Winter excursions

The kids had 2.5 weeks off school for Winter Break.  Garry and I determined to make the time enjoyable.  After Christmas, when all of the holiday festivities settled down, we planned a few outings.  One day, Garry took the kids bowling (I couldn't find a babysitter for Kate, so I stayed home with her), and another day we went ice skating as a family.  We also swam at a fun pool--all of us together.  But we didn't take pictures.

Garry spoiled the kids with pizza, nachos, and drinks while they bowled.  Using bumpers, Lexi got the second highest score, beating all her brothers.  You might imagine how everyone reacted to that!

Ice skating was a great idea, but the implementation was a little rocky. Lexi lasted exactly one lap. She was done before Zach and Tyler had laced their skates. Tyler took a while to warm up to the skating; he struggled at first and wanted to quit, but eventually tried again and had great success.  Zach skated lap after lap, but Gavin was the most diligent skater by far. He was an energetic, enthusiastic, determined little skater. Having never skated before, he used overturned buckets for stability most of the time, but near the end of our skating time, he ventured out on his own and was thrilled with his new skills. He kept his arms straight out for balance. That kid really was amazing.  Garry still wasn't feeling fabulous, having only begun to recover from the flu, and I definitely felt my early-morning treadmill miles when I skated around the rink.  But we all enjoyed ourselves.

Despite our break being filled with projects--including the massive undertaking called The Great Room Swap--we managed to make a couple of great family memories.  Score one for the parents.