Winter Break Fun

With so much time off school and pretty lousy weather, my goal over Christmas break was to keep everyone busy.  (Cabin fever moments lead to lots of fighting at our house!)  So we have done some really fun things... but, let's be honest, we have also driven each other crazy at times still! 

We enjoyed Sam's new playdough...

...and invited friends over to make gingerbread houses.

I took the kids to the Bellingham Railway Museum.  I can't believe that we've lived here over a year and hadn't gone to it yet, especially with my boys!  It was really fun.  They have trains that the kids can control by remote control that wind through elaborate tunnels and mountain scenes.  There were also lots of toy trains to play with, including a Thomas engine that the smaller kids could ride on.  The museum is only open three afternoons a week and is run by volunteers... mostly retired old men who are VERY into all things train-related.  (Declan will probably work there in about sixty years.)  They were very excited to show us everything and teach the kids about trains. 

We had a pretty low-key New Years Eve.  We went to a local wood fire oven pizza place (SO yummy) with some good friends.  One of the best things?  While you wait for your food, they bring out a lump of pizza dough for each kid to play with.  Genius!  The kids loved it, and we haven't had such a nice dinner out in a long time.  Here's the kids waiting for our table with our friend Sophia.  

We went home and watched the ball fall live from NY, which meant that the kids were in bed just after nine, happy that they had really celebrated New Years Eve! 

On New Years Day, we went down to the beach to watch the Annual Birch Bay Polar Bear Plunge.  I tried to talk Garreth into doing it, but he refused.  When we got down to the water, I think he wished he had brought a towel!  We decided that next year we will definitely do it, although I'm not so sure about the Speedo Garreth wants to wear!   It had snowed the night before and it was FREEZING!  But about 500 people still took the plunge, some wearing great costumes.  (the pirates, Wonder Woman, and Elvis were our favorites.)

The plunge was at noon and we had already put the little boys down for a nap before we decided to run down and check it out.   I was going to stay home, but Grace didn't want to go, and decided that she was old enough to babysit for real.  So she watched an American Girl movie while Liam, Garreth, and I went.  She was so proud of herself and we were proud of her!  (Even if we were only five minutes away with cell phones and were only gone 45 minutes!)  It was a nice glimpse into the future, when we will actually be able to go on a date without having to find a babysitter!  (Three more years?)

Here are a few pictures of the action.  It was really entertaining to watch!

Hope everyone had a great New Years!!