Dominican Republic

We're off to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic!  We had a bright and early 6:30am flight.  Why would this 2-year-old be tired at that time?!  She was a great little traveler (they both were).  With endless snacking and electronic devices, what's not to love about flying?!

We 'spring-breaked' with the Olin crew and Auntie Jackie too :)  It was a week straight of sun, water, fun, food, and drinks.  The days were all blending together as each day was the same.....eat breakfast, go to the water park/pool/beach (visit the swim-up bar a few times), eat lunch, rest up in the room, go to the water park/pool/beach, happy hour, eat dinner, go to bed!  What a relaxing week it was.  My favorite restaurant that we went to was definitely the hibachi experience.  Phil was even invited up to help cook our meal for a little while - he had mad skills!  My favorite cocktail throughout the week changed, from piña coladas to slushy vodka lemonades (on a hot day, mmm mmm good)!

The Darcy and Krump kids were in heaven.  Riley and Henry were inseperable :)

Here they are, standing with their friend "pretty" as they named her for the week.  There were a few peacocks roaming around our resort at all times.  

Let the water fun begin!  I remember the first night we got there (not this picture), it was getting dark already and the pool was closed, but Henry insisted on putting his swim trunks on.  He just HAD to check out the ocean before going to eat dinner :)  He loved the water, any water, all water, he loved it!  

Check out that beach babe!

We were applying and reapplying sunscreen non-stop.  Our poor Minnesota skin was not used that sun!  Lydia was so good about keeping her hat on all the time.  The Krumps were definitely BFFs with 50 SPF for the week.  

Lydia's new Minnie water toy from Auntie Jackie didn't leave her side the whole trip!

The water park was so much fun - here was a little splash pad action!  

This was a "big" waterslide according to Lydia :).....

.....they were just the right size for her!

We didn't see much of Henry or Riley's faces some days - they were seriously underwater non-stop!  We brought along a few water toys to keep them occupied - good plan.  

Here was a little more water park fun, silly faces.....

.....and muscles, of course!

Lydia was getting awfully spoiled with her "special drinks" at the bar!  She had to pick orange or red each time - tough decisions! 

A quick rainstorm was coming in and downpoured on us about 3 minutes after this windy pic was taken, ha!

On our last morning, we headed out for an early walk in our pajamas to catch the scenery one final time!  

Thank you, thank you, thank you to Grandma & Grandpa Olin - a trip we'll never forget!!

February

Here's a recap of the month of February around our house.....

There are 3 brothers in New Brighton who build a different snow sculpture every year.  We had to go check it out after seeing it on the national news.  Here is their snow octopus for this year.  This thing was amazing!  It's 18 feet tall, solid snow, and they estimate that it weighs 300,000 pounds.  The brothers were so nice when we were there, they let the kids walk all around it a few times, so they could count the tentacles and make sure they were all there :)

Lydia has been through so many clothes phases that I can't keep track of all of them.  For a couple weeks, she was into wearing all stripes or all polka dots.  I tend to keep up on the laundry pretty well around here, so it seems like she was alternating stripes/polka dots every other day.  On this date, it was obviously a stripes day.....we visited the Brown Family Adventure Park for a little indoor playground action!

Lydia finally got her first real haircut at Kids' Hair, complete with a sucker and a quick episode of Paw Patrol to keep her occupied.  

They sure had plenty of days to play out in the snow last month.  One day, Henry and his little buddy, Brennan, decided they were going to "shovel off the whole lake!"  They tried so hard to get the job done.....

.....and even enlisted Lydia for her help too :)

Henry is still hard at it with his various Home Depot and Lowe's kids projects.  I took them both by myself a few weeks ago when Phil was out of town.  Henry was excited to build and Lydia was excited to supervise.  She was perfectly content just sitting there, with those crackers of course!

Henry has another little friend in the neighborhood, Evan.  His dad is big into ice fishing out on the lake.  The little boys all got to take their turns reeling in the perch that he was catching that day.  

On Super Bowl Sunday, I took the kids over the Cub so they could pick out their own donuts.  Henry picked one with Panther sprinkles and Lydia had to pick a Broncos donut, just to go against the grain :)

Then later that day, we headed over to the Nelson's for their annual Super Bowl party.  This year, the husbands were all in AZ for their annual "college buddies golf trip" but that didn't stop us from partying!

Here were Henry's valentines for all his lovely little classmates.  

You are EXTRA awesome valentine!  

This is what he brought me home from school as my valentine gift.  Check out that beautiful bouquet of roses (strawberries) and dirt (cake), hand-painted flower pot, frosted cookies, and portrait.  So cute!

I was doubly spoiled on Valentines Day this year by Henry.  Here's another beautiful bouquet, filled with Acts of Love (with a little help from Oma) - each heart had a different Act of Love that Henry does for me.....folding socks, setting the table, giving me a hug.  I tell ya, I'm one lucky girl!