My Ice Queen

It's no secret.  I love figure skating.  Have since about 1984 when I clearly remember watching Scotty Hamilton skate in the Olympics.  By 1988 I was obsessed with figure skating and in 1992 it was bordering on out of control.  I recorded almost every competition I could find on VHS (AND I still have them).  My locker was not covered with NKOTB but Paul Wylie, Brian Boitano and even the random Nancy Kerrigan.

In college I coerced Tom into attending Stars on Ice with me, not once, but TWICE.

But as I grew up and older, I lost some of the passion.  I've gotten out of the habit of watching Nationals and Worlds religiously.  Until last year, at the Olympics when I decided it was time to introduce Erin to figure skating.  She was immediately hooked.  Enjoyed the pairs and dance more than singles because "There are 2 people mommy."  Interesting thought.

So last night, after returning from (in her words) "The Best Birthday Party Ever" we tuned in to the Ladies' National finals.  And Erin proceeded to skate across the basement along with every skater.  She'd jump and spin and hold her leg out just right.  Might have been the cutest thing ever.  She laughed at Scott Hamilton's commentary "Beeeeeeautiful" she'd giggle.  And she watched the last batch of skaters, just like mommy does.  With her hands half covering her eyes as each girl approached a jump.  I let her stay up much later than I usually would.  But it was entirely worth it.  She's hooked.  Can't wait to watch "the boys" this afternoon. 

Ice Day? No Way! Let's Dance!!!

So there's ice on the roads today.  No school.  Kids stuck at home.  At least if it was a snow day we could go outside and play.  What to do.  What to do?

DANCE PARTY

Yep turned up the music.  Let Erin be the DJ and danced our hearts out.  Sure there was more Miley Cyrus that I would have chosen but seriously it was a blast.  And let me tell you got the heart pumping.  There was laughing and sillies.  Even the boy who says he HATES dance parties got involved.

And know what?  I feel like I could take on the world.  Erin, who spent the night coughing and morning complaining that she was sick . . .not a word.  No more coughing or sniffling.   The usual sibling bickering is at a minimum.  I'm loving this!!

Maybe it won't last all day, but it's sure been worth it.  So what are you waiting for?  Crank up the tunes and dance it out!!

Rochester Days

From DC we headed on to Rochester to see the other side of the family.  Even though we were all together at Thanksgiving we made the trek to NY because our youngest niece was being baptized and her big bother's birthday is New Years Day.

All the rest of the family (cousin, Aunt & Uncle, Grandma & Grandpa) were also in NY, but we got to spend most of our time with Aunt Katie, Uncle Bill, Will and Witney.  The kids got to have a sleep-over -- Will's first.  Picture 3 adorable kids sacked out on a bedroom floor with their pillow pets.  Completely adorable.  Even though the first evening was difficult because Will just wanted to play and Erin was exhausted by the last night there it was pretty close to smooth sailing.  Cousins Rylie and Avery even joined the party for New Years Eve!

Sleepover

Erin and Jeff got to test out their new sled from Santa while we were there.  There's a nice hill at a nearby school.  Of course the first run down, Erin and Rylie crashed into a sapling. But both were brave and got right back up.  We had to cut our outing short when staff from the school system drove up and explained that we weren't allowed to sled at the schools because of insurance issues.  We'd gotten close to an hour of snow time in by then, so it was a good excuse to leave.

Cousins Waiting Their Turn For A Sled

Later that afternoon Erin and Jeff got to meet some of Cousin Will's friends at his birthday party.  Aunt Katie held it at this really cool place called Kango, a big play center with a huge climbing structure, bounce slide, and small roller skating rink.  The kids played nonstop with their cousins for almost 3 hours.  Needless to say we were all exhausted by the end.

Jeff spent most of his time playing in the climbing structure.  There was a small zip line that he could just reach.  He'd jump up at one end, pull his knees and swing around -- just like Indiana Jones.  So funny.  Erin really liked roller skating and took to it rather quickly.  After only a few minutes she was pushing away from the bars and walls and rolling into the middle of the floor.

Look Ma -- No Hands!

