Winter Wonderland

We're up in Milwaukee for Christmas. We decided to leave a day early so that we would improve our chances for not having to drive through a snow storm. I didn't realize all the snow that was already on the ground - we will definitely be having a white Christmas!

bye bye baby bed

This week, we had the chance to catch up with Maia & Patri via the webcam. Maia made us some coffee and eggs for an after dinner night cap. Owen could care less about the virtual meal but was much more into Maia's bed. After we said goodbye, we began the nighttime ritual. As he said night, night to us and every inanimate object, he insisted on sleeping on his big choo-choo bed. We've officially have moved on - now if potty training was just that simple...hmmm.

a little more asian

Last night, we were at our first Christmas White Elephant party of the season. It was with a group of Asian leaders (and spouses) within our company. Tom decided to give himself a temporary new last name for the evening so we were Tom & Wendy Gong for the night :)

The group still is learning what White Elephant gift really means...we walked away with a $25 gift certificate to Beluga, a trendy sushi restaurant in Hyde Park. It's definitely the nicest white elephant gift I've received. I would've like to have seen their first White Elephant party, someone was telling me that people were gifting VERY nice gifts like Mikasa crystals.

Thankful

Thanksgiving has quickly come and gone - As usual, I ate too much but couldn't help myself. We did enjoy the meal the day after as well...but how could you not when we made 4 pies, 20-lb turkey, and the usual fixing was the first to be completely consumed along with the chocolate cream pie.

Favorite Exhibit

We had spent the afternoon at the zoo. It was great to get some fresh air and sun after a week of cold, gray skies and flurries. There weren't many animals out since we were visiting towards the end of the day. Owen spent most the time running from one exhibit to another and took more pleasure in the travel than the exhibits themselves. Inside the Manatee house was a crank where you put a coin in and it will turn it to some picture. Of all that could be seen inside the zoo, this was his favorite. He didn't want to leave and got possessive of it when another kid came anywhere near it.

Jeckyl & Hyde

I had taken a half day off of work yesterday and today. Yesterday, Patri and I had just a girls' day - slowly meandering through the aisles of shoes and racks of clothes. We refueled at a little Thai restaurant in Hyde Park before heading to work. Today was spent with the kids. Owen had decided he was boycotting the car. This made for a very long 20 mile drive to the Children's Museum with crying, screaming, shouting, and fit throwing. Once we arrived, angelic Owen returned fully - holding hands, listening, playing, smiles, the works. This place is awesome and I can't believe I haven't been here before. We spend a short 1 hr 15 min in this place when we could spend 3 hrs. The museum is actual an old train terminal that was transformed to a museum so it is quite majestic as you enter the building. After closing down the museum and an ice cream treat later, it was back to the car and off to dinner. About 2 car lengths away from the car, there was another switch and we endured more screaming, crying, and shouts of 'let me out mommy' until he decided to take a nap. Dinner was a repeat of the same and after the ride home, we decided a nightcap was desperately needed. For those who might think I'm exaggerating, Patri did capture this on tape. We could do nothing but laugh at how ludicrous it was.

let the fun begin

This year it's going to be more like Thanksgiving month rather than Thanksgiving weekend and we have officially kicked if off with the arrival of Patri & Maia. They made it to the 'Nati with minimal trouble.

If last night is a foreshadow of the rest of this month - I know it'll be a good one. The kids had their fun playing together and wrestling toys away from each other. Few tears were shed but overall there was much more laughter, smiles, and chasing each other around the house. But it wasn't just the kids who had fun...Patri and I about peed our pants off last night as well.

We had put the kids in the tub together for bath time. Both are quite proficient of undressing and hopping into the tub. Since they were so proficient, neither one of us were paying too close attention to the process. But the next things we noticed made us both laugh so hard we about peed our pants...our sharp mom eyes caught sight of a floater in the tub along with a skid mark and one that never made it into the tub. And of all things, you might wonder why we are laughing so hard at something that seems so unfunny. I think it was because it was so unexpected (we both proclaimed this has NEVER happened to me before!) and when you become a parent you learn to laugh at these moments vs being horrified by them.

Today we've started the day with some pancakes and grocery shopping. The kids were wonderful and ate their way through the store. Tonight we will add Owen's girlfriend to the mix and have some more widget fun! But for now, it's time for Patri and I to hit the stores a bit :)