Plymouth Ice Sculptures

Last weekend we bundled up and headed over to Plymouth for their annual ice sculpture competition. I think we were initially disappointed as we were expecting something on par with Frankenmuth. But, considering the area that they were displayed in, they had quite a few scupltures, and some were pretty extensive.

With how cold it was, the smaller size of the exhibit was probably better. We all enjoyed it, and are planning to go back next year. Jake spent the whole time "dying" to touch something. At one point he even asked if he could touch a garbage bin! We found a block of ice that hadn't been carved yet, and figured he'd be fine to touch that. A bit later, we found a cow sculpture that people were petting, so we let him touch that one as well.

After our quick trip through the park, we headed over to Panera to eat and warm up. Jake did a great job and ate half of a grilled cheese sandwich (probably twice the size he'd get at home). Of course, he shared bites between the sandwich, an apple, and a GIANT chocolate chip cookie.

We are pretty sure that he's beginning a growth spurt. Some pants that were just right are starting to look short. Besides that, he is eating a lot more at meals. The other night, he finished dinner and before Michele could get back to the table after clearing his plate, he asked if it was time for a snack yet!

Indoor Fun

With the bitter cold that we've been having lately, we've been playing inside a lot. That means Jake spends most of his time playing with Lincoln Logs, Lego's, and puzzles. We've also started downloading some demo kids games on the PS3. He's starting to get the hang of one game where you tilt a "tub" to help the momma rubber duck collect the babies. His favorite part is keeping away from the toy shark and bouncing it right out of the water.

We've also plunged full force into potty training. Since Jake wasn't showing much initiative on his own, we decided to put him in underwear and see if that was incentive enough. Luckily, he's only had a few accidents since we started, but it also means we spend a lot of time in the bathroom "trying". He has gone a few full days at day care where he didn't wet himself, and only needed a diaper at nap time (he gets the diaper at bedtime again as well). We started off rewarding him with hershey kisses and m&m's, but as he goes more frequently, we're trying to convert those rewards to fruit snacks and other healthier stuff. Unfortunately, his biggest incentive is "chocolates" or hershey kisses.

We're hoping that the weather will warm up a bit so we can get outside and enjoy all the snow we've gotten. Unfortunately, it looks like it's going to be another VERY cold weekend.

Until next time, stay warm, and enjoy the photos.

Happy New Year

We hope that everyone enjoyed their New Year's celebrations. This year found us over at the Herman household. The kids all got to party early before going to bed. We had fun with umbrellas, hats, and noisemakers. All three kids were down around 8:00, which gave the adults several hours to talk and play some Wii Fit before the big countdown.

On January 1, we had to convince Jake that he should be saying "Happy New Year" instead of "Happy Halloween", but he did say the latter to at least one person at Church. The afternoon consisted of watching the Wings battle back and then dominate the Winter Classic and the Spartans look very good, but unfortunately not good enough to win their bowl game. Dan added a second TV in the living room which worked out pretty well. He had the audio on only for the hockey game, so I found the football game online too and could listen in one headphone to my notebook while listening to the hockey game with the other! As usually happens on New Year's, our photos are split between the December and January albums.