The Zoo and the Epic Birthday Fail

For my birthday, my parents met us in Omaha and we all went to the zoo.

Watching her feed crickets to the snake.  Eww!

Turtle, turtle!

Behold the ever-brave Addilyn. Tap, tap.

Here it comes!

Success!

Well, hello there. Nice to make your acquaintance.

We were all pretty entertained by this (she got to do this a few times).

Welcome to the jungle. Slip!

 Exploring said jungle with Grandma & Grandpa.

The view from the backside of the waterfall.

One huge fruit bat.

Watching the penguins.

There it goes!

I really hope there was a shark swimming over.

Jelly fish.

After the zoo we headed to our hotel and then out to dinner.  Dinner was pretty wonderful.  After a very long wait to get in, we ate yummy food and the kids acted great (even though it was really late at this point).  Toward the end of dinner, a couple of them fell asleep and it was really a wonderful, peaceful evening.

And then came the night.  Just after midnight Elias came down with the stomach flu.  Then around 7 in the morning, Albert did too.  That meant I was up every 15 minutes to a half an hour all night.  Then around 10 I got sick too. Bleck!  We had half of the family sick in a hotel.  Even after we got an extension on check out, we still had to figure out how to get home (being that Tyler was preaching the next morning).  It made for a comically bad day.

Post Christmas Through Mid-February

Goodbye Christmas tree decorations.  We worked so hard on you!

We shall see you next year!

Hey look! That dragon is taking down that plane with his feet. Top that, Godzilla!

This was my first official celiac-friendly meal adjustment.  I switched out the flour in this beef stew for cornstarch.  Now I would probably go with my favorite gluten-free flour mix but this method worked just fine too.

That beef stew also happened to be dinner on New Year's day. Party on.

This was my first trial of gluten-free pizza.  The pizza wasn't that bad (especially for a grocery store freezer section find).  Unfortunately, that ham that I added turned out to be gluten-laden.  Now I know.

All the Advent activities, all laid out.

Sleepy sheep.

He was working on his homework in style!

Our friend, Colin, really likes Dr. Pepper.  Since it was his birthday, we thought we would make him his own blend.

Since it was his 63rd birthday, we added 40 extra flavors to make his blend have 63 flavors.   I hope he didn't drink because I'm fairly certain it ended up being toxic (although, to be clear, nothing we put in was actually toxic).

Snack time!

I think he was picking out a marshmallow.

Stuffing his face.  That won't get rid of the monkey on your back.

She's going to love the fact that I posted this picture when she gets older.

Post-Christmas Michigan Trip

We went to Michigan again this year.  This time the boys built an epic sled run.  It started at the top of the deck stairs.

And ended with a jump to the lake.

It was (as previously stated) EPIC!

Asher going down again.

I'd say he had a good time!

Albert and Daddy went down together.

Happy, snowy Elias.

Happy, snowy Addilyn.

When we weren't playing out in the snow, there were crafts inside.

And silly games with cousins.

There was also snowmobiling.  Albert wasn't too thrilled about getting ready to go out.

But once he got on the machine, he was into it.

Sled Run: Day two.

Sitting in a sled.

Making snow bricks.

Snow and sun through the trees.

 The snowy lake.

Helping Albert down the sled run.

Cuddly Albert.

Ready for the climb back up the hill.

Snowy covered Tyler.

A quick pic with Momma.

All tuckered out and cuddling with Aunt Courtney.

After we were done at the cabin, we headed to Minneapolis for a night.  Addilyn was enjoying her fort/bed made of couch cushions.

As part of their Christmas gifts, the kids got to go on some rides at the amusement park at the Mall of America.

All-in-all, it was a fun trip for all involved. (And who knew that cheese sticks would be so exciting for our kids?)