Getting our SKATE on...

What a great 3-day weekend we've had! Ben had Saturday off of work (yay!) and he had this brilliant idea to take the kids roller skating - it was seriously the best! Granted the kids aren't good at roller skating and Emma fell down more than she actually skated, but it was a lot of fun. It was just as fun as I remember it being (and the last time I roller skated was a LONG time ago). We rocked out to lots of Miley Cyrus, Beastie Boys, and Thriller. hahaha. It was great! I was even able to skate while pushing Jake's umbrella stroller around the rink - Jake couldn't believe what was happening, he was so excited! Of course, Ben and I took turns skating without the kids - needless to say, I'm not so good and practically ran into the wall a few times when coming 'round the corners. Ben, on the other hand, was zipping around and around like I might be after months of practice. He said afterwords that it came back to him 'like riding a bike'! Anyway- I think roller skating would make for the best girls night... don't you think girls? :)



Ben and Emma playing a rousing round of "fall on your bum when the music stops" (Emma was really good at this game!)

Becca hanging on for dear life ;)

Emma enjoying sitting out for a bit with an ICEE

DANCE PARTY!- When the skating session was over, they let all the kids go out there with their shoes on and dance... I think the kids were thrilled to not be falling over

That morning Ben made us all a fun breakfast - he really enjoys cooking and on his days off he likes to cook (awesome for me!). So to start our day we had delicious waffles and fruit smoothies. mmmm. He thought the kids would enjoy a smiley face of fruit on their waffles, but Emma just whined that she doesn't like bananas, and Becca whined that she doesn't like kiwi's. So we traded fruit around and everyone was happy. But look at that waffle... doesn't it just make you smile?


We like waffles in our house, so why not have waffles for dinner the next day? Ben's parents came to our place for Sunday dinner and as we did last year, we served them chicken and waffles. And once again, I was weirded out by what I was eating, but also couldn't deny that it tasted delicious... especially with plenty of maple butter drizzled all over the top. :)

Now that Emma has school Monday through Friday, I'm really appreciating the holiday weekends and any days that Emma gets to have off of school. It means an extra day that I don't have to get up really early and get us all dressed and out of the door first thing. So we took our time this morning getting ready and then we played some games. We played three rounds of Pretty Pretty Princess and somehow the person collecting the yellow jewelry always won. Here we all are in our moments of pretty princess glory...






Then we played memory. Turns out Emma's very good at that game (and Becca's not bad herself)... poor Becca though... she really got the rough end of the stick on this one ;)... watch the video and you'll see. hahaha! Maybe I shouldn't use the rule of 'if you find a match you get to go again'.



For lunch today, Ben's parents took us out to Pappadeaux's for a New Orleans style seafood feast. :) Recently I've been coming around a bit to some types of seafood, believe it or not. I had a delicious pan-grilled talapia today and I actually thought it was great! Good for me. :) At the end of the meal, the kids got their "kid-sized" ice cream for dessert - you should have seen Becca's eyes get wide when she saw what was just for her!





Jake and his cousin Adam... outside the restaurant - I thought this pic was pretty cute
After dinner Adam came to our house for a couple hours to play. It was a fun Martin Luther King Day!