SM Goes From Even to Odd...

Yes, SM had a birthday.  You might have heard about it over the past six months.  She was very excited to turn three and thus become an odd number.  The day started with balloons from her nursery teacher from church...

She was pretty sure that the day couldn't get any better.  But then it did.  Numeral shaped pancakes were the breakfast.

Then a lunch date with the chimeric, adorable D.

We opened some presents (D helped).  Look at all the loot.

Edibles are important to me.  Here we are in the cake staging area.  D dove in prior to the song despite our armada of guards...

Yum, yum...

What did you think of the cake, D?

Happy birthday, SM.  Thank you for all the gifts.

Floridian Travels Part III - Lauderdale

Ft. Lauderdale means a great deal of swimming.  Doesn't everyone look relaxed?  Hey what happened to SM?

Another relaxing picture - Hey what is D-Dawg looking at?

After swimming there was vast quantities of eating and a party with a giant keyboard.  The party started off full...

Pop's Christmas present to himself was hair.  Doesn't it look great?  After a few hours and well before the ball drop in Times Square, the party had been reduced to this...

And by the time the ball dropped only one small girl was watching...

Floridian Travels Part II - Legoland

At JC's behest, we attended a theme park made entirely of plastic bricks.  Read the nubs if you need help figuring it out...

Yes!  That's right - Legoland.  JC finds great pleasure in constructing things.  As does his sister SM.  M finds it okay on an occasional basis, but SM and JC are always building something.  Here is SM driving a Safari jeep and looking at gazelles.  Or Impalas?  Help?

Here are some of the stats on a dinosaur.  It growled after M touched it causing quite a fright.  In the background is the wooden roller coaster that SM and JC rode.  It was a doozy.

We rode a couple Technic-Flavored rides...

Here is the famous pirate show/water skiing spectacular which our kids are still talking about weeks later...

M and JC went to a driving school that required them to learn the rules of the road.  M took this seriously and earned her driving license...

There was also a power tower which required your dad to pull you up and then let you fall...M loved it.  Poppa Bear not so much...

Land of Chima was a water-filled experience...we got soaked.

Boy the park was empty!  Why?  The weather consisted of rolling torrential down pours.  Here is all of us (except the lovely photographer) in front of the main sign.

Floridian Travels Part I - Disney World

For the Christmas/New Year time frame, the C clan from the LOE traveled to Florida.  It's a state that sits over there on the east coast.  Here is a picture of us.  Hey dad, try to look at the camera next time...

M reached a major milestone - as in 48" tall allowing her to ride demonic thrills such as this roller coaster...SM was not tall enough and made her feelings known.

Why would the ride be sponsored by Hanes?  Well, things happen when you get frightened.  JC and SM really liked calmer rides such as the PeopleMover.  There was never a line for this power-nap.

Who was that in the background?  Why more C's.  C's everywhere in fact.  Here is JC with an aunt K.

Sleeping and eating arrangements were ideal...

We went on a safari...

Heavy D was there too...

Merry Christmas from more C's then you can shake a stick at!

JC Playing Basketball

JC played Kinderhoops this year.  He was on the Golden Eagles.  Here he is pictured with his Kindergarten's version of Flat Stanley - "Ben Bear"...

Here he is in action...

Here is practicing one of the three skills we worked on this season - dribble, pass, shoot...

Here's his team.  They ended their season a little less than a month ago...

He scored a few times early in the season and then lost interest.  In other words - the same story as Kinderkicks soccer!

Halloween

Hey M, what can you see from up there?

Oh.  She sees Halloween. That means trick-or-treat on Main street...

Pumpkin carving...

The kids actually dug into their pumpkins this year...

Trick or treating lead to a bladder control for the unpictured individual...

Candy eating time...

As Promised, The Rest of the Denver Trip

The rest of the Denver trip consisted of quality time with our single C cousin, Heavy D.  Here little JC reads the book 'Crime and Punishment' to Heavy D.

Here is M showing him how to weave a friendship bracelet...

SM and him took the sport coupe to 'the field'...

We played with a large ball...

We also threw a smaller ball to the dog.

Poor CS, she tore her MCL.  That's her last ball chasing for a while!
Thanks for visiting G and Aunt JKC.  Thanks for hosting Uncle B, Aunt K, and Heavy D!