Merry Christmas 2016!

It had been a few years since we attempted to visit Santa...

I think it will be a few more until we visit again...

Happy Birthday, Piper!

Piper turned 11!

She wanted an ice cream cake this year. So we made one that was seriously way better than Baskin Robbins. Chocolate cake, oreo ice cream, oreo chunks, mint chocolate chip ice cream, and whip cream frosting. It was a hit! Max even liked it ;)

She has been saving money for a hamster. It was slow going. So we surprised her and got her one for her birthday. She was sooooo excited.

So off to the pet store we went...

Meet "Pickles".

Max likes him, too :)

He is pretty cute.

We've since remodeled his home, done an addition, and are patiently awaiting for him to eat a blueberry on camera ;)

Max Writes His Name {Max style}

Every school morning, the kids in Max's class, trace their names. They worked on this in preschool, too. So Max has been working on this for several years. He's not a big fan of holding crayons, pencils, etc. So this has been a challenge, to say the least. Often, he won't even look at the paper, but just randomly scribbles a line to be finished ;)

At school they are teaching him to write the letters by saying, up - down - up - down, for M; around - and - down, for a; and something about crossing for x. Just this month he started repeating the up -down - up -down.

So today he wanted to sit up at the kitchen counter, so I gave him some paper and a marker and told him to write his name... this is what he did. So cute!! I think it's the first time he's ever tried to independently write his name, without tracing it.

And after, he broke out reciting the ABC's, Max style, a few skipped letters here and there, but oh so proud :)

Pirates, the Musical

Piper was in the school play. After two months of practicing, tonight was finally the performance!

To Yellowstone Bear World and Back, in a Day

We decided to make a quick day trip up to Yellowstone Bear World since we didn't have any plans for fall break. But Max doesn't do hotels very well, so we just went up and back in a day (yeah that's 7 hours of driving). The kids loved it, though. Especially Max. He needs to move to a farm with goats! Any takers?? hint hint Aunt Kimber....

AND, miracles do happen... Max actually went on a little train ride!!! Usually he has a sensory meltdown around amusement park rides. I have made the mistake of putting him on once or twice, and you'd think I was stabbing his eyeballs out with a fork. But he shoved his way to the front of the line (everyone was super nice - probably because he was bigger than all the other kiddos in line and they didn't want to be trampled).

He seemed to like the bears ok, I guess. He signed bear, but mostly kept signing deer, so?

But he LOVED the goats. Luckily, these goats loved to be strangled, I mean hugged ;)

 

I think this pig was just confusing to Max. Peppa Pig is pink, wears boots, and jumps in muddy puddles...

The deer were a bit more skeptical of Max's intentions...

Ah, the baby bears. My faves.

Yep - it came home with us. If you can't strangle a goat in the car on the ride home, this is the next best thing!

Back to School!

No uniform for Piper this year! She was kind of excited to pick out a first day of school outfit, but kind of nervous for changing schools this year.

Max, well, let's just say mom was excited for him to be back in school ;)

Snowbird - Days 5 & 6ish

Painting rocks.

Piper did an egg, Max did a tornado. And Kai did a shark.

The view from the 2nd floor.

Hiking! Max got side tracked watching the chair lift and sat down by the porta potties.

Lots of stopping to sit down for quick breaks.

Hiking selfies!

 

Carrying a bubble gun in the woods makes everything even better.

 

When we got back to the condo, Max threw my favorite water bottle in the pond. Guess he was done with it ;)

More swimmin'.

4 hours later...

Most of his favorites all in one room... movie cases, marble run, cars in a line, a half eaten apple, and the iPad.

And that sums up our vacation! Swimming, hiking, cousins, watching the olympics, and repeat. Good times.