Ballet

Claire received ballet classes for a Christmas gift. We thought this would be a good activity to try instead of gymnastics again. However, Claire is a little uneasy trying new things. When we talked about the class she said she did not want to go. But while playing dress-up recently, she came across some little skirts a neighbor had given her. I told her she could wear them to ballet and her face lit up. That was the ticket.

On the drive there she requested that we ask the teacher's and all the students' names upon arrival. She was a little timid, but followed instructions to begin the class.

It didn't take her long to warm up. Twirling around with a bunch of girls in pink tutus is right up her alley. There is also a long mirror in the room that enthralls all the girls.

Claire very much enjoyed Miss Cece, who has been teaching for 41 years! Claire asked if she could go to class every day.

Kyle had fun hiding in some lockers and exploring a few classrooms with toys and pet guinea pigs. I'll be excited when he can start some rec classes of his own.

Weekend Update

We visited the art museum last weekend. You never know how it will go with young kids. Claire was engaged and told us stories about lots of the pieces (video below). It was too close to lunch/nap for Kyle, so he was rather ornery.



Here's Lucian and the kids goofing around at Home Depot. We'll do whatever it takes to make errands fun.

We visited Uncle Jesse's new apartment. The kids had fun exploring and coloring on the floor.

Beautiful Claire in Jesse's chair.

I arrived home one night this week to find this in front of our house. Luckily it was an issue with the neighbor's pipes. Phew. Kyle loved watching the shovel and trucks.

Claire will start ballet class this weekend. She tried out her outfit tonight.

Where Have We Been?

I realize I haven't made a post since our Florida trip. Life is busy! Here are some updates.

It was freezing cold when we returned and we got dumped with snow on top of that. We tried to make the best of things and played in the fluffy white stuff. I like the sand better.

 

We saw a cooking show where they made apple fritters. I've made a few batches now. They are delish!

We went to visit Spencer one Saturday. We took him grocery shopping and out to lunch and even grabbed some ice cream in the union.

The next day Claire was pretty sick, which does not happen often. She fought a fever and a bad cough for several days. Kyle ended up with the cough later in the week, but seemed to get a much more mild version.

And just a silly shot of Kyle in Claire's play shoes.

Florida Trip

At the end of January we spent about 10 days in Bonita Springs, Florida. While the weather wasn't super warm, we escaped yet another cold snap back in Wisconsin where wind chills were around -40°F. I'll take low 60°'s any day over that. We made the best of our time eating fresh seafood, doing a little shopping and trying to keep the kids busy.

We visited the Naples zoo one day, where the kids fed birds and a giraffe.

Poor Kyle came down with a nasty cold of some sort. We actually made a visit to urgent care a few days before heading back. There was no way he could fly with how congested he was and we were worried about his ears. He recovered just in the nick of time.

We spent as much time as we could at the beach. The kids loved playing in the sand and dipping their feet in the ocean.

We flew direct both ways (thank goodness) and on the flight back we had two full rows available to us. Claire did amazing and Kyle wasn't too bad. I think we all enjoyed the time away.