While the parents were away . . .

While Mommy and Daddy were gone, we had tons of fun. We used our headlights to make popcorn . . .

. . . and each day Mommy and Daddy left us a little gift to open.

One day it was our new favorite game . . .

HULLABALOO!

Strings and things

Grandma is very crafty, in a good way of course.

Each afternoon we had a craft project. These little string boards were super-fun.

We just needed slightly longer arms.

Welcome . . . (yaaaaaaawn) . . . home

Mommy and Daddy's timing was not very good. They got home while we were napping. When we woke up, we definitely gave them hugs . . .

. . . but we were not our normal, excitable selves.

After the hello's . . . some goodbyes

After Mommy and Daddy got home, it was time for Grandma and Bumpa to leave. We had so much fun with them while they stayed with us. We're already looking forward to our next sleepover.

Welcome home Monkey . . . and Mommy

Mommy and Daddy came finally came home. We were super excited to see them . . . and the Travelin' Monkey.

Little did we know, but they brought us some gifts too. The most exciting were the guitars.

We were super-excited by the Diego's from San Diego as well. At one point, Diego was playing a guitar.

Blasting with Grandma and Bumpa

First things first, Grandma and Bumpa took us to the The Blast. It was awesome, as always.

We checked out the giant ball . . .

. . . and made another awesome track to run on.

Gimme a light

Aunt Lori sent us a gift to open while Grandma and Bumpa stayed with us as Mommy and Daddy went on a trip together. We had to wait until they left before we could open them.

We couldn't get them out of the house fast enough and we are SUPER-happy with our new headlights.

Kristan and Michael

Mommy's friend Kristan and her son Michael came over to visit over the weekend.

Mommy and Daddy talked, we played.

AAALLLLL ABOOOOAAAARRRDD!!!

We finally made it back to the Jackson Street Roundhouse. It's been a long time.

We spent a lot of time outside looking at all the big engines and train cars.

Climbing up some of them is quite a challenge.

One of the engines was running. We climbed right up to the door and the conductor let us in.
It was awesome.

We had a great time pretending to take naps in one of the cabooses inside. There were two bunk beds and three other beds all in the same car.

It's spring . . . right?

We won't let the weather win, we won't let the weather win. We headed to our friend Will's house down the unplowed streets this morning. 6 more inches fell overnight and into today. SNOW UNTIL JUNE!!! WHO'S WITH US?

In case you ever wondered what late March in Minnesota looks like . . . here it is!

Charley's doing his best . . . maybe he can eat it all before it hits the ground? . . . Maybe not.

Around the driveway we go . . .

. . . Where we'll stop, only the snowbank knows.

Behold . . . pavement

It's so nice to see you again. Mind if we ride upon you? Excellent.

Parade of noise

Today was St. Patrick's Day and you know what that means. Freedom to blow our horns as loud and as much as we want and in public too.

But before we could do that, we got to ride a city bus for the first time ever.

It was SO awesome.

Once we got there, we discovered that many other people brought there own, weird looking horns.

And of course there was candy too. Like icing on a cake.

Rat-a-Tat-Cat

All day, everyday. We play our new favorite game, Rat-a-Tat-Cat.

UPDATE: March 2011

There have been lots of fun stories lately, so I thought I'd offer a March update.

We totally lucked out with a great trip to Texas early this month, and scored some warm, sunny days to visit a park (or two) every day. The boys LOVED being outside again without being all bundled up. We can't wait for the spring to come here!

We started swimming lessons again, this time in separate classes. They are able to pay better attention, but Charley says that he's "lonely" without Jax. It is nice to have some one-on-one time with Mommy during the brother's class, though.

Jackson is on imagination overload these days. He has the most amazing imagination. He creates entire stories, and they last for days or weeks. He created a card game, "airplane," complete with rules. It's lots of fun to play. (He almost always wins, though.) And don't try to act like his imagination creations aren't real. If you don't let him throw his "sucker" in the trash, or land his airplane on the runway, it's meltdown city!

Charley continues to show his "leadership potential" (some might call it bossy). He knows the rules, and he wants to be sure that everyone else does, too. His best friend at preschool, Brian, still speaks limited English, and we're all rather certain that they're good together because this way Charley can just talk at him for hours on end!

We're still waiting to see what happens with a new job for Mommy before we commit to "German Emergency" preschool again this summer, but we really hope we can swing it.

-- CharleyJax

History lesson

It's important to never forget where you game from.

Successful sleepover

Bumpa and Grandma had us over for a sleepover on Saturday night. It was pretty awesome. We went sledding, played games, and had a picnic in the basement. Wow were we tired.

The next morning, we taught Grandma "Airplane", A fictitious card game made up by Jax.

Mardi Gras

We had a Mardi Gras party last week with lots of our friends. This is Jack with the mask he made.

We also decorated cookies.

So much frosting and sprinkles . . .

. . . so much sweet goodness.

P.J. Music

Our neighborhood high school had a pajama orchestra concert. It was a little overwhelming at first . . .

. . . but it didn't take long for us to get our groove on in aisle.

After the show, we got a chance to play some of the instruments.

The cello is still one of, if not our favorite instrument.

Dreams and other things

Bedtime seems to spark a flow of conversation. Everything from our day to what we're going to dream about to what we want to be when we grow up.

One more underdog Grandma?

We had such an awesome time visiting everyone last week. It was great to be outside in the warm air and sunshine. And the underdogs, of course, were awesome.

We can't wait for the snow to melt here so we can get out and climb all over our parks.

Learning and teaching

Kinsey is learning how to play the violin. She's getting pretty good.

We're teaching Aunt Jen-Jen is how to play our new favorite game, Rat a Tat Cat. She'll get it eventually.