winter activity calendar next week!  

We've been doing quite a bit of playing outside this week, it's been great out there.  Henry thinks it's hilarious to get out his summer toys in the snow!  We've been out skating on the weekends.  Henry and I went and picked up a hockey stick for him today, so we'll bust that out this weekend.  

Sitting so nicely for a haircut while watching Curious George :)  I just can't find anybody else to cut his hair like June cuts it.  June, we're coming back (I just wish you were a little closer)!  Whenever I mention getting him a haircut, he brings me my phone and says, "here Mommy, call June."  

Lovin' Lucy :)  "Mommy, I get Lucy her blanket and all her toys so she's not sad."  

Just play, play, playin' around here.  

Skating - Takes 1 & 2

Take 1

In theory, these "skates" sounded just perfect for Henry (and the reviews on Amazon agreed, as well), so I ordered them for Christmas.  I couldn't find any real skates that were small enough for him, so I thought we'd try them.  

Phil shoveled off a mini-rink for us down on the lake.  The ice is as smooth as be, it's wonderful.  We tried them, the wild man couldn't keep them on, therefore I'll be sending them back this week.

 Besides, he was having waaaaay more fun running around on the lake anyways.  

Who made these tracks?

And he's off.....going to check out the hockey game going on over there.  Man, there are some hard-core rinks going on around here!

Take 2

We hit up Play it Again Sports today to find a pair of used hockey skates and they recommended these 'Lil Bauers instead, for the toddlers.  They're still pretty big and they'll definitely fit next year too, so that's good.  

 He liked it for the first few seconds, then hated it, then liked it, then hated it (you get the picture), then it got just downright cold and we headed in.  Unfortunately we didn't have a fire pit going, to warm us up, like the guys down the street!