Winter Fun: Landon's First Time Ice Skating

Landon has been learning all about Winter at school this month. They talk about winter weather, winter clothing, and winter activities. Since then, he has been asking to "go to a mountain with snow to go sledding" and to go ice skating. Given the Sharks Ice Rink is a lot closer to home than the "mountain with snow", today we opted to give ice skating a try! A couple of highlights included:

- 5 gallon buckets stacked on top of each other might be the best balance aid ever! Whoever thought of this idea is a genius.
- We dressed warmly, but not warmly enough...it was freezing in there! Next time we will pack gloves, and a thicker jacket! (Thanks for the fleece lined jeans, Auntie Rah Rah...they were perfect)!
- After one lap, and a few falls...Landon was "all done", but we bribed him with a snack and a few race-car arcade games if he took one more lap around the rink...and, it worked!

All in all, Landon was a brave boy and had fun! As we were leaving the Junior Sharks team started to scrimmage. We watched a bit, then headed to the car. As I was buckling Landon into his car seat he said, "maybe when I am a bigger boy, I can play on the hockey team. I will be the goalie!"

Here are the photo highlights from our 23 minutes at the ice rink!

Halftime Negotiation. 

Christmas Festivities 2014

Our first Christmas season as a family of four was so much fun. For the first time in a long time, we didn't fly anywhere. As much as I missed seeing the Hartmans this Christmas, we did just see all of them in Florida in November for Sarah & Josh's wedding, and it was nice to stay home and relax on Christmas Eve & Christmas Day.

The weekend before Christmas, we drove down to Lompoc & San Clemente to celebrate with the Chappells and Greenwoods. Cohen's first major road trip was a success! We even got to stop at Bianchi on the way down for our annual family photo!

Big thanks to Jonathan & Melissa for hosting all of us in Lompoc, and to GG & Grandpops for having us down in San Clemente the days after!

Santa Was Here! A new Hot Wheels bike & Paw Patrol toys for Landon and a new bouncer for Cohen!

Christmas 2014 will be remembered as the year of the puzzles!

These two in their matching "Jamanas"

Santa Nailed It!

Nice work, Santa...he loved it!

His legs are just long enough to reach the pedals...he won't outgrow this one for a long time!

Bro talk.

Cohen and the Santa at Mommy-Baby Class!

Team Greenwood, Four Strong at Bianchi Winery

Cohen is all-dome, all-the-time

Emma turned 1 in November...she's still the only girl cousin!

Dylan turned 8 in December...and loves to skate just like his Dad.

Batman cousins celebrating Christmas together in Lompoc

Lando & Emma high-fiving it up with Uncle Matthew in San Clemente

Opening all of these presents at GG's house takes a long time...but is so much fun!

And, here are a few pics from my phone, too!

Cohen Takes to the Pool!

In December, Cohen & I took a 5 week Baby-Mommy swim class at AVAC, the same place we take Landon for lessons. They offer the baby class for free, so long as the little ones are 8wks to 6mos. Cohen has liked it since the beginning: he never cries, and seems to enjoy floating around & "kick kick kicking" his feet! By the end of the 5 week session, he "learned" to go under water! I enjoyed getting to do this with him on Friday mornings, and may try to sneak in a few more lessons before I go back to work in February! Here's the photo highlights from our last class! (Thanks, Sean for coming to take pics).