Monday, February 28, 2011

Home Improvement

On Friday we decided to take the kids out for a fun day since it was the last day of Winter Break. So I took the day off work and we went to the Flint Children's' Museum to play around. We almost decided to turn around because the traffic report pretty much said every car on the freeway was in danger of being in an accident. But we braved the wintry conditions because we promised the trio a "surprise" and made it to Flint in one piece. When we walked in the place was overrun with second graders, and we were quickly told that it was a field trip that was leaving in a half an hour. So we went to the areas without a lot of traffic, like the music room and the toddler room, but they had their eyes on the bigger exhibits. After the field trip was loaded onto their bus we more or less had the place to ourselves. Then they could deliver mail, ride in the helicopter and drive the fire truck. Then the three of them shopped in the pretend grocery store and stocked up the play house. After shopping the kids served Mary and I pizza in the play restaurant and we finished up by going into the Space Station. They had a blast running around and pretending to be a lot of different things. The next day we went to Lowe's with Grandpa and Grandma Huddas to build race cars in the Children's Workshop. They even all got a Lowe's apron and safety goggles to go with their Home Depot apron. On Sunday we went to Grandpa and Grandma Murphy's house for dinner and we got to play with Uncle ed, Uncle Tim, Aunt Robin and Conner. After time off its really hard to get back working, I guess we'll have to start counting the days until we're off in April.


Katie making some music at the museum


Helena making some music at the museum


Seamus Checking out the ball whirlpool


Where's the fire?


Seamus in helicopter


Helicopter Katie


Helicopter Helena


Seamus building his car


Helena bulding her car


Katie and her car


Helena in her Lowe's gear


Katie in her Lowe's gear


Seamus in his Lowe's gear

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Frosty, Elmo, and Hockey Pucks

We've had a fun couple of weeks around here since our last post. It started with us doing a Valentine's project with Aunt Kathy D. The kids loved being able to use a hammer and glue, not to mention the fact that there were stickers involved! We went out to lunch afterwards and the kids got to spend some time with their Aunt Kathy. On Valentine's Day Pat and I came home to some cute cards from the kids and some cookies they made with Grandma and Grandpa H while we were at work. They were so excited to show us what they made.
It warmed up for a few days last weekend and we finally got the kids outside to make a snowman. They've been bugging us for a while now to make one but it's been so cold that we couldn't pack the snow to make it work. They were upset when he started to melt so Pat took them out the next day to try and fix him. Of course by that point it was cold again so they had to make due with a snowman that was half old Frosty and half new Frosty but it turned out pretty well.

Katie and Frosty


Helena and Frosty


Seamus and Frosty

On Monday of this week we took the kids to see Sesame Street Live down at the Fox Theatre. Of course the night before we had a really bad snow storm so it took us almost 2 hours to get there. Luckily we planned ahead and left early so we made it with plenty of time. One of the perks of the storm was that there were LOTS of empty seats. We had a great view of the stage and the kids loved it! They were dancing to the music and did really well until the very end. Seamus decided that he'd had "too much Elmo" as he put it and wanted to go. It was lunch time by the time the show was over so we took them next door to the Hockeytown Cafe for lunch. Or the "hockey puck" as the kids call it since they have a giant spinning puck on the roof of the building. We had lunch with a ton of other families who were at the same show so it was pretty busy. Our food came really quickly though and since they were hungry the kids pounded down some hot dog, chicken, fries, and chocolate milk. Big mistake... at least for Helena. She was still so excited and got to use a straw with her milk which they don't normally get to do. Poor thing ended up puking at the table and then twice more while I tried to get her to the bathroom. Needless to say, that ended our lunch pretty quickly. Of course at this point Helena had puke all over her, our extra clothes were in the diaper bag in the car, Pat's at the table with the other two, and Seamus is yelling that he wants Mommy... I got Helena back to the table to grab our coats to go and Seamus decides he has to go potty. Now, we've been really working with him on potty training and didn't want to stop the progress so Pat takes him to the bathroom while I take the girls to the car. Helena is still so distraught about the puke on her shirt that I have to strip her down in the car to change her. Remember we had a huge storm so it's freezing cold outside and snow is everywhere. I go to change her shirt and it falls into a puddle of slush. So now Helena is standing half naked in the car freezing her skinny little butt off while I'm tearing the diaper bag apart looking for another shirt. She finally was redressed just as Pat and Seamus get to the car. Seamus then tells me he peed on the hockey puck. At this point, Pat and I just laughed. Sometimes having triplets just makes you have to laugh or else you'd cry!

On our way to see Elmo!


Our new spinning Elmo light-up toys

Friday, February 4, 2011

Boyne 2011


This past weekend we took our annual trip to Boyne Mountain with the family. The last two years we’ve rented out a condo that all of us stay in together. We left on Friday morning and on Friday afternoon after a quick stop for lunch and a stop at the outlet mall in Westbranch, we got there and set up. The kids were going to be sleeping in their new sleeping bags they got for Christmas from Grandma and Grandpa H. on the floor. They were also going to use their new pillow pals as bedtime pillows. Needless to say, they were super excited about being there. We took them out sledding to tire them out and all 3 of them loved it this year. On Saturday we spent some time at the water park and then went sledding again in the evening. We didn’t bring the camera into Avalanche Bay but all 3 actually went down the water slide at least once this year. They played in the fountains, went down the kiddie slide, and even hung out in the hot tub. I think the highlight for everyone was when we went down the lazy river in tubes. Katie tends to freak out on things like that but she did surprisingly well. Aunt Becca, Uncle John, and the boys were there so I think that helped out. We went around so many times that Helena actually started to fall asleep. The water was kind of cold so we decided to call it a day at the water park and head back to the condo. After lunch the kids were in desperate need of a nap so we took a drive into Petoskey so they would sleep. Good thing too because they all crashed and were ready for the GCU dinner when we got back. Sledding that evening was even more fun than the night before because Pat tried to go snowboarding. Very comical stuff! Sunday we packed up and headed home. The kids were so over tired that they actually came down with some fevers and flu-like symptoms for a few days. Probably a coincidence but I doubt it. It was way better than last year though when everyone came down with the stomach flu. Yesterday we decided to take the kids out to Rain Forest CafĂ© at Great Lakes Crossing. They had been cooped up all week so a dinner out and a walk around the mall sounded like a good idea. To say that the kids loved it would be an understatement. Their little heads were on swivels from the time we walked in, until we walked out. We even got them a fancy souvenir cup with an Icee inside. The moving animals, lights and sounds, fish tanks, and good food made their days. We actually ran into some friends of ours as well while we were there. Tomorrow we will be making some heart shaped shelves at the Home Depot with Aunt Kathy D. Should be fun!