An Eventful Start for 2016

It's been a loooong time since I posted any photos to this blog, but we've had such an eventful month there is a lot to share.

Ian finally lost his first tooth! His second tooth fell out just a few days ago (also on the bottom). He got two visits from the tooth fairy, and contrary to popular belief, the first tooth isn't worth more than the subsequent teeth, they're all worth the same!


Then last weekend we got an enormous amount of snow - about 3 feet! The kids enjoyed sledding, but it was difficult to walk back up the hill in snow that deep. After 6 days of cancelled school, we're happy to be going back tomorrow.




We were sick of being cooped up in the house, so today we met some friends at ClimbZone for an afternoon of exercise. The kids were great climbers!

Dutch Wonderland - Happy Birthday Ian!

Instead of a big birthday party, Ian decided to celebrate his 6th birthday with a family trip to Dutch Wonderland in Pennsylvania. We drove up on Saturday and stopped at the Turkey Hill Experience for an ice cream tour before checking in to the hotel.

Milking the cow


I can't get Mia to do a normal smile in pictures anymore.


Free ice cream!






Saturday evening we were able to "preview" our park tickets for the last 3 hours of the day, so we decided to do the water park. The kids loved the slides.


This one is blurry but I couldn't resist sharing it. Mia had a huge grin every time she came down the big slide, and poor Joe had to climb to the top about 10 times to ride down with her.


Dousing Daddy


On Sunday we did all of the rides in the non-water part of the park. Both kids were very brave and did lots of the rides. Ian rode his first roller coaster!


















It was a great trip!

Father's Day at Lake Anna

We went on a long weekend trip with some friends to Lake Anna over Father's Day weekend. One of our friends has a nice pontoon boat, so we spent the weekend boating and floating. The kids had a great time, and so did the adults!

The gang






These two were snacking pros.


Mia loved tubing.


Sunset sailing.








Captain Mia

Fishing Trip

Once again I am way behind on my blog posts. I went back through photos last night and realized we aren't taking nearly as many photos as we used to, so there isn't as much blog material. I'll need to work on that.

Back in June Ian's grandpa took him on a fishing trip to his favorite pond, and the rest of the family tagged along. Ian learned how to cast and how to reel in a fish. He caught 25 fish!

Butterflies

For Ian's birthday last summer he got a butterfly kit, and we finally got around to ordering the caterpillars. We watched the caterpillars grow and form chrysalises, then turn into butterflies. On Sunday we released them to continue their lifecycle.



Ian reached in and helped each butterfly find its way out of the cage.




Our last butterfly needed a little help, so Ian put him on a flower so he could refuel with some nectar before flying away.

Little League Opening Day

This Saturday, Ian's Little League celebrated the opening of the Spring season with a parade and festival. His team, the Volcanoes, made a banner and marched in a parade through the neighborhood.











The team gained an extra towards the end of the parade.




Mia ran into one of her favorite friends Charlotte.