Santa and Christmas train!

We had a fun morning saying hi to Santa and Mrs. Clause and riding the Christmas train! The past few years we had actually been in Des Moines over this weekend because Kley was doing some continuing legal education credits, but he's getting those in a different way this year, so we were home. It was fun to go to this for the first time, and Grandpa and Grandma came to visit too, so it was even more special!

Visiting Santa! We aren't opposed to saying hello, obviously, but there's no actual believing in Santa in our house. We've always told our girls that Santa is just for fun, and Jesus is the real reason we celebrate Christmas. 

We knew the girls would never go up there alone, so Kley and I joined in too. I love Ellory's side eye to Mrs. Clause. I was also surprised she so willingly sat on her lap.

Three girls smiling! :)

They were very excited to ride the train!

The lines were fairly long for both things and the girls waited pretty patiently!

Love their snowman dresses!

Ellory gave us a thumbs up and it's my favorite. So cute. 

Hope you are enjoying this Christmas season!

Thanksgiving 2019.

This year for Thanksgiving, we were in Des Moines. (My parents and brother's family live there, my sister drove home with us because she goes to college where we live, and my other sister/BIL joined from Minneapolis.) It was fun to be all together! My SIL Rose is pregnant and due January 1st, so they were visiting her side for the first part because she won't be able to travel over Christmas, but they joined the last day. 

Grandpa and Grandma joined us girls for a fun morning at Backyard Adventures! (This was before Karlie and Zack got there and while Kayla was studying and Kley worked.) The girls loved the swing sets!

Thanksgiving supper- so much to be thankful for! I love taking the same photos every year, fun to look back on!

Post supper dance party.

Best family photo we got. Happy Thanksgiving from ours to yours!

Another excursion to get out was to Hop-A-Lot, a place with tons of bounce houses, which of course the girls loved too!

Hard to see, but I love Lucy's face!

And then Ellory's face peeking up in the corner! :)

We got together with a couple families from my church growing up. It was great to see everyone again! We used to go out to eat every Sunday after church together, so carrying that on again was special.

My niece, Jorie, is so sweet!

Girls matching Christmas pajamas!

Entire family photos are one of my favorite things ever. :)

Very grateful for His many blessings to us! 

Check out Thanksgivings past if you want- Thanksgiving 2018    Thanksgiving 2017    Thanksgiving 2016     Thanksgiving 2015    Thanksgiving 2014

Disney on Ice!

A Christmas present for the girls from grandparents this year was Disney on Ice tickets, which was so special! I love experience gifts, especially as the girls get older. (Like when you first have babies you need so much stuff because you have nothing, but once they get older you don't need as much anymore and we already have great toys. Not that a few new ones each year aren't fun, we just don't need tons!) And it's so fun as they get older because they can look forward to an experience coming, enjoy it during, and remember it after! We took Norah a couple years ago when Lucy and Ellory were babies, but it was fun to go as a family and experience it all together. 

This first picture was right in the beginning when it first started. I love it, especially Ellory's face. :) :) They were also excited to wear their Elsa dresses again, which is what they were for Halloween this year.

Toy Story.

The Little Mermaid.

No one was super up for a photo, but we were having fun!

Mickey and Minnie were the hosts.

Cars.

Frozen- everyone's favorite!

The skaters were all super good! They did tons of jumps, lifts, spins, etc. I took ice skating lessons back in Jr. High, fun fact about me, but the best I learned before I quit was a 180 degree jump, ha.

Since we last went, they also really heightened security/rules, so they wouldn't let me bring in my diaper bag or camera, so these are my phone pictures.

What a fun family day, so neat to do special outings!

Minneapolis weekend.

We had a fun weekend in Minneapolis! Always fun to get to the "big city" for a bit. I've been in a small town long enough now where bigger cities amaze me with all the stores, activities, and restaurants they have right at their fingertips. Don't get me wrong, I love our little town, but sometimes it's just good to walk into Target and have a wider selection of restaurant choices. And don't forget the indoor playgrounds! Boy, they are amazing. 

We met Karlie and Zack (my sister/BIL who live in St. Paul) at Brookview Backyard Friday afternoon and the girls were excited to get out of the car and play. This place had a cheaper entrance fee than others, which was nice, but it was also a bit smaller, which was actually nice too because it was easier to keep an eye on them, yet still large enough to entertain for awhile. So many fun slides and climbing places! Norah and Lucy dove right in. Ellory was a bit more cautious, as usual, but she warmed up to it and liked it when I told her to climb like a monkey. (She was nervous to climb this rope wall, and I told her to climb like a money, and they she just laughed and said that monkeys eat bananas and did it right away.)

I love both of their expressions in this picture!

They had this zip line that Norah loved. Lucy really wanted to do it too but she couldn't reach it. :(

Lucy was very photogenic this trip! Loved seeing Uncle Zack and Aunt Karlie!

We went to Noodles & Company for supper!

We swam in the hotel pool Friday and Saturday night and the girls thought it was the greatest thing ever. They were squealing with excitement and running through the hotel like crazy. We tried to calm them, but thankfully we were met with really kind people who said things like they missed their kids being that little and it was so cute to see them so excited. Sometimes having three kids in public is nuts- there was one woman who glared at Ellory this weekend, but thankfully almost every interaction is positive and most people are kind and willing to help!

Saturday morning we went to Edinborough Park, which was amazing. It was seriously incredible and looked like a dreamland. However, I am so glad we went with a group because I wouldn't feel comfortable taking the girls there myself. It is massive and so tall and there's no way to keep track of all three at once. I was so thankful for family there to help! The girls loved it!

This picture doesn't even show it all. It was so big!

What a fun weekend and so grateful for fun loving and interactive grandparents and aunts/uncles!

We also all really love nephew/cousin Will!

Kley absolutely loves that he laid his head on his shoulder in this picture. :)

Norah is a great helper!

Family shot! We asked the front desk lady to take this, and I wish she would have told me that you can only see 1/8 of Ellory's head, but oh well. You get what you get and you don't throw a fit. (The girls love saying that to each other, ha.)

Bowling at Pinstripes! We also ate there too and it was really good. Lucy wasn't into bowling and Norah only bowled 2/3 of her game, but Ellory was very willing to pick up the slack. She was an avid bowler that day!

We also visited Choo Choo Bob's Train Store, which was a fun little store if you have train lovers and had lots of train tables you could play at. It's not a place you would spend tons of time, but a fun place to visit for a little bit. Kley was thrilled to go to Topgolf for the first time! I took the girls to Good Times Park on Sunday before we headed home while the rest of the crew was at the Vikings game, which was also really fun. I purposely chose this one because it was more spread out vs. a tall climbing structure, so it was easier to keep my eye on them since I was alone- fun to try different things and new places!

Before we left for home (I drove home with the girls in the afternoon since Kley was at the game and he rode home later with his dad), I was asked for the first time if I had triplets. All three were wearing matching outfits, so I don't blame her for thinking that, but it was crazy to me because it really made me think about how much Lucy and Ellory are growing up and looking like big kids now. The age difference isn't as obvious anymore. Woah! (Also, the girls like matching sometimes and have a couple outfits that three way match. We don't force them to match!)

What a fun weekend! Always glad to spend time with family!