Chunky Monkey

I have purposely avoided going inside Ben and Jerry's for the last five months.  It is kitty corner from my store, so I see it every day.  I love ice cream, but ice cream doesn't love me.  It's just easier to stay away!  I knew a visit was inevitable, though, and last night after Isabelle's choir concert, it seemed to be the happening place to go celebrate.  Can you say heaven in a waffle cone?

Broken

Izzy broke her foot last Sunday at her swim meet.  Her foot caught on the underwater ledge in the pool as she jumped in to swim the 100 back.  She is such a tough girl--she shaved 2 seconds off her best time and PR'd with a broken foot!  She went to the orthopedic surgeon, a cool guy who used to play for the New England Patriots, and she ended up in a walking cast for 4-6 weeks.  No surgery, and she can still swim.  No flip turns, and no diving, but swimming laps will be fine.  She was so happy to hear that!  She has turned into a little fish since we got here, and if she isn't in the pool at least every other day, she isn't happy :)  If everything looks good in a few weeks, she might even get to swim at finals in Corvallis.  Fingers crossed!

Friendship

We got this email from Dylan's teacher last week:

Hi April and Luke,

I just wanted to let you know that Dylan was voted winner of the character trait "Friendship"! We would love for you to come to the assembly on Feb. 19th at 1:15.

Also, it is kind of fun to keep it a surprise to see the look on their faces when they get called up at the assembly! :)

My response was:

Mrs. Barton-

I'm pretty sure my heart just grew three sizes! We wouldn't miss it for the world. We'll be there for sure, and our lips are sealed. Thank you!

April

Her reply:

I am glad you can come! He soooo deserves the award!! You have an amazing child. :)

We are so proud of Dylan and what a good kid he is.  Tomorrow he gets to have lunch from Subway with Mr. Gehrig at a special table in the lunchroom.  We love his school.  He loves his school, too, which is awesome.  Go Pine Martens!

Igloo

One of our neighbors built a giant igloo...so cool! Dylan and his buddies stayed out for hours playing in it. Luke lit some tea lights inside when it got dark. It was so neat inside. The amount of snow we have gotten has been pretty epic, and the kids have been taking advantage. Izzy even tried a little snowboarding today at her friend's house and did really well. She said she stayed up more than she fell down.  Impressive for a first try!

Here's Dylan peeking out to say hello:

Bucky and his friends:

Dylan hanging out inside the igloo after dark:

It was an awesome snow day!  

Karma

I may have spoken too soon...two feet and counting!

Snow Day

We woke up to about 8 inches of snow this morning. It was beautiful, and the kids were so excited--sledding! We were kind of surprised that a few school districts closed for the day. We just figured they must have been in areas that were hit a lot harder by the storm. After getting the kids off to school, I got ready for work. When I got there, they sent me home. They closed down the Old Mill District! And they might not open tomorrow either. So crazy! Because of 8 inches of snow. Can you imagine anything in Utah shutting down because of snow, let alone less than a foot? Luke and I are still scratching our heads. Now I just need to figure out what to do with my snow day. What would you do?

The Coast

Isabelle had a swim meet in North Bend this weekend, so we had the opportunity to take a nice little drive to the coast.  It was a gorgeous trip!

Dylan got to see Autzen Stadium. Yell O!

We watched the sun set at Winchester Bay on our way into North Bend.  Amazing.  

Izzy swam like a rock star Saturday morning, then we hit the beach to see some sea lions.  The photos of the sea lions didn't really work, but it was neat to see them and listen to the Harbor Seals.  

We decided to get our feet wet and check out some tide pools.  We saw some really neat stuff!  We touched a sea anemone for the first time and it was crazy.  It grabbed our fingers...so cool.  If you look closely at the photo, you can see Luke, Izzy, Dylan, and Lance's reflections in the water around the anemone.  

We found a sea star.

Luke wrote notes in the sand.

I took a cute picture of my family.

The sun started to go down, so we left the beach and headed off to another spot to watch the sunset.

It was beautiful.  The kids hadn't ever seen the sun set over the ocean, so it was totally worth it.  Sort of cold, but worth it.

A great weekend all thanks to our amazing little swimmer!