{ week rewind }

The last week included a trip to the zoo......it had been awhile and we were able to go OUTside to see the animals!

A little backseat chatter from these two......
Oliver: "Mommy, I want to be a prince for Halloween"
Stella: "Mommy, I want to be a frog for Halloween"
Oliver (sadly): "But Stella, who will be my princess?"
Stella: "Okay Ollie, I'll be your princess"

This almost 4 year old boy still lets me rock him to sleep for naps every other day (otherwise naps wouldn't happen). But he doesn't complain......he is happy with "Wheels on the Bus" and being rocked to sleep. I'll take it for as long as I can get it!

It's as though Disney created a movie for Oliver and Stella's viewing pleasure. "The Pirate Fairy" has the best of both of their worlds and a rainy day = movie time! 

This recent picture is terrifying and hilarious at the same time! A favorite recent quote from her came after she said she was full from dinner but wanted dessert "My belly is full but I've still got a little room in my back".

Stella had her first princess birthday party to attend over the weekend. It was a Frozen theme and attendees were told to come dressed as a princess. She chose Sofia and was on cloud nine about heading to the party and being dropped off there. She had an awesome time and is still talking about it.

Here's to hoping we survive the rest of this upcoming week - rain, rain and more rain in the forecast. Oliver already said to me yesterday "I'm having a really hard day with all of this rain". Ha!

{ easter 2014 }

To say that Oliver and Stella were excited for the Easter Bunny to visit would be an understatement. They chatted it up for quite some time before the holiday came and were sad once it was over asking "Is tomorrow not Easter anymore?".

They awoke to find a letter from the Easter Bunny telling them that they had to find their baskets in the house and the egg hunt would take place after brunch. And off they went to find the baskets.

Once they discovered their baskets, they were thrilled to find Crocs (which I finally buckled and got them after not last year and having them whine for a year about wanting them!), new Legos (no more giant Duplo size!), sippie cups, and "running" clothes.

They got right to work building their new Lego sets.

Then it was time to get cleaned up for brunch. Stella was of course more than happy to put on a nice while Oliver was anything but happy to put on a pair of pants that didn't have an elastic waist!

I also pulled out some major bribery to get some pics of them together. I would call it a success!

Once things went downhill, we called it quits.

And then we were off to Grand Cafe for brunch.

Chop and I quickly snuck away from brunch and left Oliver and Stella with Grandpa and Uncle Shawn to bring them home so we could get back and hide the eggs. They wasted NO time in starting their search when they got home. 

And then of course the highlight was actually opening the eggs to see what surprises the bunny brought.

As if that wasn't enough excitement, we had also been holding out on giving them new bikes. They were each earning cotton balls in a jar each day for different things (Stella staying in her bed at night and Oliver wearing his glasses). I spent a few weeks scouring Craigslist for the perfect bikes (size, price, etc.) and scored what we were looking for.

Oliver isn't quite ready to be riding a two wheeler but we aren't planning to put the training wheels on and are hoping he can ride his balance bike a bit to improve his balance before tackling the two wheeler.

I have major bike envy of the bike we got for Stella. It is a new age retro cruiser and we pimped it out with a matching bell and streamers.

It is a size up from the two wheeler she rode last summer and is a tad too big for her. She had a hard time riding it by herself and immediately got discouraged and wants nothing to do with it. Fingers crossed she changes her mind in the coming months!

Overall it was a beautifully, blessed Easter Sunday!

{ wordless wednesday: rockabye }

{ april rundown }

The weeks are ticking by and we are over halfway through April - whew! Since my last post.....

The Twins had their opening day. What better way to support them than twins wearing Twins' gear?!

Oliver and Stella have been LOVING the scooters they got from Santa at Christmas. They are Kickboard Maxi Micros and have amazing stability, turning abilities and speed. They had fun doing tricks on a trek to dinner and the liquor store before the big Gopher hockey game last weekend.

After a recheck at the eye doctor, we are having to patch Oliver's "good" eye in hopes that it will make improvements in his not so good eye. The doctor's concern is that his brain still isn't using his bad eye and we want to stop that trend now as it becomes harder and harder to make the connection if you let it go on too long. He has to wear it a few hours each day and it will probably take 6-8 months to wean him down to not wearing it at all. He has been an awesome sport about it!

It snowed on April 17th. That deserves hot chocolate.

Chop was out of town for work last week in Boston which called for dinner out.

Followed by unprompted hugs.

And of course lots of the same for dad when he got home.

We've been brave enough to re-enter the restaurant scene with Oliver and Stella and it isn't so bad anymore. This weekend we ventured out to an old fav, Black Sheep Pizza, and had a great time!

Today was a glorious, sunshiny, 70 degree day. And it was Easter! More to follow on that......

{ spring break }

Spring break felt like anything but spring in MN but we had a few things planned to help pass the school free week by. To say that Oliver and Stella were excited was an understatement.

First up, two nights at Grandpa and Grandma Christensen's house (sans Chop and me!).

We met halfway in WI and swapped cars and Oliver and Stella headed up to the Lodge, while I drove back home to Minneapolis solo. They had a fun few days in WI and thought it was super cool to head there "alone". I had two quiet days at home which was nothing short of amazing. And to top it off, I got to head to Buffalo for some antiquing at the occasional sales with a friend.

On Friday morning we woke up to 10" of snow and hit the road to Eau Claire, WI to meet Oliver, Stella and my parents at the water park/hotel. It was the perfect escape to be in the warm, humid air and pretend like there was no snowstorm. These two were thrilled about their first stay at a hotel!

We wasted no time getting in the water and exploring all the fun the water park had to offer.

The first thing they spotted was the big slides and before long they were experts on them. They were super proud that they could go up to the top of the stairs alone and go down solo.

The other slide was a tube slide that we had to go with them on. It was pitch black the entire way down and while many 3.5 year olds would have been afraid of it, they thought it was a thrill ride.

We thought they would put up a fight leaving the water park but I think after a few hours on Friday they were ready for a break. The hotel also offered a game area where we ventured to have a little old school fun.

A big thanks to Grandma and Grandpa C for the fun spring break!

When we returned home, hope was restored that spring has arrived. We were able to be outside (without winter gear) at the park all afternoon. Thank you weather gods!