Happy Birthday Neenie

While in Hickory this week, we stopped in for a little birthday party with Neenie. Isaac picked out a little cake for her and even told the lady at the store what it should say. He was so excited to surprise Neenie with it!

The boys had a great time visiting, eating birthday cake, and playing with all of Samuel’s toys!

Happy Birthday Neenie!

Late Snow

We thought that winter had passed us by without a single snow day. It’s never been so much fun being wrong! It snowed late on Sunday evening and the kids got to stay up late to play in it.

We were over at the neighbors house when the snow started and they dressed him in their clothes to go outside. I didn’t have the heart to make him come back in and change into clothes that fit him. He was having so much fun!

Lucas enjoying his first NC snow!!

Puppy Love…Wripley loves the snow just as much as the kids!

There was even enough snow to pull out the sled and slide down the front yard.

It was 9:30 pm by the time these video clips were taken. Isaac was all to ready to show off for the camera. For the record, I’m not making fun of him in these videos…just laughing with him. It’s so much fun to watch your kid have fun like this!! (sorry the video is a little dark)

Captain Clean Teeth

He’s fast and he’s quiet…and when it gets quiet I know he’s into something. If the bathroom door is open, I’m guaranteed to find him in there…

brushing his teeth with whoever’s toothbrush he can reach first!

Doesn’t he look proud? Who knew clean teeth could be this fun?

Superheroes

When Brian was a little boy, his grandmother made him a superman and a batman cape. This past weekend, Nana found those old superhero capes for the boys to play with. No one was more excited than Isaac. Much like his father, Isaac is a huge fan of Superman.

He does make a great little superman…

He wore his cape all weekend. Even outside to play football with Nana. (Please note that Nana and Boppa do not have football helmets at their house, but Isaac thought their motorcycle helmets made a great substitute.)

Our other little superhero thinks he’s big stuff too!

My two favorite superheroes together…

These two will work together to free the world of “bad guys” over the years to come. I honestly don’t think the world could be in better hands!

Valentine’s Fun

We woke up on Valentine’s Day with no specific plans for the day. As it turned out, we came up with plenty of fun things to do!

The boys enjoyed some time painting. I’m not sure they actually enjoy being creative as much as they enjoy making a mess and getting covered in paint! Isaac does pretty good about keeping the mess only on his hands.

Lucas on the other hand; well he likes war paint!

A few of their creations…

After getting the boys and the dining room all cleaned up, I figured why not destroy the kitchen. The boys were all too willing to help me make cupcakes. This time they seemed to like clean-up the best!

Isaac had fun decorating.

While Lucas enjoyed the sampling part. (He would be a great cake pop maker!)

Daddy brought home take out chefenese (Isaac’s word for Japanese) that we enjoyed as a picnic on the living room floor. For a day that started out with no specific plans, this one sure did turn out to be fun filled!

Lucas Gets Tubes

Lucas got his first ear infection in October. He’s had a couple more and fluid in his ears ever since. Today, it was time for some relief…he got tubes. We were up early and off to WakeMed for his procedure. He was full of energy and having a great time exploring the surgery prep area. About 20 minutes before his procedure, they gave him some medicine to make him groggy so he wouldn’t be upset that mommy and daddy couldn’t go to the operating room with him. This is a picture of him right after they gave him the medicine. (Doesn’t he look all grown up saying “cheese” in his cute hospital gown?)

This is him 2 minutes later. The meds worked fast. The nurse even said that was the fastest she’d ever seen them work. He was feeling good and totally relaxed!

The procedure took only a few minutes and went very well. The doctor said his ears were completely packed full of infection today (which they rinsed out) and that he should be feeling much better and hearing much better in the days to come.

In recovery, he promptly sucked down 3 sippy cups of apple juice (that’s my boy getting his money’s worth of hospital food before we left). Then we were on our way back home. His big morning caught up with him half way through his lunch…

But after nap, it was back to normal. We’re looking forward to him feeling much better and listening to his vocabulary grow as he no longer hears like he’s underwater!

Frankenmuth

No trip to Frankenmuth is complete without a trip to Bronner’s CHRISTmas wonderland. It’s the biggest Christmas store in the entire world and it is just plain awesome. If you can’t find what you’re looking for in this place, it just plain doesn’t exist. The kids love to explore here too.

They don’t look like trouble at all do they?

Then you add the 3rd troublemaker to the mix and watch out!

Fun after an authentic German lunch at the Bavarian Inn.

Oma and Lucas playing with Grandma’s beanie babies. (It kind of looks like Oma may have swallowed one of the birds! Sorry Oma, Lucas looks cute in this pic!)

Isaac and Madeline learned to play a version of pool. I have MANY memories of my sister and my cousins around this old pool table. It made me smile to watch Isaac and Madeline play like we used to.

Then it was time to load up the party van and head back to the warmth of the good old South! One last picture before we left.

We had a wonderful time visiting Grandpa and Grandma in Frankenmuth, and a great time on our entire wintertime adventure! We’re already looking forward to our next big family adventure!!

Weiss-fest 2012

While in Frankenmuth, we got together with all the extended family. No family reunion would be complete without some family pictures. Thanks to Aunt Ruthie’s awesome little friend (I have to get one of these)…

we ended up with some great pictures of the whole crew! I mean when’s the last time you got 9 kids to look at the camera at the same time!!

The Weiss Family

Having a little fun for the kids…

Grandpa and Grandma with all the great grandkids

The kids had a great time playing together while the adults spent time catching up.

Snowfest 2012

So why would we travel to Michigan in the winter? We only did it twice in my 30+ years, so why now when we’re supposedly older and wiser? Frankenmuth Snowfest…that’s why! Every year Grandpa Weiss tells us about Snowfest, an ice and snow carving festival in Oma’s hometown. Every time he talks about it, we say “we should go to that some day.” There’s no time like the present, mark Snowfest off the old bucket list! We’ve been there now and it was great!!!

Some of our favorites…

Isaac and Mr. Flamingo

A scene from “Dumb and Dumber”?

King and Queen of the Ice Jungle

Isaac’s very own ice block

Lucas’ ride for the festival

Picking out an ice house

Random Friends they made along the way…

Mr. Gnome

Zehnder’s Chicken

Yogi Bear

Ronald McDonald

And they rounded out the outdoor activities with a ride through the snow on their ponies!

Time to warm up with some real German pretzels and monster cookies!!

Snowfest was definitely worth the drive and braving the winter weather. It’s something you just don’t see in the south. The sculptures and the way they put them together were absolutely amazing! It’s definitely a talent that I don’t think I have in me!! If you need a good winter adventure, mark this one down because Frankenmuth Snowfest is definitely a good one!