28 December 2016
25 December 2016
Christmas Morning
This year the Christmas holiday was longer than usual, since Christmas Day fell on a Sunday. We did the usual traditions, and not so usual traditions (I had a certain male procedure done on the 22nd). So, I was off from Thursday to Tuesday without much to do but hang out and spend time with the family and kids.
We went to Christmas Eve "Mess" at 3 and then can back to our house for our traditional fondue dinner. My parents joined us and watched us open our pajamas. After they left we watched Elf and then went to bed.
We didn't buy the kids many presents. They get plenty of presents from everyone else in the family. However, we did give them two presents and went with a technology theme. As much as I don't like the idea of giving them these types of gifts, it's inevitable and they are a part of life today...so we might as well start getting them used to them so that they can be properly managed. Plus, they are fun.
They were both given a kids "smart watch" they had been wanting. It's a just digital watch with a touch screen and small games like tic-tac-toe, fitness apps, and the ability to take low quality pictures, videos, and voice memos. Things like that. The bigger present was that we also gave them our old iPhones. We got new phones months ago but I kept the old ones to give to them for Christmas. Now they don't need to use our phones for games! The phones aren't connected to cell service, so they are basically like iPod touches. They can use wifi for some things, but otherwise have been locked down and only use limited functions. It's fun to get a text message from them while at work. They don't know the passcode to unlock the phones, so that's another way we can control usage. We'll see how it goes. For now they are having a lot of fun with their new big kid toys.
At the end of the video there are a couple clips of a fun little game for Jonathan. The strings are supposed to imitate laser sensors, and every time a player touches a string the countdown timer loses 20 seconds. The goal is to collect all the required cards/items and disarm the bomb before the time runs out!
We went to Christmas Eve "Mess" at 3 and then can back to our house for our traditional fondue dinner. My parents joined us and watched us open our pajamas. After they left we watched Elf and then went to bed.
We didn't buy the kids many presents. They get plenty of presents from everyone else in the family. However, we did give them two presents and went with a technology theme. As much as I don't like the idea of giving them these types of gifts, it's inevitable and they are a part of life today...so we might as well start getting them used to them so that they can be properly managed. Plus, they are fun.
They were both given a kids "smart watch" they had been wanting. It's a just digital watch with a touch screen and small games like tic-tac-toe, fitness apps, and the ability to take low quality pictures, videos, and voice memos. Things like that. The bigger present was that we also gave them our old iPhones. We got new phones months ago but I kept the old ones to give to them for Christmas. Now they don't need to use our phones for games! The phones aren't connected to cell service, so they are basically like iPod touches. They can use wifi for some things, but otherwise have been locked down and only use limited functions. It's fun to get a text message from them while at work. They don't know the passcode to unlock the phones, so that's another way we can control usage. We'll see how it goes. For now they are having a lot of fun with their new big kid toys.
At the end of the video there are a couple clips of a fun little game for Jonathan. The strings are supposed to imitate laser sensors, and every time a player touches a string the countdown timer loses 20 seconds. The goal is to collect all the required cards/items and disarm the bomb before the time runs out!
17 December 2016
Great Wolf Lodge
The Great Wolf Lodge just opened up near our house and we were able to stay there on opening weekend! I had never heard of this chain until they started work on the one in town, even though they are all over the country. It's a total family "staycation", complete with hotel, restaurants, and an indoor water park. There are also other games like MagiQuest (a electronic scavenger hunt with wands that is scattered around different floors of the hotel), miniature golf, etc....but the main attraction is the water park. In Colorado an indoor water park is like gold, since it's really hard to stay warm outside when wet even in the summer.
The hotel actually opened up a couple of weeks ahead of schedule, so we were able to make reservations immediately even though most of the dates in December and January were already booked. You have to be a hotel guest to use the water park, so I reserved a room for our family and my parents with my credit card points. When you stay you have access to the water park from 1 p.m. the day of check in and all day until close on the day of checkout. My parents joined us the first afternoon to see the place and to ride the waves.
Since it was the first weekend there were some glitches that needed to be worked out. But that was to be expected. Only about half our wrist bands that allowed us into the water park and that were our hotel room keys worked, so we had to get them fixed later. Right before we going to change into our swimming gear the fire alarm went off, slightly delaying our fun. But after that everything went pretty smoothly. It was nice staying in a brand new hotel, knowing that at most our room had only been used one night before we were there.
