We're So Cool Now, We Go to OMSI

It's been almost a week ago now, but hey, we went to OMSI for the first time!  We were gifted with a family pass for Christmas, and after the wild success of our first trip last Tuesday, we know we will be going back more than enough times to make our pass worth it.  It only takes 3 visits for us to make up the cost.  Isn't that crazy?  So if you think you will go to OMSI 3 times in a year, may as well buy a pass and at least get free parking out of the deal.  Or just come with me because I can take 4 kids and Christian doesn't count because under age 3 is free.  Let's work the system, guys.

Christian's favorite was the sand and the water.  Water fun, then sandbox, then water, then sandbox, for a good two hours.  He was a mess afterward. 

Daph loved it all, but mostly she loved running into a school friend.  All that fun stuff to do and finding a friend was her favorite part. 

OMSI is fun for more than the children, apparently

no, you canNOT be an astronaut when you grow up.  space scares me.

After OMSI we went for pizza at Flying Pie.  David and I went there for our first date eons ago but we haven't been back since.  Wait, I just lied.  David's 30th birthday party was there, but it was in the big meeting room, not in the regular restaurant.  This was my first time back to the regular restaurant since that date back in 2003. 

(David actually remembered that booth, not me)

what a morning at BSF and afternoon at OMSI will do

We feel like real Portlanders now that we have an OMSI pass.  Too bad we're about to become not-Portlanders. 

Speaking of not-Portland, Daphne told me she doesn't want to move to another country.  I said she didn't really need to worry about that right now, and that's when she told me that moving to Oregon City is moving to another country.  I promised her it's not, but she still needed convincing that OC is in fact in the United States of America.  That girl needs a map.
 
Fortunately for us, our move will not require a Passort nor a Visa, and we will still be able to visit OMSI.  And stick with English as our primary language.

St Valentine Was a Totally Cool Guy!

Valentine's Day is so fun.

We don't do anything fancy.  Partly because David has worked nights up until this past fall, so even before we had kids he was usually gone when I got home from work.  I'm not sure we've ever gone out for Valentine's?  Now-a-days with the kids, how exactly does one go about securing childcare?  Do you call someone up and say, "hey, you seem like the type of person with no plans for the 14th, want to watch my kids?"  That must be an awkward call to make.

So our day was spent otherwise because I hate making phone calls, especially awkward ones. First thing was the kids waking up to Valentine treats Daddy had left them.  Daphne got a little Lego airplane set.  After putting it together I texted David and said, "Do you realize your gift meant I was putting together a Lego set at 6:30 in the morning?"  Legos are cool, just not necessarily my favorite thing to sit and do.  Especially before the sun comes up.  

Next up was churning out sugar cookies for decorating.  Christian mushed his dough into the counter top.  That was fun to clean up.  Daphne made one super fat heart cookie and spent the rest of the time playing with her dough like play-doh.  

Then we made a quick morning trip out to visit to David while he was at work, a plate of cookies in hand.  

Once we were at Starbucks my kids acted like they were wild beasts recently freed from the zoo.  The whole trip basically succeeded in making me really hot.  On the way home as Daphne was asking her multitudes of questions, I told her I needed to take a break from the talking for a few minutes.  Logically, she turned to Christian with her questions:

"Christian, why do some cars drive faster than others?"

"Race cars fast.  We race car.  We drive fast."

"No, Christian, that's not the right answer."

I'm guessing she won't be going to him for more advice anytime soon?

This morning I read this article about the man Valentine's Day was rumored to have started for.  It's a very interesting and good article and gave me great inspiration for what celebrating Valentine's can really mean.  Sure, this guy was all about marriage, and that's cool, but he was also about sacrificing in order to love someone else.  I would say this inspired me to think about Valentine's Day as a day to make a point to sacrificially love someone, no matter who they are to me.  Logical people to love are my husband and kids, but delivering a meal, cookies, offering to take in children so someone else can go out for a date...pointedly finding ways to allow our family to show love; I think this sounds like a most delightful way to celebrate Valentine's from now on.  (Not loving the beheading part, so I'll probably do my best to stay away from that.  Don't mind me as I'm over here being safely and comfortably sacrificial.)

Today was a little late notice to get started on this, so for my record:

1)  Drove the kids all the way to the Lloyd District to deliver Valentine cookies to David: points for the driving and the hurriedly making of the cookies, but negative points because I got coffee out of the deal. 
2)  Made Daphne sacrificially love me by not talking to me in the car:  points for her and many negative points for me.
3)  Scheduled a late afternoon play date with sweet friends while our husbands were working strange hours so our kids could have a fun mini-Valentine party and we could visit:  a few points for me for baking cookies and letting the kids help because THE MESS they make, negative points for me because making people come visit me is not sacrificial it's wonderful.

