Mc Valentine's Day

I am a big fan of Valentine's Day.  I like a day dedicated to love.  I like seeing all the flowers and hearts in stores.  I loved it when Steve and I were dating and he would drive three hours and surprise me with bag full of rented rom-com movies.  But now, Valentine's Day is more about the kids.  And this year it was a pretty epic kid weekend.  After Hannah's school party and the Chinese New celebration, the McGuires came for a visit!  On actual Valentine's Day we all went to Science City and Legoland for a day of kid fun.

Steve saw the new genetic exhibit for the first time and tried out a new hairstyle

I think blonde hair is in her future.  Notice the same hair in the background...

 Olive (3) Gwyneth (3) Hannah (5) Colin (6) Kevin (8)

Legoland!  This time Olive was old enough to do everything.

We watched a couple 4D movies.  Olive still refuses to wear the glasses.

Like last time, Olive still liked the cupcake section best.

And Hannah still like the race cars.

After LegoLand, the kids spent most of the weekend setting up lego battles in our living room and the adults played lots of games (including the Newlywed game in honor of love).  It was a great weekend and definitely a memorable Valentine's Day.

Chinese New Year

The same night as Hannah's valentine's party, we went to the Chinese New Year celebration.  The main event was a Chinese acrobat show.

That woman taking pictures in the green shirt is from KC Star.  Here are her (much better) pictures.

Brave Hannah volunteered to go on stage to learn how to catch a hat on her head.

 Hannah loved seeing all the acrobat tricks.  Olive said they were "beautiful ballerinas."  They tried out some moves after the show.

And we couldn't leave without making some art.  The Chinese dragon is supposed to have the head of a camel, neck of a snake, belly of a frog, etc.  They had paper animals to cut apart and make into a dragon.

Olive made her own animals.  All of them had frog feet.

Nelson-Atkins at night

Chinese New Year in 2013 and 2014.

Valentine's Party

Hannah wanted horse valentines.  I looked on Pinterest and found a few options, but ultimately we made our own.  Hannah picked out the rainbow horse clip art, wrote all the names, cut out each one with different craft scissors, and picked out a special horse for each classmate.  Apparently boy horses are gray and black.

The kids made their valentine sacks at school.

Playing "heart" lava

"Fill your heart with love" dice game that made a heart craft

Hannah's sack is pink with an orange circle.

The kids were very excited to see everyone's valentines.  It was so cute to watch them thank each other.  I love being a part of classroom parties now that I'm not working.  I'm also thankful this was the LAST classroom party I have to plan this year! :)

Snow

 We have had a very mild winter with very little snow.  Each time there will be some flurries, the ground barely gets covered, and then it all melts away the next day.  That doesn't stop us from sledding on it!  The girls also like to make snow and ice food and serve it out of their playhouse.  We need more snow!!

Murder Mystery Party

I'm behind in posting (again), but here are some pics from our murder mystery party in January.  Winter gets pretty boring, so we decided to invite some friends over and play dress-up.  We each had assigned characters, costume suggestions, and a script.  I was Mama Rosa whose husband was found murdered.  He ran an Italian restaurant.  We transformed our dining room into the restaurant and served lasagna, fettuccine and salad for dinner.

Father Al Fredo (a priest) and Mama Rosa (new widow)

Bo Jalais (a Frenchman in charge of the family winery) and Angel Roni (my daughter)

Rocco Scarfazzi (twin of my deceased husband) and Tara Misu (his girlfriend)

Clair Voyant (gypsy friend) and Marco Roni (my son who wants to be a soccer player)

our sad family

It was hilarious to listen to everyone read in accents.  The CD accidentally revealed the killer before we could all make our guesses, but we all had different people in mind.  I still have the game if anyone wants to host their own party. :)

Family Bike Ride

What is better than awesome weather in the middle of winter and a family bike ride where we play in a frozen creek and discover a new park?  Nothing.