Another Successful Treasure Hunt

Any time I struggle and struggle to figure out a fun activity for the girls together (or when I am simply feeling at a loss as to how to be a good and fun Mamma), it's time for another fun treasure hunt! This game turns any day into a super fun day! The girls were simply searching for their fruit snacks here, . . . but they had SUCH fun doing it. And now I'm starting to include clues that Leia Rose has to read in order to solve. Yay, a little extra learning going on!!!

Storybook Character Day at Immaculata

Today, in celelbration of Catholic Schools Week, Immaculata held its annual Storybook Character Day. Leia had been debating (even during breakfast this morning) whether to be Princess Leia or Princess Cinderella. Her final thoughts on the subject: "Well, I just NEVER get to wear my princess dresses, so I think I'm going to be Cinderella this time." : ) Annie, you guessed it, chose to be Snow White, . . . and I was the ugly duckling. Ha! (Leia Rose is sporting her "Modest Princess" face.) : )

Leia loved sitting by her friend Alexis at assembly this morning. Alexis chose to be Peter Pan. : )

Snow White meets Snow White! Ha!

"Mamma, take picture of kitty cat." (And Alexis' little sister in the background.)

Creative Chalk Activity

Just had to mention what a natural teacher and amazing big sister Leia Rose is!!! Leia Rose created this activity for Annie and herself. Leia Rose drew the boy, . . . and then instructed Annie on how to draw the girl. And Annie DID IT!!! You can see the ears, eyes, nose, and mouth on Annie's side! WOW! Don't know who is more amazing here: the student or the teacher!!!

Princess Tea Party

Now here is something that is a VERY common occurrence with Annie (in that it happens almost every day that Leia Rose is in school). It's Annie's famous "Princess Tea Party"! I just had to take these pictures, . . . this last one would be labeled "Evidence: Annie!" Ha! Annie likes me to set up the settings, . . . and then she goes through her princesses (and dwarfs) one by one, letting me know exactly where they are going to sit, . . . and then sits them in the appropriate place. Little Annie LOVES her princesses!

"Mamma, take picture of kitty cat."

Daddy & Girls

It Made Me Start to Wonder . . .

. . . what do snowmen do at night?!? (Ha!)

A Visit from Sarah

It's just SO wonderful that Sarah's in-laws (and soon her own parents as well) live in Celo, NC deep in the mountains. Not too far from us! So today she graced us with a visit! Lots of fun for the girls during the day! And lots of fun intelligent discussion at night!!! : )
Sarah even got to particpate in "Running Games," where she created a really new variation of putting Annie's ladybug-beanbag-base on her head and running around with it. The girls had a ball!

President Barack Obama

My own political views aside, today was an astoundingly historic day, . . . and one that I wanted my two girls to say they were there for. I had spent days thinking about how I was going to handle this event, . . . and how to present it to a six-year-old, . . . but I finally figured out the best way for our family:

During Annie's nap, Leia Rose and I had a very intimate pow-wow where I explained the evils of slavery: what it was, why it was evil, where it happened, and why it happened. Leia Rose commented that she had read a book about Harriet Tubman at Artgarden and always wondered, as a result, what slavery was. In addition, Leia Rose and I have been avidly reading the American Girl books together, . . . and Addy is the next one. Addy is a slave who escapes to freedom in Philadelphia. A perfect follow-up to today's festivities. So, I brought out that book, and read the little excerpt to her. Then I got out the novel Roots, and read a little bit about Kunta Kinte being abducted on the coast of Gambia. Finally, I got out the DVDs of Roots, . . . and showed her a few of the most horrible parts. (Leia, as you know, is afraid of monsters, . . . not human atrocities.) Kunta's capture, his escapes, . . . and one particular result of an escape. There is one part of Roots where a young Kunta escapes from slavery, runs until he cannot run anymore, and then is caught by dogs and overseers. He is then dragged back to the plantation and made to say his "new" name, Toby. Each time he refuses, Kunta is whipped. Leia Rose was concerned, . . . very concerned. But she now understood what slavery was. The reason why I wanted her to see this particular part is that, as Kunta barely hangs on to consciousness as he is lowered down from the whipping post, Fiddler (who is fast becoming his friend) comforts him by saying, "There's gonna' be another day."

And I told Leia Rose, . . . "THIS is the day that Fiddler was talking about. Today the first African American was sworn in as President of the United States."

Then all three of us watched Barack Obama's inauguration together.

I struggled with how to end this post. Although I am filled with sadness and fear for many reasons, I choose to cling to the hope shown by a good friend in a letter to her children not yet born, . . . and ending with the same words, . . . the words of the poet, Elizabeth Alexander, who read a beautiful poem on this Inauguration day:


What if the mightiest word is love,
love beyond marital, filial, national.
Love that casts a widening pool of light.
Love with no need to preempt grievance.
In today's sharp sparkle, this winter air,
anything can be made, any sentence begun.
On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp --
praise song for walking forward in that light.

First Mountain Snow Day (?!?)

Leia was even excited to find one (very dirty) icicle. ; )

Just look how much the girls loved having a real snowball fight with Mamma!!!

