Ski bums.

The Swanson Family has been putting on a lot of miles at Mount La Crosse this winter.  Not only is it a great, family friendly ski hill, but the St. Bernard room provides an awesome apres ski atmosphere!  Dirk and I both grew up skiing and it's been a special experience teaching our kids how to ski.  In fact, they both love it.  This year, Cullen has been into skiing jumps (a small one at the base of the hill) and the tree paths carved along the edge of the hill.  I have a feeling this kid is going to be a serious dare devil.  Simone loves to ski, but at the start of the season would only do so if we were skiing behind her, holding her under the arms.  After her 6th time out to the hill, I am happy to report that she will now ski 5 yards in front of me on the green Apple Bottom run.  Her progress this year has been amazing.  While they both still need plenty of parental support (especially on the chairlifts!), we don't mind because it gives us a new challenge on the small ski hill.  Our hope is that family ski vacations will become a routine vacation plan in the future.  (Note:  Grandpa Mike:  we may be visiting you to ski Lutsen before you know it!).

Cold Daze.

It's been years since the schools actually closed due to cold weather instead of snow.  Lately I've been  seriously doubting the theory of global warming.  As the cold weather rolled in, we did art projects, baked cookies, played games, watched movies and did played with just about every toy in the house!  On the warmer winter days, we've enjoyed sledding, skiing and visiting the La Crosse Rotary lights.  Even though we try to make the best of winter, Cullen recently confessed that summer is his favorite season!

The Christmas Spirit is Alive.

Our holiday weekend began with a visit from Santa Claus.  The Clarks and Sauters were over for pizza and all of a sudden the man in red walked up to the door.  The kids were beyond excited. Cullen asked for "a race car track" while Simone asked for "a rainbow and a gingerbread man".   As Santa left, Cullen slipped his official wish list in Santa's bag.  It's probably good that Simone's list didn't make it in his bag.  As I was the scribe for her letter, it went something like this: "Dear Santa, How are you?  How is your wife?  Is she pregnant?".   I couldn't help but laugh out loud as she talked!

 The rest of the Christmas holiday was full of excitement, over-the-moon kids and the magic of Christmas.  Going to a Catholic grade school, Cullen is also very aware that the real reason for Christmas is the birth of baby Jesus.  In fact, both kids have a new fascination with religious Christmas songs: "Away in the Manger", "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" and "Silent Night".  And both little ones sang their hearts out at the Christmas candlelight mass.  In fact, they also both managed minor injuries due to wax burns on the fingertips.  We had a wonderful Christmas day, just the four of us.  We hung out and played with toys from 6 am - 7:30 pm.   We had great Christmas celebrations with the Swanson and LaVigne families.  We are truly blessed.

Our little cherub.

Cullen preformed in the Cathedral School Christmas Program today.  The  32 adorable 4K students sang their hearts out!  The sweet kids walked onto the stage hands folded and huge smiles on their faces.  The songs performed included "The Friendly Beasts", "An Angel Came From Heaven", "Jesus Born in Bethlehem", "Santa's Helpers" and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas".  Cullen does not seem to lack in confidence and doesn't seem nervous in front of a crowd.  His face light up when he saw his fans in the audience:  Mom, Dad, Simone, Tracy, Jameson and Mimi.  He put his all into the performance and we couldn't be prouder.

Simone's Holiday Program

Simone starred (along with her 3-year-old preschool class) in the 2013 YMCA Holiday Show.  And this year, Cullen was along as a member of the audience.  After the babies made their cute entrance, Quinn shook bells and sang a nice rendition of Jingle Bells.  Then, Simone's class pranced in.  The 3-year-old class sang "Up on the Housetop", "Comin' down the chimney" and then danced to the "Santa Rap".  She sang her little heart out and did the corresponding actions.  When the "Santa Rap" started, her dancing feet got going.  Those little red sparkle shoes never stopped moving!  Finally, Jameson ended the program with "Jingle Bell Rock".  At the end, Santa made an appearance and this year, Simone was not scared.  Before the program, Simone asked if we thought Santa would think she was pretty in her new dress!  I believe he thought she as beautiful and quite the talent!

LaVigne Thanksgiving CF

What is a CF, you might ask?  Well, it's a clusterf#$%.  We celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday with the LaVigne side of the family.  It was indeed a CF, but I mean that in the nicest sense of the word!  There were 40-some people (8 of whom were under the age of 5).  There was a mish-mash of food including 3 turkeys, 1 ham and plenty of fresh veggies from Beth's garden.  Tons of props to the Quirk Murphy clan from Key West.  Not only did they brave the cold temps, but they also flew up 30 lbs. of fresh seafood (grouper, lobster, shrimp and stone crab) for the day-after-Thanksgiving feast.  The food was great and the company was even better.  CF rules!

"And when it's over, I want everyone to remember that it all began with just one mouse." - W. Disney

We just disembarked from a 4 night Disney Cruise.  It was an absolute blast!  Dirk and I wanted a vacation that would capture the magic of Disney without the long lines and hectic pace of the theme parks.  And let's be honest, our little shorties are not tall enough to go on most of the rides anyway. The Disney cruise offers time and exposure to the Disney characters, great musical theater productions, fun-in-the-sun, water slides and swimming, easy room access for naps and downtime, and the  availability of adult beverages from multiple vantage points.  http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/ships-activities/ships/dream/

Cullen and Simone both enjoyed meeting their favorite characters from the Mickey Mouse gang.  Although Simone looked very stoic in all of the pictures, she smiled from ear to ear was we walked away.  And Cullen acted to-cool-for-school as we approached the characters, but as he came close he was the first one to run up with hugs.  On the ship, Simone enjoyed her first mani and pedi and swimming in the 2 1/2 feet deep Mickey shaped pool.  Cullen loved goofy golf, shuffleboard, the interactive detective game and the Aquaduck waterslide.  The theater shows at night were awesome. - musicals featuring stories and the best-of characters and songs.

The third night on board was "Pirate Night".  I had read about this in the itinerary, but was amazed at the lengths that the crew and some guests went to dressing the part.  As we came in from our swimming adventures, there were 4 Mickey Mouse bandanas on our bed.  And after Dirk came back to the room from an errand, he said "Boy there are a lot of people dressed like Pirates!".  So we decided that we had better put on our bandanas and head out.  The vibe on the ship was filled with such great energy.  Everyone was so excited.  The agenda featured a Pirate Party on the top deck at 6:45 pm (presumably for the young ones) and fireworks at 10:30 pm.  After dinner, we headed up to the early Pirate Party and a stage was set up.  Mickey and the gang came out singing and dancing.  They asked for some audience participation (dancing and singing).  Cullen and Simone were really into it and helped Mickey fend off Captain Hook.

Another highlight was going to the waterparks and aquariums at Atlantis Resort in Nassau, Bahamas.  Even for a toddler, the waterpark was awesome!  And Dirk and I both found a few minutes to sneak away and try the super fast grownup slides.

My apologies for the large volume of pictures.  It was just so hard to edit!