Happy Birthday Grandma Bear!

Cecily had a wonderful time planning her Grandma Bear's birthday party. She was so cute, and thought to ask her Grandma whether she preferred vanilla or chocolate cake. (The answer was German Chocolate Cake with lots of frosting.) We managed to get some presents (we hope she liked) and wrapped them up special. We hope Grandma Bear enjoyed her party as much as we did! We love you Grandma Bear!

Critter Club- Harbor Seals

Nanny and Poppy (Jen's parents) got us an awesome gift that just keeps on giving! A family zoo pass!! We are happy to say that Cecily, JJ (the three year old boy I babysit) and Rosemary are members of the Zoo Tots Critter Club! This little club meets twice a month on Thursdays and Fridays to give kids a little lesson, make a craft and get an up close encounter with one of the animals at the zoo. So far this is the only one we have been able to make it to, but we are excited to go at least once a month.

For January the class we went to was about Harbor Seals. We had an awesome time! We also made it just in time to see the Polar Bear (JJ's favorite) have his lunch.

We just love the Zoo! If you ever want to come too...just let us know!

The First Annual Juego Bowl!

Rory's Birthday lands right after Christmas and just before New Years on December 30th. He is pretty used to having his birthday and Christmas kind of run together. However, we try not to let that happen. At first this year he didn't really think he had anything in mind for his Birthday. But over time it became apparent that there was a Birthday wish in there after all. He wanted the game night of his dreams. A night where he could play games of all kinds all night with the whole family, especially with his brothers and my dad (I find it funny that they used to be my brothers, but they belong almost exclusively to him now, I really do love this though).

The family ran with this theme and came up with the First Annual Juego Bowl. (Phil came up with the title) As you can see by the chart it was a full fledged tournament. As you may judge from the pictures... the birthday boy had a good time.

Wrapping it Up!

For the love of all things Nutcracker!

It really all started last spring when I watched a documentary on Russian Ballerinas. Cecily watched part of it with me, asked a few questions and then went on her merry way. Then a few months later she asked to watch the ballerina movie that mommy watched instead of Barney. Then she was hooked. She watched that documentary from start to finish-- even though most of the talking was in French or Russian. But she loved seeing the dancing and the costumes.
Since this had struck her fancy I checked out some more ballet movies from the library. One of our favorites was one that had great scenes from a variety of ballets. She really picked up on the emotions of the dancers. I would sit with her and tell her the story of the dance and she would start talking and interacting with them. In the balcony scene for Romeo and Juliet I told her that Juliet was saying that she needed to go to bed now, but Romeo wanted her to stay up and dance some more. To which she replied, "Did Juliet set the timer?"
Well, sooner then later it dawned on me. The nutcracker is the perfect ballet for children, so many colors not to mention children dancing! And so it began. Pretty soon she was asking for a Nutcracker of her own (I am bracing myself for the day she asks for a kitty, I doubt her daddy will be able to refuse her that!). I told her that Nanny and Poppy had one in their Christmas decorations. Nanny and Poppy did one better, they bought her a Nutcracker of her own. Her Nutcracker is probably her most favorite toy!
We naturally wanted to take her to the ballet. But we were having trouble finding one that didn't start at her bedtime, or wasn't super expensive (she's only two and a half, she might not have made it through the whole thing!). Finally we decided to wait until next year... until Nanny found the Nutcracker Tea. It was a special tea party where you got to meet the Characters from the Nutcracker and get your picture taken with Clara. We were all very excited! Until.... Nanny got the Swine Flu! So Poppy had to take Cecily in her place (dad and I felt more than a little guilty when the ballerinas came walking in and Cecily's face lit up and she started waving). Actually, Cecily was very unsure about the whole thing until she saw that the Mouse King was not invited to the tea party. This is definitely something we would like to do next year, and then actually go see the ballet after wards! Precious memories!

Cessy with her Poppy and complimentary tea mug!


Cecily went down the line of dancers and showed them all her Nutcracker.

Trim the Tree!

Well, this year we definitely did not go for the gold in the decorating department. When it came time to take it all down I was very happy about my choice. We did set out all the nativities and decorated our tree. Actually the girls decorated the tree, then undecorated, then redecorated it again and again. You could tell exactly how far Rosemary's reach extended based on where the ornaments started on the tree. They kept getting more crowded the higher the tree went.
We really enjoyed the family day together!

Festival of Trees

We had a lovely time at Festival of Trees in Tacoma. We went with Great Nana Marie. We enjoyed looking at all the beautiful trees together and listening to the children's choirs.
Here is Cecily at her favorite tree-- the dinosaur in the picture actually moves.
It was very captivating!
This tree was put together by a 13 year-old Gig Harbor kid. Check out the link to this awesome little story. Rory got to talk to Ben at the Festival.

Here is Rory with the girls in front of his favorite tree. Spider Man of course!
I really liked this tree setting. Very elegant!
We thought this one was creative!
While looking at this Santa tree a nice women commented on how pretty Cecily looked in her Christmas dress. Cecily started doing ballet right there in front of the tree. Next thing I knew a group of people had circled around her. She was happily dancing for the crowd. I had to encourage her to dance her way to the next tree.
Cecily saw this one from across the room and thought it was the manger. She went running to it, and I barely caught her before she went under the barricade-- she was on a mission to see baby Jesus. Her face fell when she saw that it was only a cabin with stuffed animals in it. There were no mangers at the Festival of trees.

Pretty Pretty Princess Tree. This would have been perfect for my two girls!
Rosemary catching a ride with Daddy!
A delicious lunch at CI Shenanigans!

Thanks Great Nana for such a lovely time together!