Midwest Vacation: February 2016

We were overdue for a trip to the Midwest to visit our larger and ever growing family!  To show our rookie parenting skills, Chris booked the trip for a week in February straddling Presidents weekend.  After calling me to tell me that he booked a trip to the Midwest, it occurred to both of us that the kids had a February vacation (known as 'ski week' in California, how funny) that did not coincide with the weeks we were supposed to be away.  Chris hung up with me and called the airlines. After some shifting we had all new flights and a vacation that coincided with  a week of no school for the boys!  Score!

We arrived in Michigan at the start of what was an incredible cold snap and it was very very chilly!  It was a shock for our California bodies but it was also fun to have some extreme weather to deal with.

On our first full day in Michigan, we headed over to the sledding hill in the park near the McLean's house.  The hill was perfect for the boys.  Unlike the hill in Tahoe where Chris and I had to be the brake for the boys while they loaded onto the sleds, this hill was flattish at the top and the boys were able to sit and start themselves.  We lasted maybe 40 minutes in the bitter cold and it was so fun!  Hot chocolate, painting, play dough and coloring filled the rest of our indoor time.  We also had a great visit with baby Isaac and the rest of the family for a wonderful family dinner that Granny put together.

On Valentines Day we played with the Clark Trio and Chris and I had a romantic date in Ann Arbor.  It was bitterly cold but we had fun roaming around the dark cold streets feeling footloss and fancy free!

Chris headed back to work after a great weekend of fun but the boys and I stayed to play with Granny and Papa for another day!

After another full day of play, we embarked on to our next next adventure.  The four of us traveled to Toledo and met up with my mom and grandfather. We met at the children's' museum in Toledo and had a great afternoon playing all together.  It is fun to see the different fun things that kids museums put together.  Also it is so fun any time both sides of the family collide!  After our fun, we changed cars (and I installed the carseat, boom!) and headed off to Solon.

Once in Solon we fell into the pattern of visiting with family, playing with Nana, Gramps and Grandma Great, playing with cousins, and playing in the snow.  One of the goals for the trip was to build a snowman. Crazily enough, it was so cold in Michigan that we were able to play in the snow but not able to build a snowman.  The first couple of days in Ohio were also cold, but then an incredible warming streak occurred.  Brady and Brody built a great snowman with their cousins just in the knick of time.  By the next morning, all of the glorious snow was gone and it was 60 degrees and sunny.  We went from snowboarding in Uncle Mike's driveway to bike ridding in Uncle Tim's.   What a perfect way to transition back to California weather.

The ten days around family was wonderful.  It always leaves us feeling so refreshed and a little sad that we do not get to see everyone more often. We are already looking forward to our next trip.

The 2015 Christmas Season

This Christmas was magical.  We did so many fun things that made it super memorable (it must have been memorable because I am writing this three months later and can still remember most everything!).  We started off the season with a tree cutting party with some friends.  The party included some tailgating, lots of kids to play with and a random Santa walking around giving out Halloween candy.  Brady was quick to ask "Mommy, why is that Santa handing out Halloween candy?  That is the wrong holiday".  My very logical child was not fooled and I could not help but giggle.

After tree cutting, we did a walk-through of some great christmas lights with 3D glasses this year.  It was a great techi version of one of our favorite activities.

After we got our tree home, we spent the next day decorating it.  The boys enjoying hanging all the ornaments, remembering their favorites, and fighting over them much like Rachel and I used to.  They did a great job hanging the ornaments all by themselves and I did not care one bit that our tree was completely lopsided.  Mostly I was just happy that Hank did not try to pluck off any ornaments with his teeth.

The boys and I decorated Christmas cookies and I let them go to town with the icing and sprinkles.  They loved it!  They are so darn independent and capable that these traditions are so much more fun now.

Christmas morning was also exciting.  The boys did not want to go to sleep and were so excited for Christmas day. I remember that feeling and was so glad to finally see it come through in the boys.  They rushed from their room the next morning and dove into the gifts.  They savored each item for about 1 minute and tore through the living room as fast as possible.  After everything was opened, they played for hours and enjoyed all of their toys.  We spent dinner with friends and it was the perfect end to a very nice Christmas.

I can't believe I almost forgot to include what is sure to be a McLean family story for years to come.  A few hours after all the presents were opened and everyone was focused on playing, Hank managed to get the kids toilet seat stuck around his neck.  He disappeared down the hall (apparently to drink the toilet water) and came back with a worried look in his eye, a whimper comping from his throat and a toilet seat as a necklace.  He came right over to me and basically asked for help in the clearest way he could.  Hank was worried and when I gave the seat a gentle tug and realized that it was not coming off, I was worried too!  Chris tried to work it off but Hank's head but his head is so gigantic that we soon decided it was best just to cut it off.  Out came the hacksaw and a few minutes later Hank was free.  I wish I could say this incident has deterred him from drinking toilet water, but Hank is a bit stubborn and toilet water is his thing.  No biggie, the boys are totally capable of using the regular seat and Hank's head is not quite that big (yet)!