So yes, next year I'll try to do better.  Feel free to tell me ways to be nice to other people because I think I might need help. 

cookie decorating party

baking helpers

working hard on Valentine's, probably her favorite activity she's ever done

'you make the world glow'

with the littlest Valentine

More Snowy Adventures

Church is canceled today but David still had to go to work.  He says the roads are terrible (loved getting that emergency broadcast text from the city telling us to stay indoors, as if we were about to be invaded by space aliens or something; very exciting) so the three of us are making the best of a Sunday at home.  We're painting, cooking, watching a movie WITH popcorn, using the art easel, possibly making this flubber recipe if we need to fill some more time; basically doing 10 days worth of fun projects in one day.

Yesterday was a good day, though.  I don't know how Daphne can have so much stamina when it comes to playing out in the cold, but she tromped around outside for hours.  The little hill down the block made for good sledding, and then once the ice started it made for great sledding.  Both kids had the time of their lives down there.

Good memories for this winter.

"c'mon Lola!"

haha...not quite

he says, "I yike dis.  I do dis again."

flying

too much snow in the face to make a good snow angel

not thrilled with the snow that went down her shirt

My (Professionsal, Obviously) Thoughts on the Opening Ceremonies

As the Opening Ceremonies were going on last night, I was thinking it would be so nice that instead of some big, grandiose performance that borders on weird, they should just have a choir sing or something.  Keep it simple.  Almost immediately after that thought came into my head is when the men's choir sang the state song and I thought it was lovely!  Then David started singing along.  For reals, and I was wondering how on earth he knew the Russian national anthem?  He played vague for awhile, then spent a good amount of time trying to convince me that he is a Russian spy, and finally when I was getting confused and desperate for the truth, told me he knows it from the soundtrack from The Hunt for Red October.  I suppose if you have some sort of event where you need someone to perform the Russian state song, he's your guy.  (For the record, if your event needs the Thai national anthem, I'm your girl for that one.  We had to sing it every morning before school at GIS and it's just stuck in my head.  It helps that I practice it every once in awhile just to keep it fresh.)

Another Olympics related story:  a few weeks ago the USA sweaters were revealed on the Today show.  I'm not gonna lie, when I saw them I thought they were joking. I thought maybe they were a funny play off of ugly Christmas sweaters since those are so popular these days?  When I realized they were in fact the real thing I felt kind of badly.  Last night when USA walked out, David made some sort gagging/choking/chuckling noise and said, "What on earth are they wearing?  They look like ugly Christmas sweaters."  So either both David and I have extremely poor fashion taste, or the USA outfits were a little strange.  On the positive side, come Christmas they can just applique a Christmas tree under one of those white stars and they will be set for a festive holiday outfit. 

I guess those are my only thoughts.  I fell asleep before Russia came out but I looked up their outfits this morning.  They seemed pretty cool.  I knitted one and a half dishcloths while watching the show (before falling asleep).  I'm trying to go through all my yarn and get it knitted up before we move again in a few months.  So far I've done, like, 8 dishcloths and a big, white, infinity scarf.  Knitting and the Winter Olympics go together quite well. 

We got more snow yesterday and last night and are planning on getting more today, so David surprised us by taking today off.  Isn't that fantastic?!  This type of fun snow doesn't happen all that often and I think it's great that he gets to be here to enjoy it with the kids.  Last night he took Daphne sledding on the hill down the block.  She cried alligator tears when they had to come back home, so a  full day of sledding is definitely on her schedule.  We're also making snow ice cream and doing some baking.  Maybe we'll be brave and head out to Starbucks.  Doesn't it sound like a perfect day?  

Now if only I had a USA sweater.  I could sew a snowman on mine. 

Snowy Adventures

I did NOT know snow was coming!  Such a good surprise, and so fun to have a significant amount that will stick around for a few days.  Plus, Instagram is always so entertaining during snow time. 

If Christian would keep gloves on I think he would last a little longer outside.  Daphne's H&M clearance Hello Kitty hat and gloves keep her so well insulated that I had to drag her in after an hour with the bribery of a snack.

I do miss our woodstove today.  And all our fun neighbors who would've played outside with us were we still neighbors.  This new neighborhood has been silent today, leaving us the run of untouched streets to leave our footprints in.

This afternoon, in lieu of snuggling by the fire, we're going to make these peanut butter banana muffins and these sandwich rolls for supper.   Hopefully they will warm us up, because brrr.  It's cold out there.