Dancing

I was just dancing in front of Declan on his carseat.

Connor is playing with his cars on the kitchen counter. He stops and says, "if you want to dance, please go in the living room."

Poor kid is embarrassed by singing and dancing!

"Bam Soup"

Connor has renamed Ramen Noodle Soup, "Bam Soup". He lovingly refers to hitting as "bamming". I'm not exactly sure when this started, but maybe with a Disney Christmas special called Prep & Landing. I don't remember the exact context, but one of the characters in the show said, "Jingle Bam"....I digress.

So, he told me he wanted "Bam Soup" the other day. I had no clue what he was talking about. During moments like these, I often have to step back and attempt to think like my 4 year old. He helped me out a little when he said, "yeah, mom...when we were making soup and you let me bam it first." A-ha! I let him break up the dried noodles before putting them in the boiling water.

I will never call them Ramen Noodles again. Bam Soup it is.

———

There are also "Bam Balloons": an awesome find at the Dollar Store with 4 in a pack. You "bam" the package and it expands until a tiny balloon explodes out of it. We got these for all of his classmates to put in their valentines....big hit for sure!!

Vacation

Connor watched Alvin & the Chipmunks, Chipwrecked 2 nights ago. Yesterday morning while taking him to school (late because the roads were so icy) he told me me he wanted to go on a big boat with rooms. He wants to sleep on it too...I'm assuming he means a cruise ship.

While I was making dinner yesterday evening, he asked -- oh so politely, if we could go on vacation after dinner.

Oh, I wish it was that simple, kiddo.

He is anxious to go to the beach (because of several books: Berenstain Bears Go On Vacation and Just me and my Grandma (Little Critter...they go to the beach). So, perhaps our next family vacation will be a cruise to the beach. Maybe next fall or winter....not wise to go on such a trip during the summer in Michigan.

I want to go on vacation after dinner too!

Family Skiing Attempt

I bought a Groupon for lift tickets & ski rental before Christmas. I've been so anxious to get Connor on the slopes to see how he did.

Well, it was 1/3 fun and 2/3 frustrating. :)

We went to Cannonsburg which is just 12 miles north of Grand Rapids on Saturday. Although Connor didn't wake up super early, we had no idea how tired he was until after.

I skied with Declan in the Ergo. He didn't make a peep and was all bundled up. Saying he had "fun" may be a bit of an overstatement, but I do think he enjoyed the fresh, cold air. I thoroughly enjoyed being back in skis, but with a first-timer on our hands, Brian and I didn't even make it to the chair lift. Instead, we tried to make sure Connor didn't fall on the "magic carpet".

I do think Connor had fun a few times. Next time, we will definitely sign him up for at least a few hours of "ski school" first. Getting up from falling was perhaps his biggest challenge and he also couldn't consistently snap his boots in his skis. He skied between my legs once and that was probably the most fun he had...hanging on to my pole that I held horizontally. That was probably quite a site to onlookers...me with Declan strapped to my chest and Connor between my knees! HA! Brian was teaching him to go side to side and snow plow. He did better when we didn't let him hang on to us, but on the last big "run" of the afternoon, he ended up flying down the "mountain" super fast and when he fell to stop and ended up with a ski in his back. That was it. Tears.

To top it off, I asked a lady to take our family picture (essentially mid-meltdown) and my phone was set on video instead of camera, so we have an 18 second clip of us trying to take a family photograph, but no real picture. I was able to grab this still from the video, but that is all I've got of the whole crew. Sums things up quite nicely actually.

Oh, yeah...I also deserve the "mother of the year" award for somehow stabbing Connor in the cheek with my ski pole during an attempt to help him get up. Thank goodness the kid is tough. He didn't even cry about that one. I did accidentally whack him with my pole again as we were heading in to return our gear, and through tears, he said, "that's twice, mom!" oops. Bless his heart, he was so tired. He fell asleep in the car and proceeded to sleep for the next 3.5 hours.

Next year we WILL try again and Connor will go to at least a few hours of ski school first. Maybe we'll even go up to Boyne Mountain...further north and make it a weekend? It will be better for all of us if someone else teaches C how to ski! Do you think Declan will be able to hang? 17 months may be a bit premature...

Instagram photos

I know it has been a long time since I posted anything. :( Boo to me.

I've been really busy with 2 little boys and working a TON.

Here are some of my favorite Instagram photos from so far this year.