Spring Break #1

For Spring Break this year, we had planned a short family trip to Omaha, Nebraska to go to the Henry Doorly Zoo.  We had it all planned out and had booked a hotel with a great kids pool with slides but sadly, the weather decided to change our plans.  When snow showed up in the Omaha forecast for the days we were planning on, we had to come up with a plan B.  We decided to head to MN!  We visited family for a few days in Rochester and spent one day up in Minneapolis at the Mall of America.  We took the kids to the Crayola Experience and they loved it!  All three kids really seem to be into crafts and coloring so it was right up their alley!  They loved learned how crayons are made, naming and labeling their own crayons, taking pictures of themselves and turning them into coloring pages, painting with melted wax, and turning melted wax into different molded shapes.  There was also a spot where they could color a picture on a tablet and then it would be projected onto a big screen on the front wall.  They seriously could have spent an entire day at Crayola, and probably more if we'd have stayed in Minneapolis longer!

Colored by Katie

Colored by Colton

I'm so photogenic :)

Spider-man Blue

Rapunzel Purple

For lunch, we went to the Rainforest Cafe in the Mall of America.  It was similar to the T-Rex restaurant in Orlando where the restaurant had robotic animals, sounds, and automated thunder storms.  The kids really enjoyed it, except for Zach who was terrified during the "thunder storms" and crawled whimpering under table every time one happened.

We also let the kids each go on two roller coasters.  They both begged to go on a water log ride and then decided afterwards that it was a little too fast and too wet.  Colton went on a smaller roller coaster with Zach and Jon after that and Katie went on a Bubble Guppies teacup ride all by herself.  I was actually kind-of nervous for her since there were no seat belts and she was all by herself up in the air!  She seemed to really enjoy it though.  We let each of the kids pick out a toy from the Mall.  Katie picked a Rapunzel art kit from the Disney Store, Colton picked some toy snakes/reptiles from the Rainforest Cafe, and Zach picked some Lion Guard figurines from the Disney Store.

Disney Store

Lego Store

Lego Store

It was a short little vacation, but it was fun to spend time with family and also do something new with the kids!

A Golden Birthday

On March 5th our little Katie had her golden birthday and turned 5 years old!  I feel like this year has been the final transition from toddler to little girl.  Over the last year she started pre-school, has started reading, has learned to swing all by herself (she was very proud of this!), and so much more!  She has also recently started requesting I call her Katelyn sometimes which, before a few months ago, was not an option because she only wanted to be called Katie. She definitely has a flare for the dramatic and can have some crazy mood swings, but overall she is very sweet and friendly and wants to make others happy.  Her brothers love her, especially Zach.  He is always wanting to play with Katie and is very sad when she is gone. 

Zach got a little jealous of all the picture taking and wanted one of him too :)

We hadn't planned on getting her a birthday haircut, but a few days before her birthday she took some scissors in her room and decided to play salon.  I had to take her to her first real haircut (not done by mom) to get it fixed.  It's definitely the shortest her hair has been in awhile but she has a cute face so she pulls it off. :)

For her birthday celebration, Katie requested a Shimmer and Shine makeover party.  She wanted to invite all of her friends, including all the kids in her preschool class, primary class, and a couple other friends from the area- but seeing as that would be like 35 kids and her party had a very girly theme, we decided to make it a "girl's only" theme.  We had 7 little girls come over the Saturday before her birthday and had a lot of girly fun!  We colored with glitter markers, make jeweled genie wrist-bands, painted nails, did genie face-paint, and played "gem-gem, who has the gem".  She wanted donuts for her party so I fancied them up with some ring-pops and was pleased with the result.  Especially since donuts were easier, cheaper, and yummier than a cake!

On Monday, her birthday, we woke up to fresh snow.  It wasn't much, but it was kind-of neat since I had just told her the story of the night she was born and how it had snowed that night.  After picking the kids up from school that afternoon, I took the kids to Jumpin' Joeys and let them play for a couple of hours.  Katie requested Sloppy Joes for dinner, and I made her a small pink birthday cake.  She got her first set of "big kid" legos for her birthday and we've been super impressed with how quickly she's picked up building with them!

Jumpin' Joeys

Complete with sloppy joe stains around her mouth :)

We love our Katie and are so happy she is part of our family!

Favorite things: princesses, Shimmer and Shine, playing tickle monster, crafts, dance lessons, playing with friends, twirly dresses, baths
Things she hates: getting her hair done, going poop (for real-she always complains about this! haha), tulle dresses, broccoli, showers, missing school, spicy food, losing
Favorite Colors: pink and purple
Favorite Foods: sloppy joes, canned corn, rolls, chicken rolls, fruits-minus bananas, hotdogs, Chic Fil A chicken nuggets
Future Plans: Katie wants to be a Mermaid Princess Mom when she grows up which, as she explains it, is a mermaid who is a princess and also a mom too.