Snow Tubing, Audrey's 5th Birthday, Pinewood Derby ~January 2015

February 16, 2016

Aaron and Daddy love to play catch in the backyard. Saturdays and Sundays are our favorite days because our daddy's with us all day.

Today we are going to Hawksnest where we can go tubing in the snow! Audrey was so excited that she held her had and gloves all the way there. It took a few hours. Since we don't get much snow in Charlotte we left to go to the mountains. The kids started playing in the snow as soon as we pulled into the parking lot. We needed to hurry since we had a set time to enter and leave the tubing area.

There were several sledding trails to choose from. All of them required you to stand in a line and wait until the person in front of you got to the bottom. Sometimes your tub didn't take you all the way to the bottom so you had to drag it the rest of the way down. We really liked riding the conveyor belt back to the top. It did take some balance but we learned quick.

The kids made and threw snowballs whenever possible which was usually while we were waiting in line.

Aaron found a huge snowball and didn't want to let it out of his sight. He even placed it in his tube and pulled it around since it was too heavy to carry. He held it while tubing down a few trails but eventually had to get rid of it. He was very sad.

When our time was up we had to leave. Most of the snow was man made and the kids were bummed because there was no snow except in the Hawksnest area. We found one little patch that was behind a rope, but eventually we got kicked out of there too. It was great new experience for all of us.

Aaron and Daddy found a baby snake on the driveway. Yikes! Aaron also discovered how fun bubble making can be. My mom always got these for us and I always loved them.

Aaron loves all weather and was very excited about the fog at the church. I also wanted to remember this wonderful flower arrangement in an ornament vase from Kathy.

Audrey wanted to take Elsa cupcakes to class for her birthday. She was a great helper by turning on the mixer, and placing the toothpicks in the cupcake.

Aaron loves to sit on the heating vents while the hot air is blowing.

For Audrey's birthday breakfast we got her Frozen cereal. Aaron was excited that the temperature was 17 degrees.

Audrey is 5 and yes she is wearing an Elsa shirt on her birthday. At school she got to wear a birthday crown.

Both Aaron and Audrey got birthday spankings at martial arts. Everyone takes off their belts and hits your bum as you run down all the lines. Some of the kids hit pretty hard, but the adults are always nice.

My dear friend Kaydee and her daughter came the night before Audrey's party to help me decorate and to put together the graham cracker castles.

I invited 4 families to come to Audrey's party. We encouraged the girls to wear princess dresses and ended up with a lot of Elsas! We started with pizza and fruit salad for everyone. Then the girls had a special activity while the boys went to watch a show to play pool.

Audrey and her friends loved making their candy castles. What girl wouldn't love it? Sisters and moms helped a lot too both with the decorating and the eating of the candy. Then if that wasn't enough sugar (the castle was meant to take home to be eaten...) we had delicious castle cake. It was really fun to decorate and Audrey loved it so it was a success! The dads and brothers hid out in the pool room most of the time until it was time to eat cake. I like inviting families to the parties so everyone can take part in the fun.

And what do girls jacked up on sugar do... they played freeze dance! And they did it for a very long time.

We like spending time at the Discovery Place when we have a day off of school or on a Saturday. Audrey and I built a castle and she was very pleased with her doors. Aaron likes to do his own thing so I didn't get any pictures of him this time.

Ta Da! Audrey and I made a track for a ball to go down. It wasn't easy but we did it!

The kids love getting mail especially when its from Grandparents!

Watch out! Aaron bought a toy gun and is now an official cowboy! He does have Wyoming blood in him...

It is a very big day! Aaron and Daddy are preparing for the Pinewood Derby. Last year was a big disappointment so Daddy and Aaron made some trips to the store and got all the necessary tools to make a great car.

Audrey was a great cheer leader and Aaron won many races! Big success in my book. Each boy got a special award and Aaron's was for the "most futuristic car".