Happy Aussie Day, Mate!!!

I have been a major blogger slacker lately! So, this event is over a month old, but I am trying to do some catching up! My good friend and old roommate Summer married an Aussie awhile back and has a fun celebration each year for Australia day! We have lived too far away to enjoy the festivities until this year and it was a lot of fun. She had lots of authentic Australian food, showed some Aussie football and had little crafts for the kids. However, the biggest highlight was this guy....

A REAL life kangaroo!!! How much more authentic Australian can you get??? We were a late because we had something else that day, so I called to make they were still partying and Summer told us to hurry and come and see the special surprise guest! I had no idea it would be a KANGAROO!!! The kids loved him and chased him all over the house. It really added to the excitement of the party! He just hopped all around the house in his little diaper. If you are wondering how he got there, Summer's brother works for a retirement home that uses this little guy as a therapy pet, so he borrowed him for the night and even surprised Summer.
Here is Logan chasing around the kangaroo. He followed the guy around all night and fed him all sorts of things. Good thing this little guy was pretty patient!Logan feeding the kangaroo some crackersLogan would talk to the kangaroo like it was a baby. "Come here little guy." "Hi buddy" He was so funny! The kangaroo was kind of funny and didn't seem to care if anyone was paying attention to him or not.Logan and the kangarooRylee and the kangaroo - She was a little nervous at first, but she warmed up to him after awhileMe and Rylee and the kangaroo

Rylee petting the kangaroo when she decided she wasn't afraid of him anymore

Summer also set up a cute little Australian background to take pictures, so of course, being the photo taker that I am I had to take advantage of it!Rylee was even small enough to wear the cute little kangaroo costume.
She wasn't too happy to have to take another picture with mom...Logan looking rather serious in his Outback hat!Two little Aussies - Aren't they so cute???

We went back to Summer's for ANOTHER party a few days later. It was Sky's 2nd birthday party and was a lot of fun. It was a Cars theme and the kids had a great time. We found a use for Logan's Lightning McQueen cardboard cutout. It was a fun party decoration! I think we might have a Cars party for Logan this year, too so we can use it again!Rylee enjoying her chocolate cupcake! The kids also had Mac and Cheese and Chicken Nuggets for lunch, which is their favorite!Rylee and Sky - Rylee is pulling her silly face again!The kids made little cars to wear. I thought it was such a fun idea! My kids were more interested in the movie, so I ended up making theirs and had a lot of fun decorating them. Rylee LOVED wearing her little car all over. Logan in his Lightning McQueen car! He wanted his car to be JUST like McQueen!Rylee and Sky modeling their carsTanner in his carRylee taking her car for a spin! It was a fun party weekend!!!

Bowling and Snow!

Is there anything cuter than baby bowling shoes? I thought they were way too cute!!!
I am still playing catch-up... what else is new? Life has been a little crazy lately! Our landlords decided to list our house and we have had to get it ready for photos for the listing and show it twice, which totally stinks! We have also had some yucky sickness at our house, too. These are a couple more things we did in January.

Logan had been begging and begging to go bowling, so we finally went. Actually, the week before we went bowling, we were playing at the giant play place at the Fun Park with some friends. Logan ran off and I couldn't find him - He was in the attached bowling alley. He found a ball on the rack and threw it down one of the lanes, which was closed, and the ball got stuck. Needless to say, we made a quick exit! And I thought if he wanted to bowl that bad, we should probably take him!
We were the only people in the whole bowling alley so it was pretty fun. Here is Logan all ready to bowl with his cute shoes. This is the first time he has big enough to wear real bowling shoes. Here is Rylee watching her ball go! She really liked bowling and got much more into it than I expected, but she didn't get any cute shoes.
Here is Logan in action. He wanted to do it all by himself and would throw it from way back sometimes.... He was pretty cute.My little brother, Kyle, was staying with us the week we went bowling since he was off track and Logan had so much fun having him here. Kyle liked going bowling, too.Logan and Darren watching the bowling actionRylee trying to lift her ball all by herself. She likes to be so independent, but I think the ball weighed almost as much as her!Rylee sitting on the chairs. It was pretty hard to keep her there. She liked to try and pick up all the balls on the racks. Rylee liked bowling!Kyle taking his turn. And, if you are wondering, my 9 year old brother beat me! Of course, he DID get to use the bumpers...Rylee excited for her turn!Rylee cheering her ball on down the lane.Here is one of Logan's bowling mishaps....yep....the ball went backwards!Giving it another try
Here is another Logan mishap. He took off with the ball without Darren knowing and stepped into the lane just as Darren was reading how slippery the lane was. He slipped and fell and hit his head really hard. He was lucky the ball didn't fall on him! He was pretty sad after that. The manager of the bowling alley also brought us a little ramp thing for the kids after that. It saved us from any more injuries.

Here is Rylee trying out the new ramp. I don't think it was quite as fun, but it was much safer!Logan waiting for his ball. Both kids were fascinated by the ball return. Rylee would always take a big jump back with a pretty scared expression whenever a ball came out of it though.Logan loading his ball onto the rampHere goes Rylee...I think she may have gotten a strike on this frame.Logan excited after hitting some pins.He insisted on carrying the ball himself.Logan and his YELLOW bowling ball!
Afterwards. Logan and Darren played a game of air hockey. Logan was SO excited about that!After bowling, we went for pizza and YUMMY salad at Fredrico's. We had a great time! It was another fun family activity.

We woke up today to MORE snow! To be honest, I don't really mind. If it is going to be this COLD, we might as well have some pretty snow, too. These pictures are from a storm in January. It was the first storm after Christmas, so the kids were excited to try out their new boots, gloves and sled from Santa. I was beginning to wonder if they were ever going to get used! I also had fun with my camera, which I am discovering does a much better job outdoors.Here are the kids dressed and ready for snow!Rylee kept falling in the snow and it would be quite a process for her to get back up again with all that padding.Closeup of Logan. He looks SO cold!Cute littel Rylee!Logan kept laying in the snow and putting his whole face in it. Boys will be boys, I guess, but I was freezing!Logan catching snow on his tongueMy kids love to eat snow!Rylee trying to catch some snow like Logan.My favorite of Rylee. I love the snow in her eyelashesLogan doing some snow angels.I LOVE this one of Logan! It is one of my favorite pictures. The kids wanted to try their new sled, but we don't really have any hills nearby so Daddy pulled them around. What a good sport to spend his morning off pulling the sled and shoveling snow!I love how Rylee just laid back like this. She looks pretty nervous!Logan all ready to go in for some hot chocolate!!! The kids had a great time out in the snow and would have lasted longer if Darren and I would have. We were SO cold and ready to come in! At least all the snow is good for something, right?