Winter Blast 2009

On Saturday we headed downtown to check out the Winter Blast. Jake was surprised when MP&A met up with us! The weather was gorgeous for early February. While that was great for us, it wasn't so good for the ice rink. Please click here to see the photos.

Jake learned that while he IS indeed getting bigger, he's still got some growing to do. He wasn't tall enough to ride on the ice slide with Alison and I. Initially, I figured he should be able to ride on my lap, but after zipping down it as fast as we went, I understood why that wasn't an option. On top of that, he didn't get to go out on the ice when I helped Alison skate for the first time.

Alison tried really hard to get the hang of it, but I think she's going to need a lot more practice. She only fell one time when I couldn't keep her from going all the way to the ice. Unfortunately, the one time was right into one of the big puddles that the warm weather caused to form at different spots on the rink. At least she had on snow pants and a winter coat, so she didn't get soaked to the core.

Jake WAS big enough, however, to enjoy some marshmallows! They had fire stands set up for roasting, and Jake really got a kick out of helping Mommy catch the marshmallows on fire.

We finished up our trip downtown with lunch at the Hard Rock and then a ride on the People Mover back to the Ren Cen.

After some people took naps and others played PS3 back at our house, we headed over to Mark and Kelly's to eat some Macaroni Grill takeout and celebrate Papa's birthday. Mark and I (and families) bought him Deer Drive for the Wii, so we were able to test it out on Mark's system. It was a pretty fun arcade-style hunting game. Now, we just hope that Dad will actually play it at home!

On Sunday, Pete and Teri drove down and went to Church with us. We then came back to our house where I made some delicious pancakes using our favorite Trader Joe's pancake mix. They hung out with Jake until it was time for his nap, and then they headed back up to Fenton.

After Jake's nap, we continued to exploit the warmer weather and took Jake on a wagon ride to the park. Jake was thrilled that he got to wear his rain boots, and didn't need snow pants since his pants could tuck right inside the boots! The park was a bit of a mess, but he did get to burn off some energy before the wagon ride back home.