Sunday, February 26, 2012

January 2012

On the last day of Christmas break, the kids and I joined Grammy, Becky, Maddox and Lucy at the McWane Center in Birmingham for a day of exploration fun. Wow, this place is incredible! The kids had a blast doing things like...
Learning about weight and balance on a human size scale.
They have a small aquarium section where the four children loved pointing out their favorite fish.

How blessed are these four to have each other to navigate life with? 
Mesmerized. 
They found Santa's sleigh left out from the holidays. 
Walked on a giant piano.
Went ice fishing.
Slid down the biggest slide I've ever seen. They literally turned an escalator into a slide that stretched from one floor to the next. Talk about thrilling! Can you imagine how big that must have seemed to them? 
They also braved the zip line that stretched from one side of the center to the other. 
This crazy boy loved the zip line. I really wasn't sure what he would think, and my heart was pounding just waiting for him to fall off, but as always, he proved me wrong. He rode down the zip line with absolute glee! To give you an idea of how high of the ground he was, that's a window you see behind his feet. 
The center also had an impressive train exhibit going on while we were there. You know who was in heaven. 
Following on the heals of the holidays, the center was having their snow days, which included this artificial snow exhibit. These children have talked about snow, and wanted another big snow since the snow storm we received last January. With this warm winter, I'm afraid artificial snow will have to suffice. 

The world's largest slide!
Ella takes a turn on the slide.
This may have been our favorite exhibit. A huge pin wall captivated our attention. We all spent a good bit of time pressing hands and faces against the pins and laughing at our impressions. 
Me (left) and Becky (right)
Shocking! I can actually make out my face!
From L-R, Sterling, Ella, Lucy and Maddox. 
Sorry kiddos, I'm afraid you're just not tall enough yet!

Look at the curiosity on their faces. It's simply priceless.  
We had a fantastic time at the McWane Center and look forward to returning very soon.
Ella also started cheer leading with the Upward organization this month. I appreciate that this faith based league focuses on so much more than just the game. 
Ella is on the far left.
Third from the left.
We did get a tiny sprinkling of snow mid-month. Nothing compared to last winter, but it was pretty to wake up to. Sadly, the kids and I all had to be at school by 10am, so our enjoyment of the snow was limited. 
Pretty while it lasted! 
We also made the trip up to Nashville to visit our little friend Maddox following surgery at Vanderbilt. By the time we got up there, he had already been released home to his grandparents house and was running circles at seeing his best buds! We would've never known he had any surgery at all! 
Sterling had been very concerned about Maddox being in the "hossa-ble" as he calls it. I think he was greatly relieved to see his friend was just fine. 
This silly girl is something else. One afternoon I put both kids down for their naps, then decided I'd lie down too. When I got up from resting, I found Ella sound asleep under the coffee table. Crazy girl. 

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