Dance Fever

Our local Daddy-Daughter dance was last month, and it couldn't have come soon enough for Jordis.  No joke, she's been asking about it since last summer.  See how excited she was?

She was slightly more patient for the hair styling this year.  And I do mean SLIGHTLY.  Two days previously we had decided to go on vacation, leaving right after the dance was over, so getting these two ready and out of the house was hectic when we added trip preparations to the mix.  But they couldn't have looked any more stunning.

Jordis had quite a few friends there this year.  Here she is dancing with a few of them, instead of her date.  (Sideways, of course, because for whatever reason certain pictures will not upload here the way they are showing up in my computer.  I think it's an i-phone thing).

And of course a few trips to the ice cream bar.

  Xander and I usually have a dinner date during the dance, but we had to make it a quick one this year so we could get home and finish packing. So I suggested the KFC buffet.  Xander loves mashed potatoes and he loves buffets, so he was a pretty happy guy.

Then home we all went to finish packing and load up the car for our trip south. 

Happy Heart Day

They say that Valentine's Day is overrated, or a Hallmark Holiday, but I love any reason to turn an ordinary day into a celebration.  Especially with little ones in the house.  Jordis was dressing for the holiday a few days in advance.

I was pretty excited that my Valentine's treats for bible study turned out exactly like they looked in the picture.  That rarely happens.

I also got a box of chocolates from my secret sister.  Yum!

Jordis and Xander each brought home a ton of cards and goodies from their classmates.

We ended the day with breakfast for dinner (and a picture that for some reason keeps showing up sideways even though it's upright in my computer...grrrrrr).

Hope you had a fantastic Valentine's Day, too!

COSI

Over Labor Day weekend our friends from Michigan were here and we were looking for something to do inside since it was cold and supposed to rain. We settled on a trip to COSI since none of us have been to the new one. When I say new, it's been there at least ten years, but most people my age grew up with the original COSI. The kids have been wanting to go for awhile so they were pretty excited. It was the last Monday they were open for the season, and the final day before they closed for their annual two-week cleaning, so we were in luck.

The ball tossing maching in the courtyard was a big hit. You hold these balls up to the machine and they get sucked up inside and then spit out into the air. Then they rain down onto whoever is standing there. I was really proud of the kids because they collected balls and gave them to our friends' little guy, Baby Joe.

Of course you can't go wrong with shootable water.

And submarines are cool

(to some people....if you like feeling claustrophobic, which I do not)

Dr. Jordis loved the little-kid area...

...and the soda shop in the Progress exhibit.

Xander was fascinated with this rotary phone. It was really weird to have to show him how to use it.

Giant Lite Brite!

For dinner we went across the street to have dinner at The Spaghetti Warehouse.
Three active kids made for a wild and crazy dinner hour.

And the food was good, too!

Football Friday Nite

We love football here so we decided that this would be the year we attempt to take our kids to a high school football game. The season started Friday night (August 26th, I started this post a few weeks ago), the weather was gorgeous, and Jason didn't have to work that night, so we decided it was the perfect evening to go. The plan was to go to the local game but they were playing their biggest rival and it usually sells out, so we thought maybe we should find something a little more low-key. The next obvious way to decide, of course, was to find a nearby school that was also close to a great restaurant. We live 20 minutes from a Der Dutchman Amish restaurant that is right down the street from a high school, so off we trekked. Xander hated it immediately. It looked too fancy and there was a loud pianist. But then he saw the bakery. And the gift shop. And the buffet. It has now become his new favorite restaurant.

(Like Jordis' headband? She's apparently channeling her inner Olivia Newton-John.)

Next up was the football game. Even though they were expecting a giant stadium like they see on TV, they were still overwhelmed with all the sights. Xander was impressed that people were allowed to stomp on the bleachers on purpose and make lots of noise. I was impressed that I saw people coming away from the concession stand with funnel cakes. Then I saw sno-cones, and Chick-Fil-A sandwiches and Cow Tales. Forget the Amish place, we might just start coming to games at this school and eating at the concession stand.

We decided to sit on the visitors side since Jason had a friend also in attendance and we thought we'd support the high school that his brother and sister went to. It was clearly the wrong side. The football team was horrible, and so was the band. And I'm still not sure why the flag corp was using flags that didn't coincide with their school colors. But the kids didn't seem to mind. Xander was learning how to read the scoreboard and Jordis was enthralled with the cheerleaders.