But the girls' favorite part of the morning really didn't have anything to do with the snow at all. It had to do with our brand new three-story tree swing

And every time I turned around today I laughed to see this exact picture. Leia's favorite winter pastime: licking snow. : )

I just love the connotation of this picture: Big sister teaching Little Sister everything she knows. : )

Adding a new tradition courtesy of Laura Ingalls: Sugar Snow. (Snow mixed with real maple syrup.)

Why the title? Because we moved from the Chapel Hill to where we are now, only to have us get TWO inches while they got SIX. For goodness sake. Well, gosh darn it, we had fun in it ANYWAY!!! ; )

Winter Fun at Great Wolf Lodge

Leia and Annie in awe . . .

Of the Great Wolf Lodge, . . . a beautiful resort with the theme of the Pacific Northwest. We LOVED this trip with the Worrel family on this MLK weekend of January! (That's my car antenna with the Minnie on the top of it, BTW.)

The Lodge is as gorgeous as any Disney resort, with a stone fireplace from floor to ceiling. Love the poses here, . . . especially Armelle's. Ha! Here are the girls doing their We're-At-The-Great-Wolf-Lodge dance together . . .

And THIS is why!!! Just LOOK at this place! All indoors!!! 84 degrees all year around! This only begins to show this compound, . . . but at least you can see the waterslide tower in the background. There was also a wave pool, a surfing area, a baby area (complete with three waterslides of its own), and a pond where the kids could hop from log to log. The only problem is that I had two waterproof cameras, . . . both of which I filled with photos and NEITHER of which had one salvageable picture. : ( But here are some of the highlights: my pride in Leia Rose as she decided to try surfing on the "flow rider" alone and with everyone watching, Annie's face every time she went down the orange slide in the kiddie area, standing in line for waterslides while watching it SNOW outside, floating down the "Lazy River" tube ride, going on the "Howlin' Tornado" with Laura, the ENTIRE magiquest game, watching the girls flick their wands to watch the squirrels swing and the rainbow lights glow right in the middle of breakfast, the opportunity to spend this time with great friends and still sneak in some family time, too. (The only negative aspect: the realization that Leia Rose was not Me as a child, . . . in that she had NO desire to go on any of the waterslides as well as her fascination with what we dubbed "the warm pool." And when that big "Great Wolf Lodge" bucket dumped on her the first time, . . . that was the end of Leia playing on that playground.) ; )

Here are the only two pictures I have of us inside the park, . . . proving the power of humidity. But also proving the girls' love of this place! After our big day at the park, we headed back to our suite where the Mammas felt that it was just easier to throw everyone in the bath together. : ) Ah, dechlorination.

Now to explain the other main reason for the fun: the Magiquest game. This is a Harry Potter fan's paradise here!!! I LOVE the idea of this thing. I have heard about how wonderful it is for a long time from Laura, . . . but I was imagining a few stations where things happen because of a lent wand, . . . like a flower growing or a chest opening or something. Oh, it was SO much more than that. And one of the few times when the "hype" didn't in any way compare to the reality!!! And next time I'm going to VOW to take a tiny video of a few of the "happenings" we experienced. Pictures just don't do it. Anyway, here are the girls with their wands and wand toppers. Leia's was a pegasus unicorn and Shenan's was a light up skull/eyeball (?).

After purchasing the wand and the game, you learn all about it from this special wizard. You can see a few of the things you can "make happen" in this room: torches light, treasure chests open, fairies appear, etc. The girls had a "novice" level game, but I heard other kids talking about advanced levels where you had to get "health" and "armor" etc. Wow. Here is another example of a station, flick your wand and you light the crystal while it magically tells you what crystal it is and how it helps you in your quest. (The girls completed the "Pixie Adventure" where they had to collect three "runes" and then visit the Pixie to use the new magic to make her crystals grow powerful again.) Shenan and Leia REALLY got into it!!!

Here is Leia Rose visiting the pixie after completing the adventure with Shenan. She's busy flicking her wand again and again in order to restore the pixie crystal's power. (In the end, the only one with the real magic was Laura, who we needed help from to complete the task. Laura always knows when to come to my rescue when I'm becoming frustrated! What a great friend!!! : )

Here is "Wolfie" who appeared at breakfast in the midst of the girls flicking their wands to make magic happen. : )

Ah, and this HAD to be the last picture. Because this was almost the scene of total chaos right before leaving. Annie dropped her kitty here, . . . and Mamma didn't notice it. For an hour before we left, we searched the ENTIRE lodge (including the water park) going over our footsteps time and time again. Couldn't find Annie's "brown." I had already filled out a "lost item" form. As a last resort, I said a quick prayer to Saint Anthony, walked over to this table (that I had already searched twice before) and saw Brown sitting there waiting for me! The guy there said that some kids had taken Brown and he told them to leave the kitty, . . . just in case it was someone's lovie. ; )

The next day was full of fun play at the Worrels where Annie proved that she was two peas in a pod with Armelle (both loving dress-up and princesses) . . .

And Leia (again) proved that she was two peas in a pod with Shenan (both loving STAR WARS). Here they are with their posters full of homemade "Star Wars Stickers" that they made themselves!!!

I can't even begin to express the bond that these two share. What a special friendship! : )