We were excited about going for another reason. Jonathan had grown to just barely over 42 inches (from my measurements at home). That was good enough to allow him to ride some of the bigger rides with tubes and mats (Julia was able to ride all the rides since she was over 48 inches tall). However, the first day, the girl working at check in gave him a red band meaning he had to stay in the little kid's section. Even though he was tall enough, I think she took off too much from his height since he was wearing boots. The second day I was determined to not let that happen again. We cut off his red (under 42 inches) bracelet so that he would have to be measured again. This time I stuffed the bottom of his boots with some of my socks to make him taller. And this time there was a different person (a guy) working the check in. Jonathan (and all of us) were so excited when he was given a yellow band for being over 42 inches tall. That allowed him to ride some of the bigger rides you'll see in the videos below.
Later that night we started the kids on a game of MagiQuest. We woke up and did some more of that the next morning too. The kids have been back a couple of times since staying there to continue their quest. I think they really had a lot of fun. I certainly had a lot of fun. I was the only one in the family to brave the green slide. This ride was at the very top of the water park. How it works is that you stand in a upright cylinder until the floor drops out from under you. Free Fallin' straight down for a little while until the slide curves around and you hit a bunch of water to slow you down at the bottom. I found it to be pretty unnerving the first time I did it. After that, the next several times were just fun because you knew what was going to happen.
It's not cheap, but we'll definitely be going back and doing this again.
The hotel actually opened up a couple of weeks ahead of schedule, so we were able to make reservations immediately even though most of the dates in December and January were already booked. You have to be a hotel guest to use the water park, so I reserved a room for our family and my parents with my credit card points. When you stay you have access to the water park from 1 p.m. the day of check in and all day until close on the day of checkout. My parents joined us the first afternoon to see the place and to ride the waves.
Since it was the first weekend there were some glitches that needed to be worked out. But that was to be expected. Only about half our wrist bands that allowed us into the water park and that were our hotel room keys worked, so we had to get them fixed later. Right before we going to change into our swimming gear the fire alarm went off, slightly delaying our fun. But after that everything went pretty smoothly. It was nice staying in a brand new hotel, knowing that at most our room had only been used one night before we were there.
We were excited about going for another reason. Jonathan had grown to just barely over 42 inches (from my measurements at home). That was good enough to allow him to ride some of the bigger rides with tubes and mats (Julia was able to ride all the rides since she was over 48 inches tall). However, the first day, the girl working at check in gave him a red band meaning he had to stay in the little kid's section. Even though he was tall enough, I think she took off too much from his height since he was wearing boots. The second day I was determined to not let that happen again. We cut off his red (under 42 inches) bracelet so that he would have to be measured again. This time I stuffed the bottom of his boots with some of my socks to make him taller. And this time there was a different person (a guy) working the check in. Jonathan (and all of us) were so excited when he was given a yellow band for being over 42 inches tall. That allowed him to ride some of the bigger rides you'll see in the videos below.
Later that night we started the kids on a game of MagiQuest. We woke up and did some more of that the next morning too. The kids have been back a couple of times since staying there to continue their quest. I think they really had a lot of fun. I certainly had a lot of fun. I was the only one in the family to brave the green slide. This ride was at the very top of the water park. How it works is that you stand in a upright cylinder until the floor drops out from under you. Free Fallin' straight down for a little while until the slide curves around and you hit a bunch of water to slow you down at the bottom. I found it to be pretty unnerving the first time I did it. After that, the next several times were just fun because you knew what was going to happen.
It's not cheap, but we'll definitely be going back and doing this again.
07 December 2016
Julia's 9th Birthday
Happy 9th Birthday Julia! What a big 3rd Grader. This year Julia celebrated her birthday with a party at Color Me Mine. She and several of her friends painted pottery together and then picked up the pieces later after they were finalized in the oven. A couple of girls had never been to this place in the mall, so it was a big hit. I've been there with Julia and Jonathan separately, and even I had fun. After the painting and pottery she opened her presents and they had cupcakes.
That was on Saturday. The next day we opened family presents at home with Grandpa and Grandma. Although family presents aren't as much fun as toys from your friends, they typically are the bigger gifts, the ones you end up using for a very long time, and the ones you remember when you're older. This year Julia got some seriously grown up presents...a new keyboard for piano lessons, a sewing machine from Aunt Michelle so she could learn how to sew, an apron, and some serious other gifts you'll probably see in the video below.
We love you Jules! I hope you had as much fun as we did celebrating you!
That was on Saturday. The next day we opened family presents at home with Grandpa and Grandma. Although family presents aren't as much fun as toys from your friends, they typically are the bigger gifts, the ones you end up using for a very long time, and the ones you remember when you're older. This year Julia got some seriously grown up presents...a new keyboard for piano lessons, a sewing machine from Aunt Michelle so she could learn how to sew, an apron, and some serious other gifts you'll probably see in the video below.
We love you Jules! I hope you had as much fun as we did celebrating you!
03 December 2016
Puzzles University
In case you're wondering what two proud, cute, kids look like after conquering a puzzle on Saturday morning...
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