We woke up on New Years Eve day to 50 degree weather in NY.  We hung out at the house for the morning and the kids just loved playing with their cousins.  In the afternoon we used Aunt Katie's zoo membership to visit the local zoo.  The kids LOVED it.  We got to see lots of animals out and moving around and got to take in some fresh air.  The elephants were out, we got a glimpse at the polar bear, the seals were squawking and even the tiger was prowling around. 

2 Boys and Their Star Wars Guys -- Heaven

Checking Out The Elephants

After that we headed to the ice rink for some ice skating.  This was something Erin's been asking to do for a while and the rest of the family thought it sounded like fun.  Everyone took a chance to get some skates on and push around the ice.  Jeff is still a little afraid to leave the edge of the rink, but went from terrified to relaxed holding hands by the end of the trip.  Our little daredevil, Erin, was pushing around the middle of the rink at the end of the day.  She just LOVES skating.  It was so much fun to see everyone laugh and smile and enjoy themselves.

Uncle Jon and Uncle Jeff, Aunt Robyn, Rylie & Avery joined us all for New Years Eve. We feasted on Chinese food, enjoyed some drinks, let the kids play wild, set up the Wii and watched the ball drop (with kids fast asleep).  Uncle Bill got a party pack with fun hats, noisemakers etc...what else does a party need?

Missing His Uncle Jon

Wii Battles Are Serious Business

Saturday morning was Will's birthday and everyone got together again to celebrate and open presents.  For a 3-year old, he was amazingly patient with all his other cousins wanting to help.  We spent a quiet afternoon at Grandma's house while Will rested for his birthday dinner at a local hibachi restaurant.  Of course Jeff again ate his weight in shrimp :)

After dinner we all took in a hockey game.  The kids just had the best time.  We were sitting right on the glass and could feel the bodies hit the wall.  There was awesome balloon hats and animals, enough snacks to feed an army, ice skaters, a Moose and Eagle.  Given that there were 5 adorable kids sitting right on the ice, we all made the jumbo-tron several times.  They'd shriek and shout whenever they saw themselves.  I never would have thought to go to a hockey game with a bunch of kids, but it was such a fun time.

Sunday morning we had to get packed up and ready to leave after church.  Witney's baptism was beautiful.  She's a very lucky girl to be so clearly loved.  We went back to Aunt Katie's for lunch and one more "cousins" photo shoot.  I assume as they get older this will be easier, but when the oldest is 7 and the youngest 3 months, you take what you can get.

They're Absolutely Smitten

It was an amazingly fun, and packed, few days.  It was great to get some special time with Aunt Katie, Uncle Bill, Will and Witney.  Toss in Rylie and Avery, Uncle Jeff and Aunt Robyn as well as Grandma and Gradnpa and it was just right.  Can't wait until we get to see them all again.

DC at Christmas

Since we were visiting Noni, Grandpa and Oma, we decided to take in some of the DC holiday sights.  We headed down into the city twice.  On the recommendation of some friends we drove down on the 26th.  For the first time ever, we found parking right in front of where we were headed (the National Building Museum).  Not sure if it was the date (the 26th) or the fact that it was snowing and that 3 inches were called for -- frightening most of metropolitan DC into staying home.

We headed to the National Building Museum to see the Leggo exhibit.  There were these awesome architectural reproductions built out of Leggos.  Jeff was in heaven.  Then we got to the section of 1000 Leggos.  The visitors were encouraged to construct their own Leggo buildings and add them to a Leggo City.  We all made our own buildings.  Jeff worked on a few with Tom and I, and Erin worked on one with her Noni.  There were also some other interesting exhibits in the Museum -- and awe inspiring building itself with huge columns and arches in the main hall. 

On the way home we stopped at a restaurant/bar that advertised 30 beers on tap.  It was just around the corner from the Building museum and we'd passed it on the way in.  The kids were happy just to get some lunch with everyone.  Grandpa and Oma entertained them while Noni, Tom and I tasted several fantastic beers each.  Yes folks,  I've been corrupted ;)  But let me tell you -- good food, good company, good beer!  Works for me.


