In February, I took a trip to Philadelphia for work. The morning I left, Marina left me the best note ever. Here it is.
Naturally, after a note like that, I got her a present. A stuffed eagle she promptly named Liberty. Here are a few shots of Philadelphia. I had not been there since I was about 6 years old, so it was fun to explore a bit in the off hours I had.
Liberty Bell
Independence Hall
City Hall - designed after the Louvre, so I had to take a picture for Marina.
Joan of Arc. There is a statue just like this in Paris, which was one of my favorites. Very cool to see it again.
Where the Declaration of Independence was signed.
More Paris-inspired buildings.
Grandma Paul got this beautiful dress for Marina. What a cutie!
One of Marina's Creations. Pretend you can't see the messy closet, please.
Lincoln received a citizenship award at school. The award was for courage, and Lincoln said it was because he had the courage to be himself. Lincoln's teacher told us that one of the reasons is that he is such a good friend to all the other kids in the class. One of his classmates has a learning disability, and he always requests Lincoln to help explain things to him. Lincoln is such a great kid!
Lincoln also had a chance to do a Pinewood Derby car - but this is the last year he will be able too (next year he will be too old). This is the Silver Bullet, which lived up to its name. Lincoln did not win the tournament, but that car had a consistently fast time - right around 2.9 seconds - every time.
Then the kids got to eat mini Pinewood Derby cars.
Marina has been feeling left out at school, because she was the only one in her class who had lost no teeth. Well, that situation quickly reversed itself one night when Marina discovered a loose tooth. It was very upsetting to her. Marina wanted it out, but she was afraid it would hurt if she or I pulled it. She cried for a long time (it was bedtime, so it seemed so much worse), but finally reconciled herself to waiting until the tooth was ready to come out on its own.
The next morning when Marina was eating her cereal, it just fell right out and she just picked it right out of her mouth. Whew! The tooth fairy visited and gave her $5 (the first tooth is worth more than the other teeth), which she promptly exchanged for a little stuffed zebra with green eyes. The new friend is named Zig Zag, and it has usurped Liberty (the eagle)'s place as her favorite friend. Hooray for the tooth fairy!
We also took a quick trip to Salt Lake with some friends of ours to see the musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Here are some of the kids behaving themselves very well in the theater.
After the show, we got to go backstage and see some of the stuff from the show. We even got to meet Chitty herself!
Marina and Chitty
The Pauls and The Greeners with the cars from the show
Easter has arrived, and the Easter Bunny was good to us too. At grandma's house, Marina made a little cupcake Easter bunny (she got bored with it before the bunny had ears and after one of its eyes fell out).
Then there was an Easter Egg hunt with the cousins. Marina's cousin Ella was not happy about stopping the search for eggs to have her photo taken. Marina humored me.
Marina's Easter Dress
Last but not least, Lincoln and Marina have been very busy with rehearsals for The Wizard of Oz. Marina is a munchkin, and Lincoln is a flying monkey. The munchkins performed one of their songs for a volunteer event earlier this month, so here is a sneak peek of the show. The performances are April 10-15, and I will post more photos as soon as I get them.
In January, we spent a few days in Salt Lake City visiting with Steve, Valerie, Kyle and Jaxon (and more of the Terry family). While Ryan was at a museum meeting, Lincoln, Marina, and I visited the Clark Planetarium.
Learning about fog
Marina on the moon
They are not huge fans of Mars
Lincoln likes electricty
Then, Steve, Valerie, Kyle, Jaxon, and Karlene joined us at the Children's Discovery Museum.
How long 'til I can drive?
I want to climb!
Nothing is more fun than plastic food
Lincoln might be a little too old for the lamb costume
But he is not too old to fly the helicopter
Marina makes an excellent co-pilot
Marina is very versatile - she also makes a great newscaster. The day was only complete after a turn as construction workers and a shift at the grocery store. Then we got to ride the train all the way back to Steve's house.
Ryan, Lincoln, and I visited the Utah Natural History Museum.
Lincoln made a friend
It was so foggy, you could not see the building next door or the mountain right behind us.
Then it was bowling and the arcade. Lincoln and Gabe won these awful teeth. They were pretty pleased with them.
Then, an evening of chasing and wrestling followed. The kids had a great time together.
Lincoln and Marina each auditioned to be in the play Wizard of Oz. They both made it in! Lincoln is a munchkin and a flying monkey, and Marina is a munchkin. The performances are in April, so they will be very busy with rehearsals until then. Here are videos of both auditioned - they were both so brave!
Once the preparations for Christmas were done, we still had one last ornament craft at the museum. Lincoln and Marina had a great time painting a wooden spool and adding their own Christmas list to it.
Finally, the big day arrived!
Waiting for Christmas Eve dinner with the cousins.
All the cousins except Kaden: Ella, Lincoln, Jaxon, Kyle, Marina, and Carter
A Christmas Eve performance!
On Christmas morning, Lincoln and Marina had to wait for everyone to be awake before they could check out what Santa left.
Christmas morning smile - tired but happy
Look at the loot!
Marina got two new friends for Christmas - Flowers (the dog) and Waddles (the penguin)
Lincoln got a Hobbit Lego game - met with an "awesome!"
Marina and her friends watch a movie
Even when Marina was tired of the movie, her friends kept watching.
One of Marina's Christmas outfit. Stylin'!
To celebrate New Years, Ryan and I went to an Elvis tribute artist concert. It was a fun way to spend New Year's Eve.
Then, on New Year's day, we watched some Elvis concerts with the kids. Marina was inspired, and tried to pick up on some Elvis moves.
Even further inspired, Marina wrote her own song and agreed to perform it for the blog.
