The Last Post

Today is Jonas' half birthday, which means I have been writing in this blog for exactly 7 and a half years.  This has taken the place of a "baby book" for Jonas - his first steps, lost teeth, and vacations are all recorded here.  I use this blog often to go back and show Jonas pictures from different events and to tell him stories about when he was little.  It is 7 1/2 years of memories.  

Sometimes, it is a good thing when something comes to end.  For us, the end of this blog means that we have a new family.  Of course, we will continue to record our memories and special events in our lives to share with our family.  You can follow us on our new blog "Blended and Blessed" to keep up to date!

Dueling Cousins

Turns out that empty apartments are perfect for lightsaber duels!  It's almost time for the big move!

Level 3 - Here He Comes!

Jonas completed another swim session tonight, and he is moving up to level 3!  I am so proud of how hard he worked, and he was definitely excited to hear the news from Miss Kelley and Miss Laura.  

Doing the back stroke.

 Showing off his certificate

Now we just need some warm weather so he can get outside and swim!

Maple Weekend

Duane and I took the kids to the Gabel Farm for Maple Weekend today.  We took a hay ride to the farm, got maple suckers and candy, checked out some boiling sap, and hiked the Sugar Bush trail!

The kids enjoying the hay ride.

Duane showing the kids how they tap the trees to suck out the sap.

Jonas really liked that Rosie the dog followed us through the whole trail.

Jonas' First Stitches

Jonas banged his chin at swim class on Thursday.  He was a really tough boy, but he ended up having to go to immediate care and get 3 stitches!  

He was pretty worried about getting the numbing shots in his chin, but once he decided he was going to do it he laid down and didn't move.  I told him story about some sea creatures (that was the theme of the room) so he wouldn't think as much about the shot.  

3 stitches later (and at 10 PM) we were ready to go.  He was a trooper!

Happy 4th Birthday, Abby!

Abby had a "rock" themed birthday party!

Up first, gem mining!  The kids sifted through their sand to find pretty "gem" rocks.

Painting rocks

"Blarney Stones" - the kids hit them with a hammer to break them, and there were bouncy balls inside!  Cool!

Cake Time!  Rock cake with worms...eeewww!

And last but not least - presents!  Abby told me she wanted Easter eggs!

We love you, Abby!  Thanks for a really fun birthday party!

Splash Lagoon

Duane, Grandma Deb and I took the kids to Splash Lagoon for an overnight stay during winter break.  The kids had a ton of fun, and I was just glad they kept it really warm in there :-)

The kids spent some time swimming in the hotel pool early on Friday since the water park didn't open until 10.  

There were only a few things I could get pictures of since Duane and I were on the water slides and things a lot with the kids.  This is a little "Frog Pond" that Brynn and Jonas swam around in for a while.

We took a break from swimming around lunch time and saw an animal show.  The kids got to touch a bunch of different animals.  The animal Bransen is touching there is a hedgehog!

Jonas really loved the snake and giant tortoise.  He hung out for a little bit after the show to get to touch them.

Jonas and Bransen had some fun playing in the arcade!

This is called the "Aqua Tumbler".  Basically you climb inside and get tumbled around.  Brynn, Bransen, and Duane were all brave enough to try it...and loved it!

Wave pool fun!

Relaxing in the lazy river.

Jonas and Brynn really liked this island in the activity pool.  

Science Museum

Mom and I took Jonas and Hayden to the Buffalo Museum of Science a few weeks ago.  There was lots of scary posing like bears, and Jonas was a great big cousin helping Hayden with different exhibits.  Both boys had a great time, and learned a lot, too!

Collins Snow Day

It has been a while since I've posted...over a month!  I will try to play some catch up today since I have (another) unexpected day of from work.  

The Lafferty girls joined us for a snow day in Collins.  There was some tubing/sledding fun, playing on the swing, and a hike to the creek!

The tough 4 that made the hike all the way down!