Rollerblading with Grandma Bolt!

Brielle is really into ice skating and rollerblading lately, and so...since Grandma Bolt goes on Saturday to a local rink....Brielle joined her. She had such a good time and even after a full 2 hours of skating, she still wanted to keep going....Brett and Grandma convinced her it was okay to go. So proud of my little one!

Chicago.....John Hancock Observatory and Millennium Park

We had a great trip to Chicago! The kids had never been, so we did a whirlwind trip in two days, but that was enough with kids this age. We did have the meltdowns, the tired whining and fighting...but we also had a great time showing them a couple different parts of the city! We made a stop at the John Hancock Observatory.....they really thought this was cool....look at the view. :) Bradyon even walked around with the headset and listened to different facts about the city, those facts will come out at sometime in discussion I am sure. Other events included a visit to the Millennium Park where we were able to have a picnic lunch in January (it was warm and sunny....could not have asked for better weather), we went to the American Girl store for the first time (brielle loved it), the LEGO store (braydon loved it) and the Disney Store (beckett loved it). We had dinner at The Rain Forest Cafe....always an easy place to go with kids although I think Brett and I were both worried when the first storm hit as to whether Brielle would stay in the restaurant or not (she did) because she is lately not a fan of dark, loud places. :) We had a good time, and look forward to more trips.

and...just to keep it honest and for record keeping...it was a hard trip too, the kids fought a lot and complained on all fronts and we as parents were not always as patient as we would like to be. lately it feels like the kids have smushed my ability for patience....but this too shall pass, i know it will. :)

Chicago....Museum of Science and Industry

we had a great time at this museum, could have spent SOOOOO much longer, but you do what you can do with the kids at the ages they are at. It was also at the end of our weekend so the kids were super tired. we will definately go back. We forget how interested in science Braydon is, this was totally up his alley, he loved it!

Chicago! part 1

we went to the Lego Discovery Center in Schaumburg, Illinois! Braydon was so excited to be there, and it was really cool to see all things LEGO!

"the FIRE TEMPLE"

Braydon was home sick for a few days, felt really bad for him...he was miserable. On the bright side, it gave me a little time for some much needed one on one with him, and with that time we put together this Lego set that he had gotten for Christmas. He is so proud of this Ninjago Fire Temple.

the sick germs have invaded our house....

been a couple days....the sick germs have invaded our house!!!

but, weekend: brielle went ice skating again and LOVED it, got her own pair of skates this time!!

: Braydon: tried Skiing for the first time, LOVED it! but was exhausted after his 6

hour class.

: Beckett: just our funny little thing, her big girl furniture arrived, I think she would

much rather keep the crib and be the baby.

The Homestead Resort in Hot Springs, VA

We had a great time this past weekend in Hot Springs, VA at The Homestead Resort. This is our second year going, and we had more fun than last year. We were blessed to go again this year and spend some time with both the Bellone and Galietos families. We enjoyed a weekend of swimming, going to the all natural hot springs (the same ones that Thomas Jefferson used to dip into), ice skating (quickly a new favorite activity for Brielle), bowling, tubing, etc. The kids were exhausted each night after very full days of activity. We also got to see Abbie this past weekend as she came down to help us with some evening dinners. The kids got a chance to hang with her while Brett and I went to dinner with the adults on two different nights. I also had the opportunity to go clay disc shooting for the first time. I really enjoyed it, along with the time with Brett.

We both comment on how much the kids are growing up and how these trips are becoming more and more enjoyable again as they can do more and less of our day is spent around planning a nap.

traveling home...airport style...

we had a long day of travel to get home from Virginia, which included a 90 minute van ride, and then two flights, with a 2 1/2 hour layover in Chicago at 7pm. the kids did so well! Braydon saw these pay phones in the airport and promptly referred to them as "the old fashioned phone"...makes me laugh!

a couple pics from this past weekend....(ice sculpting contest in holland)

Family Picture on the giant Ice Chair in front of the Apothecary Shop.

some of the sculptures....it was a little warm for the event, but

some of the sculptures were just so cool! the detail was awesome.

one of our favorites.

not prompted by us at all, the kids asked for this

picture. cute, huh? this is on the corner next to

JP's coffee shop in Holland.

hard to believe it is Winter

with weather like this, it is really hard to believe it is January 9, 2012. I walked Brielle to school today, and then brought scooters when I walked back to pick them up. We played outside for almost 2 hours this afternoon. The sun was amazing, something I know we are lucky to be having right now (i remember those gray winter days as a kid). Sometimes I like to believe that God is just being really nice to us this first winter in Michigan and giving us a slow start to what things are really going to be like. Either way, I will take the sunshine as some true warmth from him and soak it all in!

How could this be.....

We were in Holland on friday night for the Ice Sculpting Contest (pictures to follow) and stayed the night in the "painted house" (as bex calls it). Saturday morning I took Maggie for a walk down to the beach and then around the neighborhoods. The mere fact that I could walk with barely a coat on, no hat, no gloves and still be plenty warm in January is crazy! We keep telling the kids that there will be snow, we moved to Michigan afterall. This has been a crazy season, I have a feeling a lot of snow is still waiting for us in January and February.

Needless to say, I loved the walk. That walk always makes me think about everything, and anything. We are so blessed and we have so much, we sometimes just forget to take it all in as life gets busy and complicated. I mean, how lucky can we be....to have a retreat like that to go to, and then to be able to take that walk down to this beautiful place. We have a retreat to head to for a break, for a change of pace, and family time. I love it!

The Grand Rapids Childrens Museum

One of my resolutions for 2012 was to try more things with the kids, explore more and to try to be more in the moment with them. This past year has been such a year of change and we had so much going on that I think I forgot to take so much of it in. The kids did great, but I do feel like I spent a lot of time getting the house ready to sell, then packing the house, moving the house, and then unpacking the house, and finally getting the house in order to live in. That is a lot of time. So, when we moved to Grand Rapids, I joined the childrens museum as one destination for some additional fun. This has been a great outlet for us, and I have often taken Beckett on her own when the other two are in school. I just love hearing her caring on in conversation for 1-2 hours while we play, discover and learn new things. On occasion, Brielle comes with us too before school and then the girls really get into make believe play. It is so much fun to watch!