Chris was off the rest of week and we spent the time hanging out together and just enjoying the Bay Area.  I alway long for the Christmas season and it goes so fast!  I don't want to wish time away, but I am already looking forward to next year.

Four

There is something amazing about turning 4.  It seems and feels so different than 3.  It feel BIG.  Maybe it's because the kids are not babies anymore and they can do so much, have so many thoughts, and share so many ideas.  Whatever it is, I LOVE this age.  They are so fun to be around. They care so much about us and each other.  They try to get their points across any way that they can.  They communicate so clearly and can engage in amazing imaginative play.  They are my buddies.  They love being around me and I love being around them.  There is no more fierce independence that reared its head at age three.  Now there is just a mutual understanding and a feeling of teamwork.  This age is FUN!

Naps stopped right around their birthday and I can't say that I am sad.  We had a great run.  We had years where they were able to stay up long enough to see Chris and still get their much needed 12-13 hours.  As sleeping in the afternoon became an increasing struggle, I started to embrace the earlier bed times, the longer evening hours for which to squeeze in some work (or extra sleep) and the uninterrupted day hours where we are able to do whatever we want.  I tried to build in some structured quite time in the afternoons for the boys but after many annoying attempts, I decided it was more work for me than it was worth.  I am happy we made it to four with naps intack.  Now I am happy that we have quality daytime hours to spend together and bedtime routines that are much much simpler.

For their actual birthdays we kept it relatively simple this year.  Brody wanted chocolate and Brady wanted vanilla cake so I made marble Stormtrooper cupcakes that tasted pretty mediocre (sorry boys).  We had a fantastic afternoon at a jump place with our best buddies.  I took the boys out for a special adventure every day of their birthday week, many of which involved cupcakes and fun at the park.  We upgraded the boys to peddle bikes and they had fun taking the bikes for a spin around the block before school.

Since their birthday fell on a school day, we were invited in to read to the boys' class.  Each boy picked a story for us to read and the book gets donated to the classroom's library with a sticker in their honor.  Brady picked a scary story from the Frog and Toad collection called  Shivers  .  Brody picked The Book with No Pictures.  Chris had a ball reading this book to the class.  They roared with laughter at the end of every line and made it sound like he was telling the funniest story in the whole world.  It was so much fun to be able to celebrate the boys in a such a fun way!

Interviews!

1. What is your name? Brody McLean

2. What is your favorite color? Dark Blue and golden

3. What is your favorite toy? Star Wars Ray Gun

4. What is your favorite fruit? pine apple, all the fruits i like

5. What is your favorite TV show? PawPatrol

6. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Sandwich

7. What is your favorite outfit? Star Wars shirt

8. What is your favorite game? Duck game

9. What is your favorite snack? Mommy, are you writing this down?

10. What is your favorite animal? zebra and lion

11. What is your favorite book? Star Wars

12. Who is your best friend? Brady

13. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play in our treehouse

14. What is your favorite holiday?  Christmas

15. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Ellie

16. What do you want to be when you grow up? A daddy

17. Where do you want to go on vacation? Michigan and Ohio and Disneyland

18. Who do you want to come over for a play date? CiCi, Nico and Athan

19. Who do you love? Daddy, Mommy, Brady

20. What’s your favorite drink? Smoothie

1. What is your name? Bradyn McLean and Brady

2. What is your favorite color? Dark blue and golden Michigan

3. What is your favorite toy? Batman

4. What is your favorite fruit? blueberries and grapes

5. What is your favorite TV show? I don’t know, Justin Kitty Olive

6. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? pancakes

7. What is your favorite outfit? Star Wars shirt

8. What is your favorite game? Checkers and dominos. Mom, how do we play dominos

9. What is your favorite snack? Sticky bar

10. What is your favorite animal? Zebra and cows

11. What is your favorite book? Witch and the Broom and Star Wars

12. Who is your best friend? Brody

13. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play a monster game

14. What is your favorite holiday? I like all holidays that have presents

15. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Baby dougie

16. What do you want to be when you grow up? Marble man 

17. Where do you want to go on vacation? Snowy place and Disneyland

18. Who do you want to come over for a play date? Brody, Carolina and Anna

19. Who do you love? Mommy, Brody

20. What’s your favorite drink? Milk

Happy FOUR Brady and Brody.  We love you so very much.