Madagascar 3

Henry got to go to his first movie this week - Madagascar 3!  The Mall of America theatre was showing this movie for their Toddler Tuesday activity - popcorn included, how could we not go check it out?  Oma does love a good movie and enjoyed a little Madagascar 3 with us, too.  Henry lasted about 40 minutes, I'd say.  When he had had enough, he said "let's go back to my house now and we'll save the rest of the movie for later."  He did sit very nicely for those 40 minutes, with his hands in his popcorn at all times.  

Popcorn, anyone? 

Afterwards, we took a walk through Nickelodeon Universe to see if there was a ride he could go on.  Henry said, "let's find 'somepin' for me."  Well, it's not easy to find a ride for a 2 year old!  Luckily, when he saw Nemo here (yep, one of the toys off to the side that takes a quarter to operate), he pointed it out and said, "this one's for me!"  We didn't even have any quarters on us, so he shook it as hard as he could to make it "go fast."  Oh, how I do love the innocence at this age, as he's perfectly content with sitting on Nemo when there were so many other things going on around him!

Off to Greta's

We realized we hadn't be out of town in ages and made a last minute trip to Perham this past weekend.  We did some playing, some swimming, some church going, and some eating!

Saturday night's dinner - Zorbaz (oh how I do love me some Zorbaz) for nachos and pizza.   

Somebody's high on pizza here :)

Sunday morning TV - Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  Don't mess with him, the boy obviously takes his Mickey seriously :)

Thanks for putting up with us, Gillespie's.  Greta, thanks for keeping Henry on his toes - he needs you to keep an eye on him and keep him in line!

my little scientist

The whole fam headed out for a super fun outing on President's Day - to the Science Museum of MN.  While most of it was designed for kids a bit older than Henry (let's get real, most of it was over my head too), he still had a good time looking, feeling, listening, touching, pushing - you know, all the good stuff you're supposed to do at a kid-friendly museum!

Henry's favorite exhibit was definitely the Dinosaurs - I think we went through this one twice!  The boy's as big as a dinosaur bone here.

Henry is really into dinosaurs lately - loves his Triceratops here.

Pushing the lever back and forth made the T-Rex's jaw open and shut, cool!

If you've ever heard his "baby" voice, he loved going up to this "thing" (no clue what it is) and saying "you're just a tiny little baby!"  

It was tough to get him to stop "washing dishes" here - loved it.

Doesn't he look so comfortable nuzzled into a large hand, right between a blister and a wart?  Sick!

There were plenty of puzzles around the museum, so of course he stopped for all of them.

Afterwards - lunch at Cossetta's was in order.  Neither Phil or I had been there since the remodel.  It looked beautiful inside and, of course, the food was delicious!  All in all, a great morning :)  

fishy

We're nearing the end of our session of swimming lessons at the Shoreview Community Center.  I do love doing these in the winter, as it's a great indoor activity that wears Henry out!  Kathryn & Matthias were nice enough to take some photos when they came to watch the little fish swim :)  The next time we take lessons, I'll be able to stay out of the water, yeah!  

Today was "safety day" so we wore lifejackets for a majority of the class.  A typical class goes like so - jumping in 3 times, The Hokey Pokey, Motor Boat - Motor Boat,  reaching for rings, swimming for bricks, watering cans, front floats and back floats, Tick Tock - Tick Tock, 5 minutes of free time, then we finish it off with If You're Happy and You Know It!

I'm always impressed with this community center - lots of fun things for the kiddos to do in the water.

Henry's favorite part of free time - the WATERSLIDE!  He usually manages to sneak down about 3 times before we have to go :)

Looking forward to the beach this summer!

V-Day

Valentine's Day has come and gone, the decorations are put away, and Henry is now asking for St. Patrick's Day decor already!  

Just a quick recap of the holiday of LOVE :)

He worked very, very hard on his Valentine cards this year.  Seriously, it was about a 2 week process (thank goodness I started early), just a few at a time to keep him interested!

We made some LOVEly pancakes.  

Henry was in charge of the dessert on the big V-Day.  Kathryn & Matthias were in town, so we all had a LOVEly dinner at Oma & Opa's house that night.  We went with a delicious heart-shaped cake with LOTS of sprinkles per Henry's request.  

Snowman

Could this snow be any more perfect for snowman-making?!  I think not!  After the storm stopped today, we decided we were going BIG - over 6 feet tall for this little lady snowman, that is.  You know it's a big one when Phil and I were lifting up and placing the middle snowball together and he says, "lift with your legs, not your back!"  Of course after she was up, Henry wanted to knock her down.  He was sorely disappointed when she didn't budge.  

Nothin' but love for Snowy - that's what he named her :)

Lady Gaga

WOW - the girl can put on quite a show!

So good to see this girl too.....thanks Teri Ann :)

week in review

Where has this past week gone?  Well, we've been inside for a good majority of it because of this.....   

.....yep, -16 degrees one morning, brrrr!  

They started construction on a new house directly across the street from us last week.  The excavator was seriously shaking our house at 7:30am one morning.  It sure was good entertainment for Henry, but Lucy was NOT a big fan :)

Speaking of -16 degrees, Punxsutawney Phil said we'd be seeing Spring a little sooner on this Groundhog Day, so that's good news, right?  A little Groundhog Day project for this past Saturday morning.....

.....followed up with a Valentine project at Home Depot a little later in the day.