Ethan's 8th Birthday Party

Ethan celebrated his EIGHTH birthday party today at Dave & Buster's with sweet friends. We are lucky people.

WE ARE SO EXCITED! Meet S!

Posted just now on facebook by meeeeeeee:

Meet S!!! (That's a secret name for now.) We were not looking for a dog this {potential} size (HOLY PAWS, BATMAN!) or breed, but met the pup today and the entire family is in LOVE (even Maddie, who we thought might be a hard sell). Dora gave us MANY recent signs that this was the dog we needed to help fill in (never totally, of course) the hole she left in all our hearts. I think I am the most excited of all of us (Andrew is a very close second). Two days to puppy-proof everything.... XOXOXOXO!

First Day of School 2016-17

The boys and I had a great first day back.  Jon did, too.  We were all tired, but the day was fun. Can't believe we have 1st and 4th graders in the house.

Had to add one from the blooper reel, as usual.  I swear these are not staged.  We just usually get a few terrible ones before the good on day one.

Here's to a happy, healthy, fun year at school for all!

Wicked!

We took the boys to Charlotte on Saturday for their first major musical - Wicked!  It was really great and they did well, and enjoyed it, even though the first act was over two hours long.

Friday night, we prepped by watching The Wizard of Oz.

We checked out the orchestra pit before the show.  They found this really cool.

We can't wait to see another one.  Maybe Lion King?.......

Annual Great Wolf Lodge Pilgrimage

In true Burbank form, we headed to the "Lodge" again right before Christmas.  We stayed two nights and everyone had a blast. For the very first time, Ethan was tall enough to ride EVERYTHING and also, neither boy was interested in (or allowed to enter)  the toddler zone.  This is both happy and sad.

We got Ethan on the "Howlin' Tornado" once.  It was our first ride.  He liked it okay, but was definitely all good after that and refused to do it again.  Still, he conquered it!  They enjoyed all the other slides, the wave pool, water hoops shooting, and both excelled at crossing the floating lilypads.

This time, we also spent a lot more time doing the other things the resort has to offer: the arcade, 4D theatre, and using our magic wands to activate certain things around the place.

We visited the jolly old elf the first night.

Here, Andrew is asking for Kylo Ren's Command Shuttle and Ethan is asking for the Batcave.
Santa came through for both!

BIG BUCKET!!

Figured this sign was inspired by Andrew and Ethan some years ago.....

Wave pool on a calm Tuesday morning at opening time

They make it "snow" after the clock tower show this time of year.  Don't eat it - it's soap!

We splurged for the Kid Kamp suite this time.  We do it about every other year and the guys love it.
Here, they are clearly plotting something.....

Ethan had a wiggly tooth for months.  On our last morning, he lost it in the pool.  Blood.  Tears.  Jon, another dad, and I looked for it for 10 minutes and miraculously found it. 

Here's to next year, Great Wolf!  See you then.