Coffee Anyone?

My dedicated workers collapsed on the beautiful swing they put together on Saturday :) It took a couple hours....some freezing cold fingers, a book full of instructions...but with their hard work they got it done! Thanks Alvar and Danielle for getting the (hee hee..."my") swing up!!

And have you seen the weather report?? I see 23 degrees by Thursday!!! Can't wait to relax with a coffee on the swing...anybody want to join me?

Logic From a 3 Year Old

Anna: "Mom, biting my nails is actually good for you."

Me: "Really? And why would that be good?"

Anna: "Cause you don't have to use your time to cut my nails!"

Honestly? My kids are way too good to me ;)

No Thanks!

I always love to watch the "first time smiles" on the swings at the park with my kids. All of them so far have LOVED the swings the first time - all until Sara that is ;)

I should have guessed that she would have been different from the rest (as she is in everything else so far too!) - the swing was NOT an enjoyable time for her...oh well...we'll just keep on trying and hope she grows into it someday!!

(thanks to a good friend *L* for taking and sending me this picture of Sara that she took as I forgot my camera that day - I'm lucky to remember all my kids' names let alone my camera these days!!)

Meisje

Just Dripping with Attitude!

Our little 3 year old going on 18 here...boy, teenage years are gonna be interesting!

The Science Centre

Last weekend we enjoyed a Christmas present from Alvar's sister (thanks Bianca!) - we went with the whole family to the Science Centre. What a FABULOUS place for kids! They had a blast! Even on the way there, not knowing what to expect, they were super excited because they knew they would be allowed to touch lots of stuff!

We spent the entire day there - pretty much from open all the way to close, and still didn't see everything! The two main areas we hung out in were the KidSpark area (designed for ages 8 and under) and the Science Arcade room - all hands on and a great place to let the kids discover all kind of stuff!

As we were walking around, I noticed that this place really hasn't changed much since I was there in grade school (a llllooonnnggg time ago ;), but in the end, change was not needed - kept us all just as busy back then as it did last week!

Astronauts Caleb,

Esther,

and Anna

Space exhibit

Space machine - Caleb was not too keen on this one. At one point there was a loud noise (air hissing) and he pretty much leaped off the chair, leaped over the barrier and kept his ears covered the whole time - we all had a good chuckle ;)

Esther got the hang of the chair pretty quick!

Forces of gravity - kids watched the balls rolling around for quite a while - then they got bored and decided to try to figure out where the balls went...see Anna in the next picture...

"ooohhhh, that's where they go!!!"

Cool contraption just outside the kids area - we probably could have stood around watching this thing for an hour - even the kids were mesmerized watching it!

Then there was the KidSpark rooms - made just for kids of course! Tons of stuff to do here - the kids ran wildly around trying out everything possible. We actually had to break for lunch from here...but promised to come back at the end of the day.

Anna enjoying some fishing

Caleb watching how things work...

Now this wall was pretty cool - basically a bunch of sturdy straws you could push thru either side of a wall - making impressions of "whatever". This one is of the side of Alvar's face.

Alvar again here, this time doing "The Scream"

Esther walking into the wall.

Esther striking a pose!

Anna on the "noise" piano (some lovely sounds coming from this piano...and not necessarily music!)

Esther trying to figure out a human puzzle (even I couldn't figure it out, good thing I'm not a doctor!)

I'm surprised Anna didn't get sick in here - walking around in a circle creating a tornado.

Bird's Eye View video

Esther and Anna trying to blend in...Anna got her cloth backwards ;)

Caleb playing guitar - the kids could watch themselves on a tv screen while they played - they spent quite a bit of time in this room (Caleb especially!)