Did you know?

For those of you with blogs, did you know you can print your blog in book form? If that sounds like something you're interested in, I'd suggest doing so before you are in your third year blogging and 300+ blogs deep! Other wise, you may find yourself investing a large sum of " Encyclopedia Britanica" style money into archiving your family's daily grind. Of course, many of you would argue that I am a bit more long winded than the average blogger ( realizing that I'm writing a blog about printing my blog, your point is well taken) . In any event, just passing along the info :)

Don't you get it?

Another episode of "Daddy asks a silly question!"

Daddy: Wow! You just ate all of your sandwich and part of mine. Where are you putting all of that?
Mack: In my belly.

Mackenzie must wonder who took care of us before she came along. We seem to miss the obvious stuff.

Wheeeeee-eeeee ! Sledding fun

OK , so the title is misleading. Meant to portray the imagine of my snow bunny and me happily skidding down a large ( but not too large) hill, heads back in mid-laugh stance, the title is a far cry from what really happened. What it should say is " AGGGGGGGHHHH!!" OR , if you prefer " Mommy! I wanna go home!"

Our friends, Jeanette and Ben , met us at McHattie park, the home of a great big hill. After two snow storms and a snow day from school, the hill was packed snow but felt more like a big down hill skating rink. After a partial run ( which ended with me , face first in the snow) I decided against " the real thing" , happy to assume that the rest of the hill is much colder and much faster. Mack slid down on her buns which was "kinda fun" but after a single venture down the less steep side of the hill with Ben, she was truly done sledding.

Mack and Ben found a deflated inner tube to test out. This was just prior to their accidental dismount:
The kids on the trek up the hill:
Mack atop Mount McHattie:
Ben and Mack played in the park, plummeting off the slide into snow drifts until Mack's toes ( and belly) screamed for warm air and warm food. Thankfully, McHattie park is next to Wendy's. Warm chili was just the thing we needed to thaw out!

Snowy Wednesday

Though we didn't get as much as predicted, we did wake up to about 7 inches of snow this Wednesday morning. I didn't even get past " Would you like to play in the sno--" before Mack had her snow boots on and was waiting at the door for me.


It was a light fluffy snow, not very good for snow man building:

But great for snow angels ( our favorite)
And of course, EATING!

These are a few of my favorite things....

I simply love the point in our bedtime routine where , teeth are brushed , books are read and Mackenzie says " Let's just talk for a while". One of two things happens then a) she asks me a question that has been plaguing her little almost three year old mind like " Why do I poop?" followed by an explanation of her digestive system OR b) she starts a sentence that goes something like this: " Because I don't like it when I hear that siren. Because it's loud. Because someone needs help. Because daddy's at work. Because he isn't here. Because...." Then I love kissing her little squeaky clean cheeks and feeling her arms wrapping around my neck for a big hug and hearing her say " I love you, mommy. For ever and ever. and EVER!"

Ludington

Since we were in the traveling mood ( and the weather was being cooperative), we decided to pay G.G. a visit! We got a late start but arrived just in time for dinner at a local restaurant. When we got home, I challenged G.G. to a game of Rummy to which she agreed and then promptly beat both Mike and me at nearly every hand.
Eventually Gramma offered a show of mercy, suggesting a game of domino's instead.While we readily agreed, our luck was only slightly better. We did realize that we both really like playing domino's!
Mack quickly remembered how to use the candy dispenser that my Grandpa made. I found her helping herself to a few M&M's:

The time to go home always comes too soon! I am always inspired when I spend time with my Grandma. I hope this spring/summer brings lots more visits and that many more memories.

Zhender's Splash Park

After three weeks of 80+ hour work weeks, I decided to surprise Mike (and Mack) with a trip to Zhender's Indoor Splash Park in Frankemuth. We all needed a chance of scenery and, with Mike having 6 days off in a row, this was just the time and place for it!

We stopped for a bite to eat before hitting the hotel. Mack was so excited about the water park, she could hardly stop bouncing! Here we are finally heading out the door:

I was itching to try out some action shots on my camera but opted to get in the water instead. We swam for 2.5 hours before we were all ready to cuddle up in jammies. After a quick rinse in the tub, Mack had the right idea:
And you can bet we were up bright and early the next day:
We wandered around down town for a few hours before the pool opened again. Just after lunch, Mike and Mack got ready for the pool and jumped in. The park was so bright and big, it was easy to float away the day on the lazy river. :

Mack tried everything ( aside from one of the bigger slides). Her favorite was the kids slide which sent her sliding into about 2 ft of water. She didn't even reach the bottom of the slide before she shouted " AGAIN!". The second day, Mike and Mack decided to try taking their tube down the largest of the slides. They climbed what seemed like a hundred flights of stairs before they finally reached to top. In Mike's words, the slide was " fast and dark".
So fast that Mike lost his glasses upon entry to the water:
A very nice life guard helped him scour the bottom of the pool to find them. There was lots of father daughter bonding time . Here are two of my favorite snaps: