Florida Christmas

We wrapped up the Christmas fun by jetting down to Florida to visit Mimi, Bumba, Uncle Silly (Brad), and Mandi. The kids had a great visit, and despite missing the snow, they had fun in Florida. Again, we were fortunate enough to experience record cold temperatures! Naturally, the day we left it got back up to normal.

Laura (and Anna) got a special doll for Christmas from Mimi with Mimi's hand made doll clothes.


Anna was in love. Special Anna chair + snack + TV = Happy Girl. She doesn't get ANYTHING like that at home.


Plenty of Ice Cream was eaten on the trip. Here Anna even shares some.


Laura eating lime ice cream made with limes from the local citrus grove.


We had a picnic at the beach. Uncle silly was entertaining as always.


Anna is checking out the beach. She loves the sand.


Hey daddy, SAND!


A family photo op.


Laura, the beach princess. She even was brave enough to wade into the 55 degree water. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.


Sand is great for running around.


Plenty of sand to make a mess. I think they still had some on their body when they got home to Minnesota.


Laura carried her weight, and Anna wanted to be carried.
Here is daddy the pack mule hauling:
1 backpack with laptop
1 carry on bag
2 checked bags over 40 lbs.
2 child car seats.
I got plenty of stares and some comments about our luggage efficiency.

Let it snow!

This December has had an extraordinary amount of snow. I think we're over 30" for the month, and there's still a week to go. I know we can get 40", if we just wish hard enough.

Toddlers and 4 year olds can't do much in 2 feet of snow on the ground. So I shoved part of the yard too.


Naturally. I made a sledding hill with all the snow I shoveled out of the yard. (Daddy has to go first just to make sure it is 'safe'. We won't tell the girls that it is fun for me too.)


Laura said she loved her path.


Most of the snow is over Anna's armpits.


Anna loved running through the tunnel.


Here is the mountain of snow at the end of the driveway. Believe it or not, but I shoveled off the top 2 feet of this the other day so we could see if there are any cars coming when we back out of the driveway.


The girls did some trudging in the deep stuff. They do OK until they sunk down chest deep.


Lazy dad taking a break.


Kids said "Move dad, our turn"


My aunt & uncle Jim & Janean invited us over to visit. They go all out decorating, and Laura was very excited to visit "Christmas House". Anna was beside herself when she saw the model train.


Here is the train tunnel.


They even let the girls place the people & trees all around town.


On Laura's birthday, Emily took her to the Mall of America to go on the rides. She really loved it, and had a lot of fun zooming around. She got to go up on a balloon.


Up we go!


She really liked the Ferris wheel.


But the "zoomer" was her favorite. It shot you up, then pulled you down. She went on this one again and again.


Of course, lunch in an integral part of the experience. She ate the whole slice of pepperoni pizza!

Laura's Birthday Party! Or not.

Today was Laura's big 4th birthday party. She was excited to have her 'Doctor Party' with a doctor theme.

As is the tradition for Laura, I bake and decorate the cake. I'm man enough to do that task. In fact, icing a cake is similar to caulking.


The finished product. A stethoscope and doctor kit for those who can't realize the genius of my art. (Sugar & fat are challenging artistic medium!)


Emily made some great decorations.


Here is the party in full swing. Yes, every attendee is accounted for. I guess 16" of blowing drifting snow make the road pretty much impassable. While I was shoveling the driveway, 1 car went by and came back about 5 minutes later with its hazard lights on, and another got stuck in the driveway. We'll have the party very soon when the roads are plowed.


Instead of a party, the family made a gingerbread train.


Then they got to eat it. That's a pretty natural shade of green, I am sure there are no artificial colors in the icing.


Anna thought the icing was yummy. I tried the gingerbread, it was NOT GOOD.


Laura likes the icing, and she got over the cancellation of her party pretty quick.

Anna Birthday & More

Sorry for the delay in postings, I'm sure the internet community has been at the edge of their seat waiting for new lilgillespie blogs.

Anna turned 2! She had a small family party on her birthday, and then the following day all the cousins and aunties and uncles and grandpa and grandma from Emily's side over. Daddy was so excited for Anna's birthday he roasted a whole turkey, made mashed potatoes, and everyone else brought great side dish to her birthday party. Anna was very thankful for that. Here she shows off her cupcakes.


We also made them cinnamon rolls for breakfast... lucky girls.


Here is Anna after a full meal: Spaghetti, meatballs, and some pudding for dessert.


We got a good 10" of snow last night. Light fluffy stuff so it was easy to shovel. I even got a little helper.


Laura checking out the new white wonderland. She loves the snow, even it it gets in her gloves sometimes.


Wow daddy, that's a big pile of snow. I better climb up on it so it all falls back on the driveway!


Here's me doing the shoveling with my jr. assistant. Willie (across the street) was very impressed by how young I'm starting them on helping with the household chores.


Anna's not quite sure what's the best way to deal with all the snow. Its hard to walk through and gets in your gloves.


So she just started eating it. No yellow snow, so she's fine.


The snow angel.


Come on daddy, you are supposed to run FASTER!


This is for auntie Mandi


Laura showing off her Christmas tree: