Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Getting our Feet Wet

For Valentine's Day I surprised my hubby with a one night getaway at the Lodge. Grandma and Grandpa were in town, had agreed to watch the kids overnight, and did a great job keeping the secret. I told Chris we were going for a couple's massage and when we got there, surprised him with the rest! I LOVE surprising him!!!
Anyway, we had great massages, a wonderful dinner, rehashed some remember when's in front of the fireplace in our suite, and discovered that at some point in our lives, we HAVE to get a California King sized bed!
I digress. Part of the package included a late checkout at 4 p.m. the next day. So, after a huge, delicious, free breakfast with no children and as much coffee as you could drink, we headed back home, picked up the rest of the family, and came back to the Lodge for some swim time.
It was awesome.
The water was so warm.


Alex rekindled his friendship with his floaties.

Grace, well, she was hard to hold on to. :)
(She thinks she knows how to swim.)




You can swim under those big windows to the outside part of the pool where it is 8 feet deep.
It was freezing outside, but there is a waterfall pouring out super warm water.
We took both kids out there for a while, but the air really was too cold for their tiny faces.

It was fun to be around water again...even if it was just a tease!








Grace Turns 2!

February, 11, 2011
Happy Birthday, Grace!!!
Your Dad and I can't believe how fast you are growing, how well you are talking, and how happy you are ALL THE TIME!
You go to sleep laughing in your crib, and wake up giggly and excited for the new day!


Your favorite thing about this birthday was the 'Happy Birthday' song.
How special you felt when we all sang it!
We sang it to you Friday night twice,
once at your birthday party on Saturday,
and once again Saturday after dinner!
I'll sing it to you every day if I get those awesome happy squeals and smiles!

At your party we played with magical wands, read some Fancy Nancy books, and opened up presents! It was a good day.



You are already so great at kicking balls, and holding pencils, running, jumping, singing and dancing! We can't wait to see what this new year brings for you!
We love you!
-Mom & Dad











Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Happy February 1st!

This February of the year 2011, welcomes us with beautiful white, crisp, clean, quiet snow. Snow that has fallen and continues to fall sometimes softly, sometimes with gusto. Snow that brought the Rasmussen family a very rare and beautiful gift...a day with DAD!!!
A day of projects, fun bubble baths in the jet tub, naps, coloring, lazying around and watching Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer one last time. One teeny tiny one's short adventure outside. It's been a day of hourly pics of our table and chairs on the back porch, decorating gingerbread angels and trees, and eating meatloaf and potatos. Most fun of all, a day of each other, a coveted day of just sitting and being, and watching the snow fall fall fall!
Oh, how I have loved this day!

The Magic House

As we pulled up to The Magic House (as us old people call it), it's now referred to as the Children's Museum, I was completely awe struck. It.was.huge. And then, I got a little dizzy once I realized that it had been TWENTY years since I had been there. Gulp.
I was happily surprised to find a lot of similar things here from the South Dakota Children's Museum...
Here is a HUGE sandbox...

a water room...


A special place just for children 0-2...
more of that special place...


A secret mouse house...

inside the mouse house...
An awesome three story Jack in the Beanstalk...
(surrounded by a spiral staircase all the way to the top)
There was a whole wing devoted to our government.
Here Grace is trying out the office to see how it fits.
Woo hoo!
This was fun.
Alex could be our next President in 2044!
I talked with Alex and Grace about whether or not they thought they'd be interested in the job of President of the United States.
Alex had some admirable ideas about healthcare and international relations.
Grace said she would feel comfortable running even though she's never been able to see another country from her backyard.
For our first talk on the subject, I think things went well.

The top of the beanstalk!

There was a whole room filled with trains and train tracks...

Awesome light/music room...
(this is Alex)


ELECTRICITY!!!
The power of AIR!
Air rockets...

A bubble room....
(Thank you, whoever you are, for helping Alex with his bubble!)

Alex didn't need any help doing this by himself!
Out of all of the kids, he was the only one who was little enough, and pulled it up at the right speed to actually work!
Way to go!
More bubbles...
And, of course, Musical Chairs!
We all had such a great time!
What a way, to spend a day, in the Lu!