Later in the week we decided to head back into the city to take in the model train display at Union Station.  I've never been down to the city at Christmas and really wanted to see the station all done up.  It certainly was beautiful.  The model train was very cool.  Jeff took a bunch of photos from his perspective.  And just watched it for quite a long time.

Then we decided to walk to a pizza place I've been wanting to try out.  It's owned by one of the Top Chef contestants and just looked cool.  So we bundled up a bit and walked out towards the Capitol.  It was simply a beautiful day. A little windy, but gorgeous sky.  It's been years since I explored Capitol Hill and I'd forgotten how lovely it is back there.  We pointed out the Supreme Court building, the Library of Congress and several other federal buildings.  We couldn't visit any of them because Tom had his pocket knife with him -- whoops.

After some great pizza and fun sodas (If you're ever at We The Pizza try the pineapple soda) we decided to take in some of the Museums.  Back onto the Metro we headed and went to the Natural History Museum.  It was quite crowded but Jeff and Tom got a chance to see the dinos, and Erin showed me her favorite gems and then the bug exhibit.  After meeting back together Erin wanted to go to the Botanical Gardens and Jeff wanted to see airplanes.  We split again.  (BTW Tom was only able to get into these places because he found a place to secretly hide his knife outside).

By mid afternoon we were ready to hop back onto the Metro.  We walked past the other side of the Capitol and saw the Capitol Christmas Tree.  On the way back to Union Station Tom spied the Capitol Ale House so we headed in for a pint (and some soft pretzels for the kids). 

The whole day was a 5-year old boy's delight -- a ride on a "train", a train exhibit, pizza for lunch, dinosaurs and then airplanes.  Turns out we all enjoyed our super special day.

Christmas Time

We had just a wonderful Christmas this year -- as we always do (even last year when we were all gifted with a rotovirus).  We decided that we'd spend the holiday at Noni and Grandpa Donuts' house since we've never actually been there on Christmas morning.  We've celebrated together before, but generally they come down here.  It was really fun for Noni and Grandpa and Oma to have everyone at their house.  They even have a real chimney for Santa!!

Since we were going to be leaving for NY to celebrate Witney's baptism before heading home we decided to open gifts from the Wallace clan before leaving for DC.  Just to minimize the number of presents we'd need to bring along.  The kids had a great time opening their special gifts from their family.  Jeff hit the Leggo and Star Wars jackpot.  Erin got some awesome Pet Shop stuff,  a fancy Tinkerbell nightgown and some crafts. 

The stars of the show were their long-awaited Pillow Pets from Grandma.  They "placed their order" for pillow pets from Grandma in July.  Every time we'd see them in the store or advertised on TV, Erin would explain.  "I don't need to ask Santa for one of those, because Grandma is already getting me one."  So just to get their goats, Tom held them for the very last present to be opened.  Didn't matter.  Immediate Love.  Erin's got a unicorn and Jeffrey a turtle. 

We arrived Christmas Eve and all made pizzas together.  The kids played with Oma while the adults (minus Oma) sat and talked for a while.  Then we built a fire, cracked out the egg nog and read some stories before bed.  The kids were excited to leave cookies and milk (and egg nog) for Santa.  It was just a wonderfully evening.

Christmas morning, Erin ran upstairs from Oma's room to check on Santa's visit.  We heard her thumping back down the stairs shouting at Oma, "Santa Came, Santa Came!"  No visit to let mom and dad know.  When we checked in with Jeffrey he was watching a movie with Grandpa D.  He'd not even checked on Santa, and wasn't that excited about doing so (too engrossed in How To Train Your Dragon).  Eventually they meandered into the living room to discover that Santa had indeed arrived, and brought a New Sled!  He even left footprints in the soot at the fireplace.

The rest of the morning was spent wonderfully opening presents together.  Paper flew around.  Shouts and shrieks were heard.  Hugs and thank yous were given.  Jeffrey and Erin both ended up with a pile of wonderful books, hiking backpacks, games, Star Wars Toys, stuffed animals, musical instruments etc...  Couldn't have asked for a better day.

We spent the afternoon and evening putting together an AT-AT, building leggos, playing games, making music and reading stories. Just perfect.