Family Fun Weekend

Though I usually blog about our fun activities versus the evenings and weekends we sit around and chill at home, we do a lot more chilling than activities as we regroup from busy work and school schedules.  So it was a big weekend that we had STEM Night at school on Friday evening, followed by a Saturday evening roller skating party.  And the very next weekend we also went to a friend's house for dinner and cards (and to play with their growing puppy)!

Our friends' school had a PTA Fundraiser at the roller skating rink that we crashed.  William had been to one or two skating field trips but wasn't very excited about it.....I think he just needed mom out there to show him the moves!  We had a blast and after a few laps with the skate assist he ditched it and was tearing up the floor like a madman!  He tripped me once for a big fall for me, but otherwise I held my own!  This skating rink was circa 1986 so I felt right at home.  I filled William in on tales of Saturday skate where my mom dropped me and Ryan off to skate and have nachos and dill pickles.

The dog whisperer in action.  William and Herky are sure to be fast friends.  (Herky, by the way, is a very common pet name around here due to Herky the Hawkeye for University of Iowa.   Just like all of our Kansas friends with pets named Willie!)

 

Big Snow and Valentines Day!

We got another big snow, and this time William and I got to play in it a bit since it was cold but not as cold as the last snow.  

For a little Valentine's date, William and I went to see Peter Rabbit at the movie theatre and then met Daddy for dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings.   I also made hearts for William's bedroom door of all of the things I love about him.  A new one was added (more or less) every day.   John's gift to me was a beautiful bouquet of flowers that I enjoyed rearranging three times to make them last longer!

 

Cub Scout Pinewood Derby

After an impressive runner's up finish overall and in his den last year (and the first place kid moving-LOL), William was highly motivated to build a winning car this year.  Success!  William's car was 1st place overall out of 59 cars!   One heat his car went almost 200 mph!  He was pretty sure he had won, since the new timing system showed that every one of his heats was a track record.  But boy was he thrilled to get that trophy!

 

 

The Bears were big winners.  Repeating at best overall design was his den mate, Zac, for a hot dog car!   Zac's car was also the second fastest for the Bears den and fifth overall. . . everyone was calling it Fast Food!  Our pack does a nice job of spreading out the trophies so that each kid gets only one.  Since William won overall fastest and Zac won overall design, they did not qualify for the Bear awards.  Instead, the third fastest Bear won the 1st place Bear trophy.  This is also how William won 1st place Wolf last year, since his den mate was first overall.  This year six Bears got trophies:  2 overall, 3 speed, and 1 design. Here they are pictured with Zac's mom, Kyle, and their other den leader, Matt, and the Cubmaster, Mike.   Kyle and Matt were great to jump in this year to replace the husband/wife duo that did Tigers and Wolves, since the Ks moved to China on an ex-pat assignment.  

 

 

Some action shots:

After the big win, William and I celebrated with some ice cream!  John wasn't able to join us since he was on the clean up crew.   John and his fellow Bear den dads were again the pit crew for the race.  John and Josh run the track while Jay runs the computer.   They were thrilled this year with the updated timing system.  Much smoother than last year.   I think they wrapped up and made it out for dinner and beers much earlier than last time!

 

The Rest of Winter Break

After we got home from New Year's in Kansas City, William still had another full week and weekend of winter break!  It's good they don't have school because it's SO COLD (single digits at best), but I can definitely see how we would have been a little more stir crazy if we hadn't had the roadtrip.

 

William finally finished the Hoth Attack set from last Christmas.  It's amazing what this piece of "snow" (i.e. fabric batting) did to add to the scene and interest!   

 

We went to the climbing wall at our gym.   This is so much harder for adults than children!  Clearly we have more weight to carry, but I also think it's the weight to strength ratio.   I did try it too but didn't make it very far.  William made it to the top of the kid's wall and made great progress on the regular wall.

 It snowed again.  We went sledding.  I also had to take another picture of our house before the lights and decoration went down.   I love all of the weeks leading up to Christmas when I drive into the neighborhood at night all lit up!  It got less and less festive each night after New Year's.   The combination of bitterly cold weather and no lights is just sad.....how many more weeks until spring??

This bottom picture is part of my commute:  the walk across the Chicago River from my office to the train station.  It's very photogenic - even in the winter. 

New Years Roadtrip

 We made a quick roadtrip to Kansas City for New Year's Eve.  

On New Year's Eve Eve, we had a fantastic adults only dinner at The Rieger in the Crossroad.  John and I had an amazing cocktail called the Aged Pendergast that was similar to an Old Fashioned.   For dinner we shared short ribs, butternut squash, pasta and fried apple pie with cheddar ice cream.  

 

 



New Year's Eve was a fun trip to see family in Gardner.   Foosball and Mario Kart for the win!  William had so much fun with his cousins!   Back at the Koudeles, William was quite the dog whisperer! 

 



We rang in the New Year at 8:30 for Addie and at 11 p.m. for the rest of us!