Papa's birthday weekend

My Dad's birthday was the beginning of February, so we all got together for the weekend at the Great Wolf Lodge in Gurnee. The kids played at the waterpark, we all went out for dinner afterwards and then sang and had cake.

Before dinner, we stopped in the game room. This girl was the luckiest by far! She ended up with tons of tickets! She even won the big prize!

Then, we all had dinner to celebrate Papa's birthday. Here's the birthday boy, courtesy of my amateur photographer Morgan.

And also a picture of Mama.

Then, she had some fun with Snapchat.

Sister selfie!

Afterwards, we sang happy birthday to Papa and had some cupcakes!

100 days

The girls made it to 100 days of school! Instead of dressing like old people, they made shirts with 100 things on them. Or should I say, Matt and I made shirts with 100 things on them! :) Glue gun and fabric glue to the rescue. I was surprised they came home with all the pieces still intact (for the most part!) If you haven't figured it out yet, Morgan LOVES super heroes, especially Wonder Woman. So, that's what we did for her shirt. Avery loves unicorns and butterflies, so that's what we have on her shirt. Two very different girls!

Jump Rope

The kids PE class had a jump rope event during the school day and invited parents to come. I'm so glad I work from home and can join in on these things. It was such fun! They could jump rope or basically do anything that involved jumping and being active.

Fun lunch

I've been volunteering at the kids' school on the Fridays they have Fun Lunch, which is when they cater in food from nearby restaurants. They do about two Fun Lunch Fridays a month. The parents help hand out the food. But, it's also fun to see the kids at school and see who they are sitting by and how lunch goes. By the way, lunch goes by fast! I now know why Morgan comes home with full lunchboxes... she spends a lot of time talking! :) They always sit in the same spots every time I've been there. Who sits next to them changes, though. This week they were sitting next to their basketball buddies.

Snow days

We had quite a few days off due to the snow and freezing cold weather. I think there was one week where we had three days off. The teacher sent home a "snow day challenge" for homework to do while off. We did that and many other things to keep ourselves from going crazy!

When it wasn't -50 degrees outside, we played out in the backyard and built a snowman!

Daddy also fixed up our "snow hill" off the deck in the backyard. This is how we sled without leaving the yard! :)

We did LOTS of crafts!

We got a little homework done in between all the fun.

We even made sugar cookies!

Getting some more homework done!

Another snow play day, this time with Grayson! There was a fierce shovel snow throwing fight between nephew and uncle!

Um, that's a big snowball!

We made it through the snow days and were ready to go back to school when they were over!

Skating buddies

We've been roller skating a few times at the local rink. The last time we went, we ran into a friend of the girls from their old daycare. They loved skating with her! She goes to a different elementary school, so we don't see her anymore, but they picked up right where they left off!

Basketball

We made it through the kindergarten coed basketball league. The girls had a blast and are sad the league is over. Starting off, they really had no clue about most of how basketball works. It's not like they even watch it on TV. But, by the end, they were learning how defense works and how to play with a team. Of course, they still spent a lot of time cheering, playing with their hair and chatting with their friends. :) Their team was really good, with a few boys that have definitely played before and are really athletic in general. So, we won all but the last game, which we tied on a last second basket.

The games were a little crazy sometimes. That would be my only complaint, that they didn't really keep the rules consistent. Some weeks, the games seemed like a free-for-all. Other weeks, we followed the rules and the game was under control. It's hard when the coaches are the referees. Really, we just wanted a fun experience for the girls where they could learn a little about basketball. I think that's what they got. :)