Fun in the Snow!!!

So we get back from our trip on a Wednesday night, the boys go to school and I go to work on Thursday, and then Friday we wake up to this!  Looks like we are back on vacation as we have a Snow Day!!!  The boys were so excited as we never really got a big snow storm last year and this storm gave them plenty to play in!

 Love the look of a fresh blanket of snow

 So pretty and peaceful!

 Ryan was still on vacation and so we all got to go out and play in the snow!

 I do not like the look in his eye

 Look out!!!

 Boys being boys and having a snowball fight

 AJ loved running cars down the snowy slide

 Happy boy!

 AJ had a lot of fun filling his bucket with snow

 Then I taught him that he could stack them up and make some snowmen

 Then they wanted to make snow angels

 Sweet Angel Jake

 The boys taking out their new toy in the snow

 Yeah they cannot stay on their feet...too much fun to be in the snow

 I love living somewhere were we can get snow like this...we did not even have to travel to the mountains

 We then went 5 doors down to the pirate ship park and had a blast playing in all of the snow there

Daddy and Jake had a really fun time playing football

 Jake climbing the snowy steps to the slide

 My wonderfully happy boys

 This is so much fun!!!

 Me and my boys

 Then we were cold and wet so we walked home, got our wet clothes off and had some hot cocoa.  These are some super happy boys!  Great snow day!

 I never did share this picture but AJ gave me a beloved gift from Mrs. Hopkins class for Christmas.  A snowman hand ornament just like his brother made in Pre-K.  I treasure these above all our other ornaments...truly special :D

 :D

 AJ wanted to get a picture of his snowman family before they melted

 Jake was so excited about this!  He had saved up his Wildcats from school (little papers they earn by being good, helping others, etc) until he had enough to exchange them for reading to another class.  He had chosen to read to his beloved Mrs. Bovos and her Kindergarten class.  She was sweet enough to take pictures for me and said that he did a terrific job!  So proud of him!!!

 Such a big wonderful boy!

I love this!  On weekday mornings when Ryan happens to leave after the kids have gotten up for school they always go out with him and wave goodbye to him from the porch.  They are often in their jammies still but it is just a sweet time that this picture does a great job of capturing.

My Birthday Trip to Branson!

For my birthday this year I really wanted to spend it in Branson MO in my favorite place...Big Cedar! :D  Ryan was sweet enough to make it happen and once the holidays were over and my parents had to leave I was super excited to go. :D

 We have arrived!!!

 I think AJ shares my joy!

 After going grocery shopping we went to dinner at our favorite restaurant at Big Cedar

 Luckily these boys were happy about it too!

 Starting to get in the vacation spirit :D

 The Lodge our room was in

 And of course the boys could not wait one day before going for a swim!  AJ zooming down the slide

The boys have always loved this slide!

They have also come a long way since our first trip there as Jake is a great swimmer and AJ, while its not pretty...can get it done.  Jake is flying off here :)

First morning!  And while on vacation we get special vacation cereal...Smores :D

While exploring the new building at Paradise Point we really started to enjoy the warm fire

Jake's picture of Mom and Dad

Then of course we HAD to go to Steak N Shake as its a requirement of the boys for any trip to Branson.  We happened to hit the shake happy hour and so we surprised the boys with the big size!

They were pretty happy about it :D

Me and my boys!  I love being a boymom!!!!

AJ loved this tree decorated for Christmas and it was beautiful at night.  One benefit to getting there right after New Years was that the decorations were still up for a couple days...so cool!!!

Mini Golf!

I have wanted to get this picture for 2 years but for a long time AJ was afraid to get too close to the fish.  But it was worth waiting for :D

Gotta sink our putts inside the fish

Yeah AJ is not crazy at all.

This year they put up this awesome ice rink

It was so much fun to see it while we were golfing and hear the Christmas music they were playing!

My birthday morning!  I loved waking up with the great view, a wonderful cup of coffee, a book I had been looking forward to reading and letting the kids watch a movie (Peanuts...the boys also fell in love with Charlie Brown late in the year).  My family blessed me with gifts and then we enjoyed an outstanding breakfast of eggs in a basket before we went for a swim and soak in the beautiful outdoor hot tub!

Then we went out to walk the beautiful grounds...found this nice fellow

And of course a game of mini golf

Then as the temps had quickly dropped we warmed up in the main Lodge Lobby and played with Lincoln Logs

Do I look older?

Jake's cabin

AJ's village

Then we jumped on a shuttle for a ride to our clubhouse so that we could pick up some hot cocoa and movies to enjoy in our room!

Yeah, this is the life!

Such a great evening of relaxing, watching movies and reading and enjoying our beautiful place.  I absolutely loved my birthday and the relaxation that it gave us!  Plus special time the 4 of us is always treasured!!!

Time to leave...always hard to go but wow we had such a fantastic time! Now back to real life.