As is par for the course, Jordis made a friend while we were at the game. She also thought the team mascot was HILARIOUS. She made Jason take her down to the track so she could see him up close. Then she tried taunting him for the rest of the evening.

We decided to leave during the fourth quarter. I was clearly channeling crowd avoidance techniques I picked up from my dad.....had to get out of the parking lot before the game was over and we were sitting in traffic wasting gas. But I do have priorities so we made sure to pick up a funnel cake to eat on the ride home.

Kids had fun + mom & dad had fun + little to no drama = SUCCESS!!!!

Seven

The little man turned seven two weeks ago.

*Sigh*

He was so excited when he got up and saw that Jason left him a note at the kitchen table when he got home from work.

I wasn't too horribly sad this year........until I washed all of the new summer clothes he got for his birthday. Apparently size 7 clothes have bigger neck holes and don't fit very well on the little kid hangers. I had to start putting the adult size hangers in his closet. THAT made me sad.

He opened his presents after school.

Then we took him for one of his favorites, a meatball sub, while Jordis attended a friend's birthday party.

He said it was a great day!

CoCo Key

Jason took the week off when Xander was on Spring Break, so we decided to take a little trip to an indoor water park about an hour from home. It was actually my idea, which means I must have really needed a getaway because I'm not a huge fan of water. They were offering a great deal though that included two full-days at the water park, an overnight stay in the lodge, t-shirts for the kids, two arcade passes and a board game to keep. The lodge was beautiful and I'd like to stay there again sometime whether I went to the waterpark or not.

The kids were super excited when we got there and couldn't wait to go to the pool. They had on their new "croco-dude" shirts my mom and step-dad brought them back from vacation.

Tried to get them on the waterslide at the same time, but it never worked very well.

All day long this giant bucket fills up with water and then dumps out all over. You get a warning, but if you're in line for a water slide there's no getting out in time.

Xan was too short to do this properly, but he was able to get across as I coached him through some creative maneuvering.

We really enjoyed the water park, especially in the evening when a lot of the people who were just there for the day had gone home. We took a rest, got pizza for an early dinner, then went back down for more fun before bed. In the morning we ate breakfast in our room, then headed down to be early in line so we could get a table and chairs for our beach towels.

The kids love arcade games so they were excited to earn tickets before we left.

Look at this girl pull the handle. Watch out Vegas!

After leaving the water park we went to lunch at Bob Evans. Better yet, the kids got to eat for free with the coupons they get every year for their birthday.

So glad we had a good time!

Daddy-Daughter Dance

Last month, Jason and Jordis went to the annual Daddy-Daughter Dance sponsored by our city. You have to be four to attend, so she just missed going last year by about two months. I had fun getting her ready, but I'd make a horrible pageant mom. Jordis is a typical girl.....she wants to look pretty, but she doesn't want it to take too long. This is the look she kept giving me when I told her for the eighty-millionth time, "No, I'm not finished with your hair yet."

All ready to go

Upon arrival, all of the little girls received a red carnation corsage.

Jordis wore hers all of five minutes before demanding that it be removed.

There was an ice cream buffet that looked really yummy. Jordis apparently had two bowls. She's never really adventurous, just chocolate and sprinkles.


Jordis' neighbor friend, Megan, and Xander's neighbor friend, Lauren, were also there with their dads, and they all sat at the same table together. Besides the dancing there were also some other activities, as well as a professional photographer on hand to take pictures.


Xander and I couldn't let Jason and Jordis have all the fun, so we went on a little date or our own. I took him to Donato's for subs and pizza because he really loves meatball subs and I really love Donato's pizza. It was win-win!

By far, this picture of Jordis was one of the highlights of my evening. She has never been one to enjoy posing for portraits. So much so that, after taking her for unsuccessful photos at 9 months, 12 months and 18 months, I finally quit taking her altogether. I was getting upset with her because she wouldn't stand still and smile for a picture before we left the house, and she rolled her eyes at me. Sometimes I tend to forget that some of the best pictures are the candid ones. I think this one needs blown up and hung on the wall.