Monkey House

Drew turns 4 next week, but he will be on vacation, so they did his party early. Both Rowan and Eddie were invited and got to join Drew and many others at Monkey House to play and eat. So fun. And Ed and I then got to run errands without kids! AWESOME. Kids had lots of fun.

holy icicle...

Ed found this ginormous icicle outside our house tonight and brought it in to show the kids. Rowan thought she should take a lick. Oh the joys of not having gutters.

Eddie and Drew

Today, Drew and Eddie got to play together! On Friday's, Justin is off work, so Drew is home with him. So he asked if Eddie would want to play and of course he was interested. So they played for awhile at our house then went over to Drew's to play for awhile too. Fun times.

new hobby

The month before we moved to MN, I had found a lady in Delafield who refinishes furniture and purchased a few things from her and took a few pieces to her to refinish. And I have thought about trying it myself but never really took the time to look into it and try. So a couple weeks ago I decided to dive in. I found a store in St. Paul that sells the Annie Sloan chalk paint, researched a bit and talked with Lori from Nashotah about her techniques, and started!

 

My Mom and Bill brought me a few pieces to work with and we also decided to do our kitchen table and chairs. So first is an end table I did from my mom in French Linen, and the kitchen chairs below are a work in progress in the same color. More photos to come with before and after pictures.

swimmers

Another night of swim tonight...but Grandma and Grandpa joined us, and even Dad. Silly boys watching Rowan swim before Eddie's class started.

Rowan's class...

Eddie's class...

game and party time

Wouldn't be a standard morning around here without some games. And who more perfect to play with than Grandma and Grandpa.

Then we had to get ready and head to Woodbury as Rowan had a birthday party for her friend Delilah from class. They got to visit the animals at the humane society. She made a bandana for Gizmo, had lunch and cake. So fun for her. Grandma and I did some shopping while she was partying. Then we headed back home to hang out for the night.

Big Bowl

Grandpa Bill and Grandma Pam are on vacation next week, so they came tonight to spend a few days with us. We started their visit with dinner at Big Bowl in Roseville. It is an Asian restaurant where you can order off the menu or create your own stir fry. I think they liked it.

 

better late than never...and skating party!

We received an unexpected package today in the mail...Ed received a pasta maker set from Nana and Papa for Christmas, but it has been out of stock since Thanksgiving. And today without any shipping info we received half of the pieces...maybe by his birthday he will be able to make pasta!

Tonight was our neighborhood skate party! In our neighborhood, many of the neighbors have gone in on creating a hockey rink on the pond behind the houses across from us. They built boards, put up lights, built a make shift Zamboni too. So tonight, we all got together and brought our own hot dogs and beverages and community snacks. Had a bon fire on the ice and did some skating. When it got later the men played some boot hockey, but by then the kids were sleeping and the ladies moved inside. This week has been bitterly cold, and today was in the 20's, so it was a much needed heat wave for the party. So fun.

Eddie tried out hockey skates that were loaned to us by TJ...he wasn't a big fan of them. And Rowan was cruising around like no body's business.

custom hat

Rowan pulled out her custom hat from Nana and Papa to wear today...I think she got it 2 Christmas' ago, but still fits and looks super cute.

Aunt Karen birthday and swim...

The kids made Great Aunt Karen's day by sending her this picture today! So glad that something so little can bring someone such joy! Happy Birthday to my 3rd Mom.

Safety day at swimming tonight! Rocking the life jackets!

fondue night

A day late, but not a dollar short. Since we ended up with a fun filled Valentine's day yesterday, we did fondue tonight for dinner. Wow was it good and filling! Of course the appetizer or cheese fondue was the best as well as the dessert or chocolate. Yum Yum.

 

The kids received Valentine's gifts in the mail, thus the money picture! (Thank you Aunt Karen)

Happy Valentine's Day!

From our little Valentine's...

This is what their Valentine Day's looked like at school! Eddie celebrated on Thursday and brought his friends pencils.."Valentine you're just WRITE". And Rowan took straws..."sip sip hooray it's Valentine's Day"! Rowan decorated her own box and Eddie a bag (one at home and one at school).

Originally, we didn't have any other plans for Valentine's day...we were going to do fondue with the kids and lay low. Until last night at dinner, when we got a text from Nicki that they were in the car on their way to the Mall of America, wondering if we would want to meet them tomorrow! We couldn't turn down an offer like that...so we met them at lunch time...and didn't get home until after 7pm.

 

We had lunch at Dick's Last Resort. Was our first time there...food was good, service not good. But that is how it is supposed to be there. Rude, funny, fun time.

They made hats for people and wrote on them...Eddie was 'for sale'.

After lunch we headed into the mall madness. Nicki wanted to do the mirror maze...we didn't even know it existed! It was fun! We went through a few times because kids had so much fun, gloves and all.

Did a couple rides...

...and games!

 Rowan and Nicki did the log ride...

Then we did a short round of bowling...

And lastly headed to a Mexican restaurant for dinner! Then we headed home, Nicki, Christian and Grey did a little shopping before heading back to their hotel. They insisted on staying right by the hotel so they could be close to the action. They headed back towards home the next morning.

Was a very fun day! Went by fast! We love it when people come to visit. So glad we were free to spend the day with them.

Pre-Valentine's day...

No, he didn't have a churro at Costco...busted!

Tonight, Uncle Mitch and Brooke watched the kids so Ed and I could go out for dinner for Valentine's Day. We went to Rudy's Red Eye in White Bear Lake...then we drove half way across the city to get ice cream at Cold Stone. Ed knows it's my favorite, and we didn't want to rush home. Then we got some groceries for fondue for tomorrow night...and that was the end of our exciting date night.

This was a Rudy-tini...was tasty!

Night isn't complete without a date night selfie...

baby it's cold outside...

Just another below 0 day that we drove to the bus stop. Have to stay warm!