Lake Placid

Even though we only live two hours away from Lake Placid, we had never been.  We've heard great things about the cute little town in the Adirondacks from all our friends who seem to drive up at least once a year, but for some reason we never made the trip.  After we missed out on the dog sled rides at Lake George, we HAD to find a dog sled ride before the end of the winter, and Lake Placid was the place to go.

We are borrowing the van from my parents for a bit and MiniM.E. just got a new car seat so we were hoping the two hour drive would be pretty easy with a comfy kid that could watch movies the whole way.  Not fifteen minutes into the trip MiniM.E. started asking, "how many more minutes until we get there?" She repeated that question between one and ten times a minute until we arrived.  Despite the obnoxious questioning, she was otherwise good and LittleL.G. slept the whole time.

We met our friends there and started out with brunch at the Breakfast Club.  The girls chowed down on waffles and we all got delicious breakfast food from sausage and biscuits to egg sandwiches.

LittleL.G. ate her doll

The girls were beyond excited for the dogsled ride, so we finished up and took a walk down main street to find them.  The forecast didn't look good, but the "wintry mix" held off and the temperature was mild so it was a really pleasant day to walk around.

The dogsled ride was, hands down, the highlight of MiniM.E.'s winter.  (I was almost as excited...)  LittleL.G. slept through it... and Bob just wanted to watch.  The girls loved it so much they went twice and as soon as MiniM.E. got off the sled after the second ride, she asked to go again.  We will definitely be doing it again next year!

After the dogsled ride we did some shopping on Main Street then headed to the lake for some ice skating.  Even though the ice was bumpy and slushy, all the kids had a great time-- especially on the sled.

LittleL.G. was so excited to watch the girls skate around

We changed into dry clothes and stopped at the Lake Placid Brewery for a drink and a snack.  Best. Place. Ever.  They had a play room for the kids, so after they had a snack they played while the grown ups enjoyed a nice break.

Best Saturday ever.  We'll definitely be heading back to Lake Placid soon!

Ah, Spring

Gram was in town last week to switch cars so MiniM.E. was in seventh heaven with loads of attention and lots of play time.

On Tuesday the weather was nice so we gave Gram a break and went downtown with some friends for coffee and a walk in the park.  It is so nice to be outside without feeling like your face is going to freeze or your fingers are so cold you cant zip your jacket.

Wednesday was gymnastics and I had a chance to take some photos since Gram was there to help out.

Wednesday after school it was so nice out that we took a walk through the neighborhood and MiniM.E. showed off her fantastic scootering skills.

I'm looking forward to the weather being warm enough that we can put this:

in the car.  LittleL.G. hates her carseat and I think she'll be much happier driving once we put this in.  But I don't want to put it in until it warms up enough that I don't have to bundle her up to bring her in and out of the car.

Another exciting thing that happened in our house was the girls' first bath together.  I can't get enough of these two- they are so cute!

One Sitter, One Skater!

This weekend LittleL.G. learned to sit up.  MiniM.E. also learned to sit up about this time but it took her a few weeks to look like a sitting baby rather than one that was a little tipsy.  LittleL.G. just decided it was time to sit.  One day of flopping to the side almost every time we propped her up and the next day it was like she'd been sitting for weeks.  I LOVE that she can sit up because it adds another activity to our "rotation".

everything is so much more fun now!

it looks like THIS when I'm not lying on it?!??

not to be outdone... 

now to move on to the next challenge- reading

MiniM.E. also made some huge progress on a gross motor skill.  She is almost a skater.  She can glide with the best of them but hasn't quite figured out the footwork to propel herself forward.  We went to open skate on Sunday and she had a great time!

We celebrated our kids' successes with coffee downtown and a nice walk in the park because another awesome thing to celebrate is that it is actually starting to warm up!!

oops! underestimated how high she was going to go!

yay spring!!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Monday was my birthday.  I am not a huge fan of my birthday, though the occasional present is nice and who doesn't want a good excuse to eat cake??  But this made my day:

I also had a great Starbucks date with this girl:

Other than that, sleep deprivation has been getting the best of me so I didn't really enjoy the day.  Both girls have been getting up at 5:30 and neither sleeps through the night.  We are sleep training LittleL.G., and getting to sleep is now a breeze (go LittleL.G.!!)- we can just dump her in the crib-- the problem is getting her to stay asleep.

This happens pretty frequently:

2:06

2:07

So we are introducing some solids to see if that keeps her belly full a little longer:

I have to say, even if I didn't have the most fantastic day on my birthday, I am so excited for my 33rd year with my incredible girls!

