Snow Pups

The latest snowfall I headed outdoors with Ruby and Louise with my camera slung over my shoulder, to take a few pictures.  

They were feeling very photogenic! 

Lets go Illini!

We stopped in Champaign to cheer on the Illini with a victory over Indiana on our way home on Sunday.  They won by 1 point and the lead changed many times over the course of the game!

It was a sold out crowd. 

Nick said he thought that it was the most exciting game he has ever watched, live or on tv. 

I can't remember the last sporting event that we saw Illinois win!

Cheers to that!

Eric and I joined my family and a few friends for a tour of local breweries around Bloomington, Normal, IL area this past weekend.  Lisa and Bill provided the transportation in their day care van while we stopped in at 4 different breweries to do some tastings.  It was a fun day!  My dad even came along for 3 out of the 4 stops!  We shared lots of laughs, stories and memories, and of course made many more memories along the way.  At the end of the day we were already making plans for another tour!

We didn't have all of the fun.  The boys came along and spent the day with their cousin Nathan.  They went to a movie, out for pizza, played basketball and shopped for candy!

President's Day Weekend!

We had an extra long weekend from school and work and took advantage of the time off by heading to The Great Wolf Lodge in Cincinnati for a couple of nights.  Our friends, and former neighbors, recently relocated to Cincinnati. They came and spent the first evening with us in the water park!  Ben and Minna had a blast riding all of the water slides together while the adults caught up with each other over a few drinks and pizza. 

The rest of the weekend we had a blast in the water park all together as a family, playing in the arcade, bowling, golfing and just being tougher out of our normal routine! 

We always have fun at The Great Wolf Lodge!

We continued to celebrate Sam's 12th birthday at GWL!

Happy 12th Birthday Sam!

We celebrated Sam turning 12 on Saturday!  We began the day with a lazy morning at home with the dogs.  Nick had a basketball game at noon.  He told Sam he would score 12 points in his honor, and you know what?  He did just that!  In pure Nick style with 4 3-point shots!  

A little later in the afternoon after he opened presents, we headed to Dave and Busters where 2 of Sam's friends met us for dinner and lots of video game action.  The boys all had a blast playing games, winning large prizes and just hanging out together.  The party continued with a sleepover.  

At age 12 Sam likes to play baseball, he is a wiz at anything electronic related, often helping me with my devices! He takes school quite seriously and does well with his classes.  Sam has a caring heart for others and has a lot of friends that he enjoys hanging out with.  

Boy Scouts

 Ben crossed over from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts earning his Arrow of Light.  We are so proud of Ben and all of his hard work and commitment to scouts.  He joined Cub Scouts in 1st grade and has absolutely loved everything about scouting.  We look forward to watching him grow in Boy Scouts and seeing what kind of adventures he will have. 

Ben and his den leader, Mr. Shuster.

Ben and his buddies Zach and Kai.  These 3 have been in scouts together since day 1.

Celebrating with a cookie cake, Ben's favorite!