Yellow Belt Zach

Tonight Zach belted up in his Karate ranks.  He went form a white belt to a yellow belt.  The ceremony was just him and one other boy.  Zach was on the spot for 45min straight.  While he was being tested he transformed from happy bubbly Zach to serious Zach.  I thought that he did really well in performing his kata and loved hearing his sensei praise him.  I've been praying that Zach's confidence would grow this year and I feel like it has and Karate is responsible for a portion of that.

Adam was as supportive as a big bro could be but still super board.  While Andrew really made a party of the event.  He was just not going to sit still.  It started off with him seeing himself in the mirrors.  That just made him want to explore what his body could do and it spiraled from there.  So Josh and I took turns taking Andrew where he could run and scream.  He is so So cute.  After it was all over Andrew and Adam couldn't hold it in anylonger and they exploded by running around and screaming.  Nick Sensei said "it never fails in every family of three that he knows there is always one runner."  I guess Andrew could be it.

Dino Day @ Franklin Institute of Natural Science

With Andrew not taking afternoon naps our radius of day trip locations had expended greatly.  This year i really want to explore Philadelphia more.  Phili compared to NYC is a much easier going experience.  Everything tolls, parking and tickets is cheaper and easier to get to.  For example if we were to get to NYC we would have to leave early in order to avoid huge delays getting through the tunnel and parking is very limited and expensive.  As my dad says Philadelphia is like NYC on Valium.  It is a more relaxed experience.
On our to do in Phili list was the Franklin Institute of Natural Science because of their dinosaur exhibit and their their traveling exhibit of animatronic dinosaurs.  We went to that first.  The boys were very excited about it.  At a lot of the exhibits of the different dinos there were tablets set up that if you aimed it at a picture it came to life on the tablet screen.  On one of them you could feed a T-Rex and watch it mature.  That was Adam's favorite part.  Zachary's favorite part was doing the dinosaur dig.  It was really cool they gave you goggles and a chisel to work on a giant dino fossil.  Zach was in haven.  He just told me a few minuets earlier that he wished he could dig for dino bones.  Well, boom wish granted.  I think that Andrew liked the dioramas of the different animals the most.  He got excited when he saw animals that he recognized.  I really enjoyed the butterfly room and seeing Andrew get scared when one of the beautiful butterflies got close to him.  Josh really enjoyed the animatronic dinosaurs too.

Kipper the Dog

We have discovered a new show that Andrew goes crazy for.  "Kipper" the dog.  When ever the theme snog start Andrew goes crazy with excitement.  He jumps up and down on the couch and yells "doggy! DOGGY!" Over and over with giggles in between.  While he is watching this show his expression of glee does not leave his face.  Love him.

Sledding!

We decided to go sledding and this time we tried out a new place the hill at the East Brunswick high School.  It is a big enough hill to get a thrill but small enough for children to walk up it several times with out complaint.  Perfect!  We all had a good time taking turns riding down the hill.  Again I was surprised that Andrew wasn't in the last scared.  Adam and Zachary had a great time.  I thought that we were going to have to pry them off the hill.  Too bad I got tired and cold and had to spoil their fun.  I think that they would have been out there all afternoon if they had the chance.

Snow Day

We got to go to school for one day and were off again for a Snow DAY!  Yep, a big storm came through and dumped on us.  I  got the call the night before that school would be canceled and told the boys as we were putting them to bed.  Later that night when we checked on them I found that they had made a fort behind Zachary's bed and were curled up back there.  Love it.  They really are best friends.

We woke up to a foot or more of snow.  I got the boys new shovels so that they could help clear the snow and learn how to help out.  Zach was so excited to get out and help.  He was the first one ready and out the door.  Eventually everyone got out there.  Well their shovels weren't the best for clearing snow but they are great for making snow forts.  So I taught Zach how to build a snow cave which he thought was so cool and so did Andrew.  Adam liked playing and messing around with his friends and trying to get dad with a snow ball.

 

Happy New Year!

Going Snow Tubing at Blue Mountain was a great way to start off the new year.  Josh and I both agree it was the best family outing that we have ever had.  We all had fun from the oldest to the youngest.  We got there got our tickets and were on the mountain as a family pretty quick.  Half the fun was not having to walk up the mountain and have our tooshies pulled up by a lift.  It was great all the fun and not the exercise.  It kept everyone very happy.  Tubing is defiantly the lazy man's sport (if you could even call it that) or a great outing for a young family.  We went down as a family a few times and then Zach and I broke off to try out the single tube hill. We got to ride down together and it was a lot more of a thrill.  We went faster and further.  Zach loved it and wanted to go again so Josh and I switched and I went down with Andrew.  Andrew realized that he was left out of some kind of fun and communicated through screams that he wanted to ride with the big brothers. So after confirming that he was in fact big enough to go in the single tube we made our way over.  I was surprised that he loved it and not even a little bit scared when we flew down the hill.  I think I have a thrill seeker.
We went in doors to warm up and grab a bite to eat.  There was just enough time to go down one more time so Adam took the opportunity and went down with daddy one last time. I was thrilled at his excitement for our activity.