Swagger Wagon

On Wednesday, January 25th, Ryan and I became owners of a 2006 Toyota Sienna.  We have been looking at mini-vans since we found out I was expecting Emily.  We just never found anything that fit in our budget that we liked.  I found this one online Tuesday and went to test drive it on Wednesday.  They just barely got it on the lot, it wasn't even cleaned yet.  After Ryan was done with school we headed back over there to test drive it again.  We got there just after 5.  After arriving at the dealership we realized that Ryan forgot his wallet so we drove the van back to the house to get it.  We got back to the dealership just after 6.  After talking about numbers and then having the Sales Manager come and make the final numbers look good we bought the van.  Unfortunately for us, we weren't the only ones who purchased a car that night.  There was only one finance guy there and there were 4 sales.  When everything was done we headed home and arrived just after 10 PM!!  Our kids were tired but they did so well considering they didn't have dinner and we were at the car dealership for 5 hours.  I think the excitement of the new van helped them be good.  Ryan and I were sad to see the Nissan go, it was our first car together, but we are happy with our van and it is a good fit for our growing family.

Great Wolf Lodge

Back in October, Ryan and I decided that we would try and break up winter with a trip to the Great Wolf Lodge in Sandusky, OH.  We didn't tell the kids where we were going until the morning of.  We left on Monday January 16th and came home on the 17th.  We had a one night stay with 2 days of swimming.

In swimming suit waiting for me to take their pictures so that we could head to the pool

There aren't a lot of pictures because we didn't want to leave our camera in the pool area, but just to let you know it was a blast!  You can look at pictures on their website and see the fun things that are there: http://www.greatwolf.com/sandusky/waterpark

The boys were not very happy that I made them pose for a picture before they could get in the water :)

Christopher kept looking at the water waiting until I said it was OK to go play

At night they have a large story time for the children. It is all robotic. 

They read a book with the wolf there.

Emily and Ryan during story time

After the show is over all the kids can meet the wolf.

The boys wanted to give him a hug

I wanted to get a picture of all the kids at story time but it didn't really work out too well

Nathanial, Emily, and Christopher, Great Wolf Lodge January 16, 2012

After story time we headed back up to our room to settle down for the night.

It was 11 before the boys fell asleep

The boys weren't going to sleep so we separated them and put Nathanial on the couch but somehow he ended up on/under the coffee table.

We had a very enjoyable time and we are glad that we went.  I think we will try and go next year!  All the kids loved it, even Emily (she is a little water bug).  There is something for everyone there.  Nathanial's favorite things were the slides with the inner tubes and Christopher's favorite was the blue slides that he could go down by himself.  Emily was happy as long as she was in the water and being held. Seeing our happy children was Ryan's and my favorite part!

This is Life

Emily is growing up so fast.  She is still a petite girl but her personality is blossoming.  She also has figured out that all she has to do is flex her little finger and Daddy is by her side.  Ryan loves his little girl, even though she is a TOTAL mama's girl.

On January 2nd we pulled out the Jump-a-Roo for Emily, she was grinning from ear to ear!

We have had a VERY mild winter this year.  It snows one day and melts the next.  It snowed on January 3rd so I took the boys outside to make snow angels.

Christopher's snow angel, Nathanial's snow angel, and my snow angel

Christopher making his second snow angel

Christopher's snow angel

Nathanial's snow angel

Nathanial has caught a creative bug and now he wants to build and make different things.

After playing out in the snow on the 3rd he came in and built a tower and wanted me to take a picture of it.

Being in dental school is hard on the budget so Ryan and I have been trying to come up with cheap but fun date ideas.  We have played games before but one of us (usually me) ends up going to bed mad after losing.  We are both really competitive and don't like to lose to each other.  So our solution? Puzzles.  It gives us a chance to turn off the t.v. and computer and just talk.

January 6th

Speaking of "mild" winters on Saturday January 7th it was in the 50's so we got out the boys' bikes to let them ride for a while.

(I think we need to wash our cars)

One of the things that I hope our kids will remember when they think about their childhood is Ryan reading them bedtime stories.  I started to read to them but Ryan took over and it is something that the kids look forward to every night.

Ryan reading the 5th Harry Potter book

Nathanial laying in bed listening to the story

Christopher moving around in his bed so he wont fall asleep while listening to the story

Emily holds a special place in Ryan's heart.  On January 11th Emily decided that she was going to help Ryan play video games.

I love her eyes.

Trying to figure out a way to eat the remote

She got it!

What a cute little girl!

I got my new camera back in November but really haven't had a chance/time/desire to play around with the settings.  One night while Ryan was watching the Hulk I got out the camera and played.  I was playing with the manual settings and here is what I came up with (January 13th)...

Emily eating pizza

I was taking pictures of Emily and Christopher wanted me to take his

Another note from Nathanial's creative side...he made a tent out of his blanket and dresser

January 14th

Christopher jumped in the picture

I was playing around with my camera and Emily just happened to be my photo subject on January 15th