Swimming with Jenna

On our last day in Minnesota we went swimming with cousin Jenna at her YMCA splash zone. Both boys had a blast going on waterslides and playing with the sprayers and water basketball. It was a great way to expend some energy on a wintery day.

Aidan the Train Engineer

Well I guess this post could have been combined with the last one but if you haven't heard Aidan loves all things trains which I think he gets from his Grandpa Melville. So he was more then happy to visit Grandpa Melvilles house because he got to play with Grandpa's real trains. He loved those trains and talked about them everywhere we went. He loved dumping the barrels in the train and driving it forwards and backwards and of course making the horn sound. He is in love with his train at home now too. Maybe he will grow up to be a train engineer. For now it is just fun to play trains.

Choo-Choo Heaven

We went to Choo-Choo Bob's one day to let Aidan play with the trains. He kept calling it Choo-Choo heaven because evidentually to a 3 year old who is obsessed with trains it is as close to heaven as you can get. Aidan actually likes the real trains as much as the Thomas trains. I wonder if a day will come when we don't have to visit choo-choo Bob's when we go home.

Grandpa Olson's 90th Birthday party

On the 26th we drove to West Salem, WI to celebrate Great Grandpa Olson's 90th birthday. It was a long day of driving in the car but we were so glad that we were able to be home to celebrate with him. It was a great turn out as lots of people from his home town came out to wish him a Happy Birthday! Happy Birthday Great Grandpa! We love you and miss you lots and are so blessed to have you in our life!

Christmas Day with the Melville Side

The whole Melville Family.

Aidan taking a nap on his Pillow Pet after opening presents.

Nick looking very tired too after opening his huge pile of presents.

Grandma and the Grandkids.

On Christmas Day in the afternoon we went over to my sister Cathie's house to celebrate Christmas with the Melville side. We had a wonderful steak dinner thanks to my wonderful sisters and Mom who did most of the work for the meal. There was also a bar full of wonderful goodies that I snacked so much on I barely was hungry for dinner. My spoiled yet again as we took home two baskets full of presents. Aidan kept saying this is exactly what I wanted to everything he opened. It was hilarious and hopefully I will be able to upload the video of it soon.

My boys ran around like crazy as their Uncles and cousins were chasing them and tickling them everytime I turned around. I cherished the time I was able to spend with my family especially my 98 year old Grandma who just kept laughing at my silly boys.

Christmas Morning

Aidan and Great Grandpa
Mom and the boys hanging out after opening up presents.

Nick so happy because he got his favorite books from Aunt Becky.

Nick's excited face when he opened his Joe Mauer batting machine.

Aidan shotting his marshmallow shooter from Santa.

Nick sporting his Santa present a Jared Allen jersey.

Aidan opening up his Santa present, a real train.

Aidan showing off his marshmallow shooter.

Christmas morning came blustery early as always. We held the boys off until after 7 am which may be the latest we have every made it. The boys were in awe of all that Santa brought them. Santa was good to everyone at our house. We spent most of the morning opening presents and then we enjoyed a great brunch thanks to my awesome mother-in-law. It was great to spend Christmas with family this year.

Christmas Eve with the Olson Side

The whole family on Christmas Eve.
4 Generation of Olson Boys + Auntie Stacy

The whole Olson Clan

A big thank you to Great Grandpa for the present. Can you tell it was on his wish list?

Also, a big thank you to Eileen who was sweet enough to help build with Aidan.

Santa or the Grinch who can tell?

On Christmas Eve we spent the day at the Miller's house with the Olson side of the family. We enjoyed a wonderful meal and lots of goodies as well as lots of laughter, good conversation, and our children were spoiled with wonderful presents. It was nice to see some of the cousins that we don't get to see very often. After the celebration Aidan fell asleep on the ride home so he stayed at home with Grandpa and Nick while the rest of us went to a beautiful Christmas Mass.

Ice Fishing

Jeremy, Nick and Aidan went ice fishing with my brother-in-law Steve and my nephews Steve and Aaron. They got a perfect day for it as it was fairly warm for Minnesota in the middle 20's. Both boys had a blast and it was all Aidan could talk about the rest of the week and even on the way home we saw some frozen lakes and he kept talking about how he wanted to go ice fishing in Alabama. They caught tons of fish thanks to the expertise of my brother-in-law and nephews. They kept some to eat which Aidan thought was great. You should have seen the joy in his face when he showed us his fish he caught. Jeremy said both boys complained about the cold some but once they hooked some fish they really enjoyed it.

Gilbert the Dog

Well somebody took about 50 pictures on my camera of various parts of my in-laws new dog Gilbert. We figured we better include a couple of pictures of him because he was an integral part of the vacation. Both boys chased that poor dog around until he hid from them. Aidan loved Gilbert to death but was also bothered by him since they were just about at the same height and Gilbert could nip at him. I am sure Gilbert is enjoying the peace and quiet now that we are gone.

Snow, Snow and More Snow!

We went to Minnesota for Christmas break. It was the first time we have been home for Christmas in 7 years. We loved being back home and enjoying a White Christmas! We saw more snow then we have seen in a long time. Feet and feet of snow. The snow piles were taller then my boys and it snowed several inches while we were there. The boys loved playing with the neighbor boys in the snow. They made snow forts and had snowball fights and helped Grandpa and Daddy shovel many times. And of course after you spend time out in the snow you have to come in and drink hot chocolate. Both boys drank their fair share over the week. As pretty as it was, it was also exhausting having to get two kids who can't dress themselves very well ready to go outside multiple times a day and there were lots of tears shed over cold hands that got wet while playing in the snow. It was fun but I am glad it was just for a few weeks.