anna maria part 1

at the end of february, we got the unforgettable treat of not just going to florida in the dead of the minnesota winter, but going with some of our favorite people in the world, the s family!  here we are en route to tampa:

little guy did well - he only got fussy when he was way overtired, and only for a bit before falling asleep

like father, like daughter, both reading away

welcome to our rental house, 'casa verde', elevator included!

meeting our favorite miss L!

I'm not sure how we got them to go to sleep that first night, but here they are the next morning, coloring away

the guys took the big kids to the pool - seen here from our balcony - while L and I went shopping for our week's supplies

walking to the beach down the street

this picture just makes me happy, in so many ways =)

we hadn't intended to play in the water, since it wasn't really warm enough, but we should have figured there was no way the kids would stay dry =p

someone built an amazing castle, complete with a dragon if you look carefully!

since we had a lot of wet kids, we headed back to clean up before dinner.  it had gotten a bit late, and the first few places we tried didn't have space for us, so our first island dining experience was a little tex-mex place.  bedtime for all!

starting off the day right =p

ready for the pool again, armed with flotation devices for our non-swimming kids.  I was impressed by n & n's skills!

and back to the beach, with picnic lunches.  this was the pick day of the week - sunny and 80!

buddies

they managed to dig quite a deep hole

he can still nap in the bjorn =)

some post-swimming artwork





we stayed in that night, made ribs and mashed potatoes, and sent the guys out for ice cream after kiddo bedtime =)  what could be better? 

late february

after all that talk, here are the snow pictures!  mostly from our biggest single snowfall - I'm guessing 8+ inches:

a rare wet snow

this was before the big snow - this guy got buried

hats from grandma #3!

so pretty when it sticks to the trees

the machine in action - notice how far it projects the snow.  our neighbor gave us good advice when he said a single-stage blower wouldn't do the trick

the mountain at the foot of the driveway after the plow goes by

they have monster plows here, one in front and one to the side

 

enough packed snow to reach the bottom branches

still peeking out, barely

our polar explorers

back porch

early february

happy year of the horse and valentine's day!

making tofu dumplings, the only kind c will eat =p

the girls created quite a stir at church in their outfits from nai nai.  they seemed overly warm last year, but were perfect this year!

c quizzing buddy on her reading lesson

another teeth shot :)

hey you

better than bumper cars :)

we took an overnight trip to Minneapolis to check out the legendary Mall of America.  it was also a proof of concept that the five of us can survive in one hotel room ;-)

someone wouldn't go to sleep with the light on, till I found the perfect solution.  hint: there's a pack 'n play under there ;-)

not too good at sleeping in, so we went for an early morning stroll

to the pool :)

nevermind the mall, this was the highlight of their trip :)

daddy came down later and little man got to take a dip

after we all cleaned up, we went to visit some friends from st. louis who now live in the area.  I can't believe I didn't take any pictures, but it was great to catch up and great fun to see how the kids took to each other.   when we finally made it to the mall, we were astounded at how difficult it was to find parking.  apparently everyone in the state was trying to escape the weather =p  after a bit of shopping, we hit the aquarium (yes, there is a SeaLife aquarium in the mall =)):

tiny eels in the sand

their signature walk-through tanks

we headed back to the hotel after dinner, and the second morning the girls got another dip in the pool while little man napped.  hurray for noon checkouts and indoor pools =)

back at home, opening our valentine package from g&g

can you believe all that stuff actually came out of that drawer? =p

 

my sweet friend a had us over for a valentine's party

make-your-own heart pizzas and games for the kiddos

 

for those who are curious, we never really had any snowstorms to write home about.  there were a good number of 4-8 inch days, but my parents got much more in NJ.  the snowblower was a lifesaver though.  it never occurred to us that the piles on either side of the driveway would get so high - over my head in the end - because they don't melt all season.  and the temperatures.. whew!  they seem to close schools if it's below -15F at bus time, and that happened more than once.  anything non-negative was a respectable high.  I noticed that your eyelashes freeze at about 6F =).  above 10 and I didn't insist that the girls wear hats and gloves.  above 20 was prime outdoor skating weather.  above 30 meant long lines at the car wash.  little sis' school policy was outside recess above 20F, and I think they maybe played outside once or twice between november and march =p 

 

of course, all the natives insist that this was not a normal winter.. ;-)