New Years Eve - December 31

We were VERY lucky and received a friend's tickets to the Iowa State game on New Year's Eve.  Another friend stepped in and gave us their pair of courtside seats to complete our set of six tickets.

Henry decided to start the evening off right with cotton candy.

Sam got to test out the awesome seats first.  He decided it was too loud.

He came back up to join us in our other seats (which were also excellent) and steal his brother's nachos while Henry tested out the courtside seats.

We found Cy for a photo-opp as well before half-time.

I got my clone cone (which is really the main reason I like to go to games!)

After a fabulous game (Go State!) we came back home and played some more games and enjoyed a few more snacks.

The boys made it to 11, and we watched the ball drop and had a little celebration.

Bill accidentally bought noise-makers that were filled with glitter.  It resulted in a fun and amazing mess.

Happy New Year!

Happy Day - December 30th

We aren't really talking about it, but it was a happy day. 

A picture is worth a thousand words anyway, so here are a few ...

Doggy Spa - December 29th

While we were in Ames, the dogs enjoyed their time at Clearview Pet Spa. 

 I don't think they really wanted to come home.

Max Turns 6 - December 28th

We had a very important party to get back home for Sunday afternoon.  Henry's best friend from his day care days turned 6!   Sam was very excited to be invited to Max's party too. 

Thanks for letting us help you celebrate your special day, Max!

(And of course we booked our Pump It Up birthday party as soon as we left)

Family Fun - December 27th

On our last day together, we decided a movie would be fun.  I took advantage of this RARE opportunity to divide off into a group and got to see a girl movie!  We saw Annie.  It was adorable.  Pa took a brief nap, but I'll agree that part of the film was a tad slow-moving.

After the movie, we let the kids enjoy their remaining time together playing games.  Sam picked out some gross ones for his Christmas list.  The girls were good sports to play such gross "boy" games.