Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Cousin Time


We had Allie for the day a few weeks ago while Landon had a full day of basketball. 
Two vs. Three is really no big deal (though maybe it is Allie that made it easy!) 


Popcorn and movies --- 
 

Reading books together! 
 

Happy to share with Isaac :) 
 
 

At this point, Isaac is still eating pretty much whatever you give him without complaint. 
Here he was alternating between pineapple and pickles on his plate... so happy to caught this priceless face on camera! 


Decorating cupcakes for the Packer game --- 
in hindsight - sugar shakers with better tops would be more helpful and toddler friendly. 
(Though to be fair, why would you ever need a sugar shaker with a "pour" option?!? 
Just provided me an opportunity for productive vacuuming! 
 

Isaac wasn't interested in the sugar --- just wanted to eat what he had in front of him! 
 

Allie was all about the decorating! 
 

After Landon's games we all hung out for the Packer game --- lots of kid antics with and without clothes. Isaac was not feeling great, so I kept disappearing upstairs and when I would return, James seemed to lose another article of clothing. But it appeared to be helping the outcomes of the game, so we went with it! 
 

Trampoline fun for 3! 
 

Silly Allie!

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Local Basketball fans

Our friend Chris is the Freshman basketball coach in McFarland and we were happy to have found a weekend to go see a game. The boys are big fans of Coach Chris and Chris often jokes about the day when the Ellestad boys will be on the squad! 


Front row seats! 
James enjoyed watching and appeared to understand when to clap :) 
 

Isaac was a little tougher to entertain --- all of that open floor space was calling him name! 
I was thankful that the bleachers were more covered than they could have been - mostly protecting us from losing endless sippy cups! 
He did manage to dump my purse down there at one point and also got his leg stuck as he attempted to climb down there! 
 

Post game - James gave Coach a high five for a great win! 
 

Isaac doing his best dictator walk (he often puts his hands behind his back and walks like he is inspecting the troops!) next to Chris. 
 

And my personal favorite ---Coach heading back to the bench for the next game and Isaac chasing after.... "Hey - wait for me!!!!!" 

Saturday, January 16, 2016

New Years celebrations in the burbs!

We often celebrate NYE with Andy and Beth and of course love watching bowl games with them too - so were thrilled that we could coordinate an extended stay to accomplish both over the holidays. And even more exciting - it was our first trip to their new home in the burbs! 


New Christmas presents in full effect - fingers crossed for an easy ride! 
(turns about Isaac got bored with the headphones, and pretty much snacked the entire trip!) 
 

Andy and beth's new house is beautiful --- plenty of hardwood floors allow for blanket rides! 
 

All four boys playing in the play room. 
 

Found another awesome free zoo! 
John and James at the entrance :) 
 

These two had a ball running around together - again grateful for the indoor exhibits to warm up! 
 

George was plenty cozy with Daddy! 
 

The kids bounced back and forth between strollers and running - Isaac managed to take a nasty header in the monkey house - awesome exhibit, but really uneven walking paths (you know to make it more authentic!) 
 

The boys loved playing with all of John and George's toys --- brand new toys!!!! 
 

Quiet and contained in front of the TV --- I think it was at least nursery rhymes in Spanish - so sorta educational?!? 
 

Aunt Betty has the best yogurt! 


Love that our NYE plans involve good food, drinks and comfy clothes! 
Lots of yummy cheese, wine, and more cheese! 


The boys cooked an amazing meal and Beth and I got to relax a little! 
 

Yummmmmmm! 
Notice my plethora of glassware --- 
Thanks for a wonderful time :) 


Thursday, January 14, 2016

the zoo is fun anytime of the year, especially when it is free!

The weekend after Christmas we took the opportunity to visit the Milwaukee County zoo for the first time in years (first time ever for the boys). We learned about the week being free admission so decided to bundle up and go since we were in town! 


Grammy and Buppa came with us so we had extra hands and the double stroller. 
It was chilly - so we were happy to go into the animal houses every once and a while. 
 

Sometimes you need a Buppa to get a better view of those silly monkeys! 
 

Daddy and Isaac 
 

Sometimes the shoulders were a way to keep tabs on the kids too - they LOVED being able to run and didn't seem to mind the cold at all! 
 

Love this picture - I think sitting on the railing is "frowned upon" but maybe in the winter they let it slide! 
 

This picture cracks me up - the reptile and fish house was by far the favorite - up close and personal with everything! It was dark so sort of hard to keep tabs on a quick moving toddler in the crowd --- thankfully (?) he was shrieking most of the time he was running! 
 

 And the highlight of the day --- a fond memory of Patrick's zoo trips as a child --- the Mold-a-Rama! 
James chose the green alligator - though the guys stopped to view (and breathe in the fumes) at each station. 



Friday, January 8, 2016

Swenson Christmas

We arrived in Mequon late on the 24th so were able to wake up and enjoy Christmas morning with the Swenson family/ cousins. 


Matching jammies - obligatory photo in front of the tree before opening presents! 
I still remember the torture myself! 
 

4 little guys opening stockings  
1 little guy going for the chex mix! 
(Note, this chex mix caused both babies to puke at different points over the holidays - one due to allergies, one due to choking from shoving too much in at one time. I will let you guess who is who!) 


3-D glasses to look at the Christmas lights! 
 

So as a kid the stockings we got at Grandma Millie's always had apple's in them... Grammy has continued this tradition with the boys. Isaac was thrilled and carried his apple around with him most of the morning. See how many pictures you can spot the apple in! He manages to eat almost the entire apple if you let him...core included! 
 

Helping Lisa open something! 
 

Benji getting help from TJ. 
 

Apple! 
 

"Hey Buppa! - check out my reindeer antlers I made at daycare!" 
 

This year's home made gifts - a drink local bottle opener and a hand crafted wood pen! 
 

Santa came for a visit and even though they started off a little shy - the boys were happy to see him! 
 

Keeping their distance initially! 
 

Too many cousins - Isaac apparently got bored waiting for his turn to sit on Santa's lap! 
 

Group picture with Santa! 

Ginger love! 


Christmas is exhausting! Ben fell asleep in his chair at breakfast! (it was after lots of playing and gift opening - but still, it was breakfast!) 
 

THis is a much better spot to nap! 
Benji and Buppa take great naps together :) 
 

Ikey on the other hand dove into the fancy cheese - Uncle Mark would be proud of his gusto towards soft cheeses! 
 

Our little Beethoven!  


These two are really starting to have fun together  - so cute! 
 

Kid's table 
 

Like Godfather like Godson! 
 

Christmas crowns! 
 

Benji and Patrick - post Christmas dinner! 
 

Thank the lord for kid friendly nativity scenes! 
 

Matching comfy clothes! 
 

Snuggles all around! 
Love our family time :)