The Show

Every year at Gina's school, they have a variety show that involves many of the kids in the school, either as performers or backstage. The teachers are not involved in this, it is entirely run by the kids and their parents. It is such a big production that they actually have two different shows and this year they limited the acts to 1 1/2 minutes so that everyone could participate without the show running 4 hours long. For kindergarten, a parent usually arranges a group act that all the kids can participate in if they want to. For Gina's class, 20 kids agreed to sing The Ants Go Marching. They have be practicing at lunch time for the past two months and made cute little antennae headbands.

So today they got to perform the song twice, once this morning for the school and then this evening for the parents. This evening, I dropped Gina off at school early and then hurried home to get Vic and Andrew. With the rain, our babysitter was a little late so once we got to the school we had to sit in the very back but we made it in time for the start of the show. Gina's class did a great job on stage, singing their little hearts out and marching in place. It looked like they were all having fun. Then we sat through the other acts.

Half way through the show, Andrew was getting antsy and so we had to leave. We went back to the Green Room to get Gina but of course, she didn't want to leave because of a promised cupcake after the show. So we hung out in the Green Room, Gina watching the rest of the variety show on the TV, Andrew watching Land Before Time on another TV, and Vic and I got to chat with the other parents. Then it was time for the Final Bow with everyone on stage. And of course, Gina got her cupcake on our way out.

Here is Gina in her ant costume:

The Playdate

This morning did not start off so well. Gina wanted to play with her Critter family and so did Andrew. BUT, Gina did not want Andrew to play so there was much screeching and hitting and throwing of objects. Andrew ended up on several time outs. Dylan was also trying to get his two cents in.

But then, saved by a phone call. The mom of one of Gina's friends at school called to see if Gina could come over to her house. Apparently Noya was bored and didn't want to be stuck entertaining her baby brother all day. So everyone got dressed, a little side trip to get some coffee and hot chocolate, and then Gina was off to her playdate. Andrew was a little bummed that he was not invited but he got some special time with Nana later in the afternoon.

Dylan spent much of the afternoon practicing taking a few steps. He is very unsteady but he had a grand time taking a few steps toward me or Nana. Nana of course was thrilled to watch him taking his first few steps. I'm sure he will be running in no time.

Ice Skating

On Thursday, Gina had her first ice skating lesson. Ever since she saw A Charlie Brown Christmas, she has been hooked on the idea of learning how to skate. So for Christmas, her grandpa gave her ice skating lessons and she has been counting down the days ever since.

When we first arrived, it was really crowded with kids and moms and skates. I lost track of Andrew a couple of times. I had to buy Gina new mittens as well, so we squeezed into the tiny shop with two kids and a stroller. Once on the ice, Gina was a little unsteady, but overall, she did really well. There were a lot of moms standing by the side of the rink so it was difficult to watch her all the time and even more difficult to get a good picture, but several times when I looked over, I would see several kids falling down and Gina still standing. She didn't do much actual skating for the first lesson, mostly holding onto the side, but she loved it. Afterward, she asked if she could go skating every day.

Andrew on the other hand was very bummed that he couldn't go skating too. He was a little side tracked by the video games that were in the waiting area but he kept asking if he could go out on the ice. The Snowball class for 3-4 year olds starts in a few weeks so I guess I will sign him up for that. In the mean time I am going to have to figure out how to keep him distracted during Gina's lesson.

The Mud Car

Last weekend was raining so the kids wanted to try out their new rain boots and Andrew's new remote control car. He got the car from Boppa for Christmas and when he saw the car in the box, he immediately decided that this car needed to go in the mud. And when you have a lot of rain, you have a lot of mud.

Park Time

I've spent a lot of time these past few weekends at the park with the kids or watching the kids play outside in the front yard. They are so much better at home if they have had a chance to run around outside, climb on stuff or play in the sand.

I took the three kids to the park yesterday and Gina had fun taking Dylan down the slide. Dylan loves climbing up the stairs on the play structure and I am constantly running around the platform making sure he isn't going to suddenly dive off one of the open areas.

He doesn't have any fear about going down the slide head first. Another daredevil in the making.

Busy Weekend

We had a busy weekend to end the year. We drove up to see Vic's mom and celebrate yet another Christmas. Her house was fixed up with lights, moving reindeer, and snowy village scenes. The kids loved opening up more presents. Andrew got a remote controller monster truck, Gina got a doll, and Dylan got a stuffed dog. All three kids also got sleeping bags.

Vic's mom really enjoyed seeing the kids, especially Dylan. The kids also got a night light aquarium which fascinated Dylan.



We stopped at a park on Sunday after going to Grandma's house for breakfast so that the kids could run around. Gina loves the swings and was swinging so high she was almost parallel to the ground.


On the way back home, we stopped by to visit Uncle Rich and Aunt Toni for a few hours. We don't see them nearly as often as we should since they are only an hour away from us. The kids were very active and loved rolling the balls on the pool table though Mollie the dog was not thrilled.

Dylan discovered stairs and had a great time crawling up and down the four stairs from the kitchen to the living room.

Toni got a great picture of the Gina and Andrew just before we left. Say "Jellybelly".