1st stroller ride for LittleL.G.

LOL! Even when this one looks like this.

My favorite thing right now is this:

Only MiniM.E. can get her to laugh and it kills me every time!

Lake George Winterfest

I'm not sure that there is anyone who is excited enough about the winter we've had to have a festival celebrating it.  Even skiiers and snowboarders might be excited about all the snow, but what about those below freezing windchills?  Apparently there are enough people in Lake George who love winter so much they had not only a weekend, but an entire month of winter festivities.

The festival ran the whole month of February (mostly on weekends) and we thought since yesterday the temps were fairly reasonable, we'd give it a try.  The agenda for Saturday was dog sled rides on the lake and fireworks at dusk.  We had our last skating class on Saturday, so we thought we'd go up after skating at about 4 and hang around until fireworks at 6.

(Side note:  MiniM.E. made huge progress at skating.  Not that she's "racing around the rink" yet...)

It was really cool to be out on the frozen lake, but without trees or buildings, even 27 seemed pretty cold... I guess the sled dogs thought so too because by the time we got there, they were too cold and had already packed up.  Now we have to make a trip up to Lake Placid sometime because they have dogsled rides there and MiniM.E. really wants to be pulled on a sled by puppies.

We got to see some ice blocks pulled up from the lake, a helicopter and lots of snowmobiles.  There was a super slippery spot too, which was fun for ten minutes or so.  I took lots of videos and photos, but my phone thought it was ice-pocalypse and kept dying from being too cold so I only have a few photos that actually took (or saved?)

The novelty of standing out in the cold on a frozen lake only lasted fifteen minutes or so and then it was... 4:15.  Only an hour and forty-five minutes until fireworks!

I can't even tell there are kids in there!

s'more grown up selfie

MiniM.E. was a real trooper and suffered quietly, and LittleL.G. was wrapped on me and only woke up a few times to realize it was still cold and we were still outside before shutting down and sleeping again.

The highlight of the evening was the wish lanterns (which of course we broke down and bought because what else was there to do?!?!) and MiniM.E. was really excited about them even though she couldn't really participate because of the fire aspect.

6:00 finally came and we saw the fireworks.  Which were, eh, fireworks.  MiniM.E. LOVED them, especially because the snow dampened the noise and they were very quiet.

Next year, going to get there at 5:55, get out to watch the fireworks and leave the car running!  Brrrrr!!!!

It's Still Winter...

And we haven't been doing much exciting while we wait for it to get warmer out...

Occasionally MiniM.E. comes up with a crazy idea for an activity.  Most often it's something like, "Mommy, why don't you put on your bathing suit and have a fashion show?"  Ummm... let's think about that... No.  But, "let's feed LittleL.G. some food!!" seemed relatively harmless.  LittleL.G. watches us eat as if it was the most interesting activity on the planet, and often times making exaggerated eating faces gets some pretty cute giggles.  Some babies start food at 4 months, so I thought, "why not? Maybe it will help her take some naps that last longer than 15 minutes!"

MiniM.E. was very patient as LittleL.G. tested it out... 

this face says it all

Turns out LittleL.G. loves having the food in her mouth and drooling all over it if you hold it there for her but she has zero interest in actually consuming any food item.  She is just as happy chewing on the edge of the table.  Eh, it was a fun activity for MiniM.E.

Bob's brother visited over the weekend and he and Bob spent some time with MiniM.E. (but without Mommy, so no photos), and they went out together and I had some MiniM.E., LittleL.G. & Mommy time.  The girls have actually been going to bed pretty well and usually both are down by 7:30, but of course, the night I have them on my own MiniM.E. stayed up an hour later than usual, and LittleL.G. was still making pterodactyl noises in her swing at 9:30...  While we were up, MiniM.E. had another "fun idea" and wanted to play "beach" in the tub and insisted on wearing her bathing suit.

just doing some relaxin'

LittleL.G. was very confused.

Sunday afternoon it was 36 so we went downtown to enjoy the tropical weather, but surprisingly, it wasn't quite as warm as we hoped it would be and we didn't last long- just a quick trip to the toy store and walk up and down Broadway.  I planned on lots of photos at the park, but the sidewalks there weren't plowed well and once we left the shelter of the buildings it was windy.  And, well... cold!

Our excitement of the week so far was a tea party with our friends for lunch yesterday.

Hoping it warms up soon, because I am not motivated to to ANYTHING...