Winter Vacation

I'm a week late on this vacation update- Here's what 4 kids look like after taking "the scenic route" (which took about 2 hours longer than taking the Mass Pike- but we loved it anyway Daddy!!) to Rome NY to eat dinner at Denny's. I know, Denny's would not have been our top pick, but when you're in Rome NY, you eat what you find! Lately, we cannot get Brayden to smile for a picture. He always pulls a weird face, so when we teased him about it- this is what happens... He's got a great smile!
All the kids wanted to do was swim in the hotel's indoor pool-
The entire family Monday night-

The kids and I Tuesday morning (for 3 hours while Adam was working)- The kids love to make bubble beards in the hot tub. I remember those days. I used to annoy my sister to no end with my bubble antics!
Again Tuesday night (with Daddy only- I stayed poolside reading a book!) and Wednesday night at our hotel in Buffalo, NY-

AND THE BIGGEST AND BEST THING TO COME OUT OF THE TRIP-
And
So cute!

Other highlights include-
Chair Beds-

A visit to Fort Stanwix National Monument

Watching Old Looney Toons Cartoons from the front row of the Mezzanine of the Capitol Theatre in downtown Rome-

Dinner at Jim's Steakhouse, which had a huge cow statue out front and this old carosel in the bar (very random)

And finally, what could be better than Niagara Falls in the winter?



If you ask my kids, they'll tell you the hotel's indoor pool is much better!

This is the news...

We had some friends over last Sunday for a Super Bowl Party- thus my lack of blogging. We had a great time- unfortunately, I forgot to take any pictures.

Bekah's indoor soccer season came to an end Monday night. They had a fun time and learned a lot throughout the season! Adam called it a 'building year' as none of the girls had ever played indoor before and they let the other teams win every game! It didn't get them down though and Bekah is looking forward to playing on a travel team this spring (with Dad still as her coach!)

Our long awaited appointment with the pediatric otolaryngologist (have no idea if I spelled that right) came on Thursday. Even the specialist cannot see Emma's ear drum! We will start to unravel the great hearing mystery with the removal of her tonsils and adenoids, either late this week or early next. While they have her under, they will also check if she has fluid in her ears. If yes, they will put in tubes. If no, we will return for a CAT scan once Emma has fully recovered from her surgery. The Dr suggested that Emma will need to stay out of school and all activities for 2 WEEKS. It felt like a death sentence the moment it left her mouth! Has anyone else had their school-age child's tonsils and adenoids removed and if so, what was their recovery like? Adam and I both feel confident in our Dr and the path ahead!

All the kids were very excited for Valentine's this year. Cooper and Emma were both eagerly awaiting their class parties- as was I, since I am the party Mom for both classes and the Valentines party is the final party of the year. Both parties were great!
I made my usual pink heart pancakes with bacon and OJ for breakfast today. Adam and I gave each of the kids a valentine candy-since their valentine cards for school could not include any treats.


Here's the kids all ready for church! (We had to stay after church today for a parent meeting, so the kids were all packing a lunch- Brayden chose cold pizza!)


We have Winter Break this week- so the kids and I are going with Adam on his business trip to upstate NY until Thursday. It will be fun to get away- even for a few days!