Ski Season Has Begun!

Skiing is one of our favorite things. Though we have our big ski trip coming up we did get to fit in a little ski preview. The famous Brooke is having a big birthday so the also famous Ian decided to surprise her with a weekend away at Wisp Ski Resort and invited her friends. We had a great time with great friends and it was PERFECT winter weather. Snow on the ground, new snowfall, and cold but not frigid temps. 

Before we left it was time to get out the winter gear. Larsen knew immediately (how??) that is was a snow helmet and snow goggles and insisted on having her own. This was the best we could do.

We have only one picture of the great house where we stayed which includes the children cavorting with the random plastic ducks that served as decoration.

Bridger was over the moon to be on skis again and we even put Larsen on the trainer skis. She walked and balanced in them right away though we are not sure she really loved it.

The house had a large yard and empty lot next door which was perfect for snow play. The snow was so powdery it was hard to build a snowman but beach buckets and shovels were great and eventually it warmed up enough that we could pack the snow. Larsen also finally warmed up to the snow. The first day she wouldn't have anything to do with it. By the end she was playing but still complained that she was "all dirty" anytime she spotted snow on her outfit.

Cheers for a wonderful weekend and lots of excitement about the big trip out West!

Happy New Year aka Christmas Part Two

Happy New Year from Bridgey and Larsey!

We love to have fun, give hugs, and run laps in the upstairs hallway. Can you believe it is two thousand thirteen? I have my own calendar for 2013 up in my room and I mark off the days in a pattern, B then L, B then L. Before the New Year started we went to Baginia to have more fun on all our day offes.

Here we are at Busch Gardens. They had a special celebration for Christmas. We rode a few rides, saw a Sesame Street show (I know lots of Christmas songs that they sang like Jingle Bells, Santa Claus is Coming to Town and Deck the  Halls), and saw lots of pretty lights. I also ate a giant pretzel while we were there.

When we were at Grandma and Grandad's we opened more presents. I got magnets and made a habitat for my new turtle. Larsen got a new coat and a baby stroller. I push Larsen's baby stroller when she isn't looking. Larsen helped with the special Christmas bread in Baginia because I helped in Maryland.

I also made a wax hand. It was really hard and I was just barely tall enough to do it. The worker was very patient with me.

Larsey and me played outside a lot too. I got Grandad new baseballs since I broke his other baseballs. Larsey doesn't know how to play baseball, but I let her try anyway.

Here is my baby sister helping Grandad with the Stollen. 

Merry Christmas 2012!

We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!  We have been the party people over here and everyone is worn out. However it has been super fun to celebrate with our two crazy cuties.

Larsen started the season off with her first haircut. The aim is to get things to even out so she will have a cute little bob someday soon.

Our mornings during the Advent season started with a sweet treat from the chocolate advent calendar. Some funny words from the Cars calendar and a fun little advent gift. Larsen woke up in the mornings and would say "Adventtime".

The famous GranDeCamps came in for the Christmas celebration. They arrived driving through a snowstorm and left the same way they came. Thankfully we had some cute kids to entice them with to make all that treacherous driving worthwhile. We had a lot of renditions of Archie the Pirate and even Grandpa got his turn.

Christmas wouldn't be complete without some baking. Matt and Bridger did a great job making Portuguese Sweet Bread.

Bridger also got busy with some Christmas crafting (Santa Claus of course) to pass the time. Larsen sort of participated, but was really not pleased with the glue and cotton ball mess she created on her fingers.

Christmas Eve we had stuffed shells and then headed to the Lessons in Carols Service where Bridger again sang (very, very loudly) in the Children's Choir. Before we left we snapped some photos of everyone in their Christmas finery.

Here's all the loot for Christmas morning.

Larsen loved her new scooter.

Bridger is still a bit nervous about his pedal bike, but was willing to give it a try. We could tell he was worried about it when he didn't even want to look at it in the morning when he came downstairs. He tried to focus as hard as he could on his stocking.

Bridger's accomplishment (with some help from the team) was building the dinosaur jeep Lego set from Uncle David and Aunt Jen on Christmas Day. It was a lot of hard work, and I realized that he is getting pretty good at figuring things out. The stamina required for this was more than he had, but we did it in parts and when he was fresh it was amazing to see his little mind work.