Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Snowy fun

The blizzard wasn't our only snow this month. In fact, this has been the snowiest December on record for the Twin Cities! As of the 21st we had received over 38" of snow. The usual snowfall for an entire winter is only 42"!

But don't worry, we don't let something like snow keep us inside.





After all, we are Minnesotans! And you know what they say... there's no such thing as bad weather - just bad clothing!

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Blizzard!

As you may have heard, we got a bit of snow last weekend... 16.5", to be exact, in Minneapolis! Combine that with high winds and below-zero temperatures, and it's a full-on blizzard. Minneapolis is on its second consecutive snow emergency, and both Minneapolis and St. Paul public schools are on their second snow day.

Because of the frigid temps, we don't have any pictures of the girls playing in the snow. Also, it's way too deep for them! The drifts are chest-high on Maisie, and well over Ella's head. But I thought I'd share some pictures so those of you elsewhere can see what we're dealing with.

For perspective, here's a picture of Ella in our front yard in October. See the sign in the background?



Here's how it looks today:


Remember the climber in our backyard?


Here it is, mid-day Saturday, even before all the snow had fallen.


You probably heard that the Metrodome collapsed from the snow... I don't have a "before" picture, but here's my "after," taken with my cell phone on my way to work today. I labeled it because it's hard to see what isn't there.


Happily, not my car.


But unfortunately, this is my office.


Hmmmm... perhaps storm windows would've been a good idea.

Wednesday, December 08, 2010

Maisie's 4th birthday

Maisie was a lucky girl: she had two birthday parties this year!

On her actual birthday, we had a party at Auntie Laura, Dan, and Dylan's house. It was pretty low-key, with just Grammy Liisa joining us. We ordered pizza, opened presents, and ate cake. She got several Barbie dolls, a Hello Kitty purse, and a musical princess ballerina dress from her Grandma Jo, which she immediately had to wear.

Grammy Liisa made an amazing cake:

which Maisie LOVED!


Then, of course, we had a pinata. Even Ella took a swing at it:

It's hard to see because the picture is blurry, but trust me: that baby is holding, and swinging, a HUGE stick.

Maisie's birthday fell on a weekday. So on the following Saturday, we had a party with her school friends at Adventure Peak at Edinborough, an indoor play park. We also invited our friends Emi and Liza, who joined us and enjoyed the cupcakes.

Of course, Emi wasn't the only kid who loved the cupcakes...

Ella did some damage to hers, too!

Everyone had fun playing, and Maisie had a great day with her friends.

We're so happy with our sweet, silly, funny, loving, smart, and all-around wonderful Maisie! The past four years with her have been a joy. We can't wait to see what the future holds for her!