Great Wolf Lodge--Part II

I'm finally getting around to the "swimming section" of our trip! (We did swim both days, but I only took the camera in for one of them.)

Here is little Miss Kari, all ready for some serious swimming! (This girl LOVES the water!)

She also loved the slides! Very brave, indeed.

Christian's favorite place (and mine) was the Lazy River. It was by far the warmest water and, with his cold and cough in full effect, it made him the happiest. It was also "just right" in the height catagory depth-wise as well. He wanted to be in there the whole time--fine by me!

Emily showed off her athletic ability (and future "Survivor" skills) by showing up all of the boys in line while crossing the pool on the moving logs.

She even paused mid-way for a photo-opp!

This was Em's cheering section :-). And, here are all of the kiddos, giving Mommy their biggest swim-grins.

There is one more post about one of the coolest restaurants we've ever been to--Part III to come!

Great Wolf Lodge-Part 1

Over President's Day weekend, Cubby and I took the kids down to Kansas City for an overnight stay at the Great Wolf Lodge. It was fun...BUT, I don't think we'd last for more than one overnight (at least until the children are a bit older)! Ours are not good sleepers outside of their own beds! But, it was great to get away and have a little fun together.

Here's little Miss K with her favorite treat--a chocolate chip cookie. She's also wearing her favorite hat :-). The hotel room in itself was an adventure--talk about some hyper kiddos! This captures a rare down-moment when we asked Emily to read a book to Kari.

After some swimming (no pictures of that first swim--we were all anxious to get down there and forgot the camera!), we were starving! Kids ate for free at their restaurant--woohoo!

The kids also got some complimentary wolf ears--they all had fun pretending to be wolves after that.Storytime came around at 8:00--this is the clock tower in the front lobby. The various woodland creatures come "alive" for a semi-weird, but captivating none-the-less, show.

Here are the kids, all listening to the storytime. "Violet" the girl wolf, waved to the kids and then they were able to give high-fives or hugs after the story was read. Christian figured out that waiting in line was not for him and he quickly cut ahead and got his hug in early. The girls didn't really care to hug :-).

The night was a "bit" rough in that Kari has gotten too big for her pack-and-play and until Cubby pulled her into bed, she kept getting frustrated and crying out. Then, Christian, who had already been getting a cold, starting coughing at 4:30 and could NOT stop. (This is EXACTLY what happened to him the LAST time we went to the Great Wolf Lodge!) Anyhow, Poor guy.

After trying various "remedies" failed, (cool air on the balcony, steamy shower, Vick's vapor rub, jolly-ranchers) Cubby ended up just taking him out and exploring the lodge until around 7:00 and by then the rest of us were getting up. A long night, but, we survived.

More swimming and fun timers to follow!

Kari is Growing--in so many ways!!

Kari is growing...in more ways than just one! Chubby little legs, tummy, and cheeks!!! After how small she got last summer, we're thrilled at her growth these last six months.

Kari had her two year check up the other week and here are her "stats":

Weight: 25 lbs 15 oz (let's just call it 26 lbs, shall we?)--32%!!!

Height: 34 inches--49%!

Head: 19 cm--92%(no big surprise there, she is a Lindseth and all!)

Great, huh?? Sometimes I'm baffled at how she grows though since her diet would barely keep a small bird alive. But, we are thankful that the multi-vitamins keep her healthy and, apparently, growing!

The other way that this big girl is growing is that she went potty for the first time today! While I was organizing the other day, I came across some pull-ups that I'd tucked away for the time when Kari would be ready. Little did I know that she'd want to wear them all.the.time! Kari has also been wanting to sit on the potty and toot. Yup, just toot. But, hey, it's a start, right? Then today, she came to me and said, "Poopy, Mommy!" I checked her pull-up (thinking she'd already gone), but she hadn't. So, we went into the bathroom and after a couple of tries, she poo'd in the potty!!! It was an exciting moment for all. Who knows, maybe I'll have one out of diapers before the next one comes along--a first for me! Go Kari!

I just love this--Kari, feeding her Minnie Mouse and "talking" on her phone in her favorite dress up dress. She's growing up so fast!

New Kicks

Daddy took Christian out today to get hair cuts and new shoes. Christian LOVES his new shoes. I repeat, Christian LOVES his new shoes. Here is a picture of them--on his feet, while he's asleep. (And yes, he put them on after we'd kissed him "good night.")

Check out her hair!!!

I was braiding Em's hair for school and Kari wanted in on the action! So, I pulled whatever I could gather into one of those little fountains on top of her head. However, Kari had other ideas! Since I'd done two braids on Emily, Kari also wanted two of her own. Soooo...I did my best to gather the last of any remaining long strands into another fountain! (Apparently, she has a tough head b/c she didn't even flinch when I was pulling and rubber-banding it.)

She wore them until lunch. It was so cute and she looked very big-girl! Maybe by this time next year there may be a bit more to gather, but hey, I'll take what I can get!

Snow Dayz

So, finally, in February, it decided to snow! (After last week of 70 degree weather it was a bit of a shock!) Here are some picture from Saturday morning. The kids wasted no time getting outside--Cubby and Christian were out shoveling by 8:30; Emily went out shortly thereafter. Kari went out twice...for 5 mins at a time b/c she didn't like the snow falling in her face! Our friends came over to join in the fun of igloo building and everyone played outside until 11:45! They were DRENCHED (the snow was very wet)! But, after the power came back on (it went out around 9:30 and came back on around 11-ish), everyone got to enjoy some "warm cocoa."

Cubby took the big kids out sledding Sunday morning (church doesn't start until 2 and so that gave them plenty of time to be outside!). Kari wasn't feeling well (drainage from her stuffy nose upset her tummy the night before) and so she and I laid low on Sunday.

Apparently, we may be getting "Round 2" of the snow later this week. As long as it's gone by the end of March, right??

Em's New Room

This is the face of a very happy girl...in her new room! Yup, Emily has a room of her own. In preparation for the baby, Emily has relocated to the bedroom in our basment. (Previous names for this room: office, Uncle Peter's room, food storage/toy room.) It has gotten a total makeover and is now very much a 7-yr-old girl's room!

We found this loft bed on craigslist. Cubby sanded it down, rubbed it down with tung's oil, and Christian and I put on the new pulls. Emily LOVES it and it provides some terrific shelves for toys, and drawers for her desk stuff and clothes.

This old entertainment center was given to us by some friends who were moving and it has served its purpose ten-fold! Dress up clothes, Barbies, Emily's vet-set, her American girl dolls, and games are just a few of the things that it holds. And this is the view of her closet and book shelves. To the right of her name on the wall is the door (and behind the door is another door into the bathroom downstairs). Inside Em's closet got a makeover as well--a closetmaid organizer gives her the shevles and hanging room. (We actually have these closet organizer systems in every clothes closet in the house--they're only $30 and worth EVERY PENNY!)

Each morning Emily wakes up, goes down to her desk and either reads her scriptures, draws fairies or plays with her Littlest Pet Shops. (We have also discovered that both Christian and Kari sleep at least a half-hour longer each morning when Em's not around to wake them up! Ha!)

We're thrilled that Emily loves her new room so much. Next up, trying to transition Kari into a big-girl bed in Christian's room!