Free Day from School!

The kids had off from school last Friday and this past Monday.  My friend Tammy took my kids overnight last week on Thursday and watched them until I got done with work on Friday.  They had a great time and by the sounds of it, my kids kept them busy playing just about every board game they had. :)  They also took them out for breakfast on Friday morning.

So Monday was my turn to take her kids and I also took my friend Jenny's boys.  We had a fun filled day, which started with none other than, school?  Yes, we set up a room to play school. We started by saying the Pledge of Allegiance.  Since we didn't have a flag, we did have a big fish balloon floating on the ceiling (don't ask), so we did, "I pledge allegiance, to the fish".  That got lots of giggles.  The older kids took turns being the teacher and teaching different classes like math and art.  That kept them busy for about 2 hours!  

For lunch we went for pizza and a movie at the budget. We saw the new Alvin and the Chipmunks movie, which set their imaginations into full gear for our next adventure.

 The afternoon turned out to be gorgeous, so we headed to the park.  The snow hill was too muddy to go sledding, but we still had fun playing on the park equipment and taking a nice long walk through the woods where they pretended they were the chipmunks and chipettes on a remote island. 

 Taking a rest on the bench on the trail in the woods.

 Pretending they are walking on a scary log to cross a river several hundred feet above water like in the movie. 

 The girls wore their scarves and sung the song the chipettes sang...I shake my tail back and forth..I shake my tail back and forth. 

 Alec was the man of steel pulling all the kids at one time.  I could barely pull two and was out of breath. :)

 They found this fort in the woods and pretended it was the one the chipmunks built on the island.

 Complete with a zip-line.

 Pretty little Abbie. :)

 Taking a rest after our long walk with some water and Nana's delicious chocolate chip cookies.

 Back home showing off their Easter art projects they made that morning while enjoying some hot chocolate.

Can't wait for our next day off from school!  Thanks for hanging with me today, I had lots of fun!

Weekend at Nana's House/Baby Michael

This past weekend was our annual "tax season sleepover" at my Grandma's house with the kids.  We try to get up there every year during Rick's busy season to spend some time with our beloved Nana/Grandma.  Again we had a great time.  Grandma cooked a lot of great food and lots of goodies (although I had to drool over them because I gave up desserts for lent).  Somehow I still managed to gain 2 pounds there. :) 

Friday night it was just the four of us.  We spent some time playing board games.  We brought out some of the oldies (new to the kids) like RACK-O, Chinese checkers and regular checkers (which is now Will's new favorite).

Saturday the kids played in the snow for awhile (as of when we left Neenah didn't have any snow, so they loved having a backyard full to play in). We did some cooking, played some games and by supper time we had a houseful of aunts, uncles and cousins.  We got to meet my cousin Brian and Megan's son, Michael, who is only two weeks old.

Soon it was Sunday and it was time to head home.  Can't wait for next year!  Thanks for having us Grandma.

Will, Taylor and Lexi with Michael

Lexi and Michael

My cousin Brian and Will.  They are drawn to Brian..love to tease and play with him.  Partly because he is so tall and they can touch the ceiling when he is holding them. :)

Grandma Hamm and Michael

Baby Michael

Taylor, Lexi and Michael

Strong little boy for three weeks.

Michael and my Uncle Gary..

My Aunt Sue, the proud Grandmother...

Nana also had some soda in bottles, which the kids thought was pretty cool.  Is there anything better than grape soda in a bottle?  I wouldn't know..the kids drank it all, plus the blue-raspberry and cherry. lol

Kids enjoying the snow...

Nana teaching Lexi how to play Chinese checkers...

Will playing Chinese checkers for the first time.  He was playing checkers against me later and Nana was his partner as he was just learning.  He looked at her and said, "let's do this Hamm."  It was so funny.  I didn't even really realize he knew her last name as he calls her "nana".  lol

Grandma kicked our tails in the first round of Chinese checkers.

Lexi and Grandma