Rockin' Robin

Paige had her third Just for Kix dance performance this past weekend. The song they danced to was Rockin' Robin. There are two more performances left this year...or maybe forever...Paige says she wants to play hockey next year. We'll have to wait and see. She looks cute in hot pink fringes, but she looks really cute in breezers.

Hockey Girl

Dance Girl

Hutchinson Jamboree

Well, the regular hockey season is winding down which means Jamboree time! Here are some pictures of the first Jamboree of the year. The kids and parents really look forward to these events. The best part is that other hockey associations actually turn the heat on in their facilities so you can watch the game without stocking caps, boots, gloves and scarves. Actually, the best part is how excited the kids are to play. A Jamboree is an all day (or all weekend) event. This year Blake's team played a game at 10am and another at 5pm. There are a lot of rules about length of game (60 minutes), time between line changes (2 minutes), time between games, score-keeping (not allowed), etc. After both River Lakes East teams finished their morning games, we all headed to Pizza Hut for lunch. We occupied over half of the restaurant, thank goodness for buffets. After lunch, everyone slowly made their way back to the arena for an afternoon of hockey. Blake got to hang out with his teammates, and Paige got to hang out with her friends that she has gotten to know over the last two years. It was a very long but very fun day.

Blake (#7) waiting for the line change

Game #1 vs STMA

Lunch at Pizza Hut

Baby Jaguar gets a piece of the action too.

Hockey Sisters playing cards

Game #2 vs Hutch

Good Game

Hey, that coach is cute!

River Lakes East Team B

Photo Booth...Now in COLOR!

There is a photo booth at the mall that Paige has been begging (politely) to get her picture taken in. We passed it on several occasions but I never seemed to have enough dollar bills. Well, finally about two weeks ago, I had cash and the kids were able to have their first photo booth pictures taken. They are so silly, but the kids were pretty excited with the results. I love the nostalgia of photo booth pics. Just thinking of the tiny little booth with the curtain conjures up memories. However, the pictures only printed in black and white back then. Blake would call that old school.

My scanner decided to get all high tech on me after I scanned Paige's photos. It would only scan the last photo on Blake's sequence...I have no idea why.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I LOVE YOU MORE THAN BEER

No, this was not my v-day gift from Henry. He brought it home from a business trip last week, and I thought it was funny. Well, it would be a compliment, right? ;-)

Super Bowl Homeboy

SATURDAY NIGHT, WE SPLIT FORCES.
Henry and Blake went to the SCSU hockey game while Paige and I went on a quick trip to the mall and out for dinner. Paige got to eat at her favorite restaurant, La Casita. They have a wide variety of frosty kid drinks that come with a little paper umbrella stuck in the straw. Plus, they have mini corn dogs sold under the clever name of pronto puppies. Top it off with the opportunity to throw small change into a multiple tiered fountain upon exiting and you have one heck of a restaurant in a 5 years old's eyes.

Blake had a super-duper Saturday. He got to meet some members of the hockey team, get autographs, go into the training room and locker room, and get his picture taken with his two favorite players. He was so excited and felt so grateful for the experience that he actually started to cry when he was telling me about it. He could hardly get to sleep that night because he was so concerned about making a thank you card. It was a true celebrity experience for him which is really, really cool. He is a huge SCSU hockey fan and has been going to games since he was 2 years old. Blake thought he was just going to get an autograph and maybe a picture (due to a chance meeting between Henry and Blake's favorite player's dad) but he got so much more. Many thanks to Garrett Roe (#9).

Ryan Lasch, Blake, and Garret Roe

SUNDAY WAS SUPER TOO
The weather was beautiful on Sunday. After a loooong, coooold beginning to a Minnesota winter that means only one thing, send the kids outside! We had a Super Bowl Party day-long event at a friend's house. I think the grand total ended up being 11 kids and 15 adults. The kids spent the whole day running around and snowmobiling outside. As usual, the kids got along great despite there being a lot of kids with a huge age range and not enough snowmobiles to go around. They rarely took a break except to get a drink or go to the bathroom. It is reassuring to know that kids can still play and have fun without looking for constant adult intervention.


It was time to bring the fun indoors when it was starting to get dark which was perfect timing for a little (who am I kidding) food before the game started. At some point during the game, Henry decided it would be fun to watch from the hot tub. Several kids decided they wanted to "swim" too. Henry was a good sport, but I don't think a kiddie pool was what he had envisioned.

There was also the ubiquitous (I can't believe I haven't snuck that word into my blog before this point. It is one of my top 3 favorite words. Yes, I'm a nerd.) Luke and Paige humor that has been going on since they were toddlers.
Quote #1 "Paige is my girlfriend. And she doesn't even know it yet!."
Quote #2 "I told Luke that you can't make someone love you. You have to let your friendship grow. I didn't make that up because they said it on Zack and Cody."

It was a good game and a good time with good friends. I feel like we've got it pretty darn good.

BTW, the girls love (and appreciate) that the guys
take care of the kids when they are outside.
At least that is what we thought you were doing out there...