Sunday, January 30, 2011

on the ice



Yesterday morning, we packed up, loaded up, and headed to scenic Elkhart for a day of fun. First stop: the ice rink. This might be a good time to point out that Mike hasn't been skating since college, and I've never been skating, so we weren't sure quite how it was going to be to take the boys skating for their first time. But it turns out we had nothing to worry about. They were pretty wobbly on their double-bladed skates at first, but by the end, Max was doing a happy little foot dance across the ice, and Liam was having the time of his life, boldly trying all sorts of moves even though he fell approximately every 5.8 seconds. Mike had a great time out there too, which made me a little jealous since I decided to stay on the sidelines with Henry and cheer them on. It was probably for the best since I'm clumsy and would no doubt have broken an ankle.




Anyway, after skating, we scoured Elkhart for a place to have lunch, but apparently all the places close down on the weekend, so we ended up at Mexican restaurant. Then we made a quick stop at Mini Delights Bake Shoppe to use a groupon I serendipitously got the day before. Tiny cupcakes: what better thing to take to go meet a new baby? So we headed off to nearby Goshen to see my cousin Amelia and her newest daughter, Leigh. What a cutie! I didn't get to hold her since she was sleeping in her swing the whole time, but I had a really good visit with Amelia, and the boys had a blast exploring the foreign world of girl toys. And once we finally got back on the road to head home, all three boys crashed right away. It was so peaceful. And yes, I'll admit it: We took a few detours and drove around town longer than necessary just to enjoy the silence.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

snowed under


Work has been overwhelming for both of us lately, with mandatory overtime for Mike and a bunch of unexpected (but welcome!) gigs for me. It's all we can do to get dinner on the table, spend time with the kids, and occasionally say hello to each other in passing. We've got a birthday to look forward to next month, which happily coincides with the last of my big deadlines, so in the meantime, please enjoy these strange but somehow wonderful pictures of Henry celebrating a belated Christmas with the extended family at my grandpa's house.