Candyland and Cupcakes

 Laney is in the world of CANDYLAND!  I was telling Patrick after he came home from work that I had played at least 30 games with her on that day.  I think he thought I was exaggerating and I kind of thought I was too.  Then one day I really started keeping count, and sure enough...27 times...IN ONE DAY!  And if Laney had it her way it would have been 57.  Patrick knows all about it now.  She usually has the game set up and she is waiting with a big smile when he walks in the door and she sweetly says, "Want to play with me Daddy?".  Who could resist that?!  Grandpa has played his fair share too, she's happy to travel with her game and bring it to you!   We are ALL in the world of CANDYLAND, and I think we all have a LOVE/HATE relationship with it at this point.  Laney loves the candy pieces, even if it means she has to move backwards...not all that surprising for this candy lover.  Every once in a while she tries to stack the deck with those candy cards (so hilarious)but she usually ends up apologizing and telling us she will play fair. (no cheating allowed here!) She doesn't even mind losing, just as long as you will play "just one more time". 

  

 

  Never too old to pull out the sit n spin! 

 This past weekend we got a special visit from our cutie pie cousin Eliana!  Oh and Aunt Beth, Uncle Nader, and Aunt Sarah came too :-) 

 Carson and Laney were happy to join in on Eliana's "music time" singing the ABC's and "Itsy, Bitsy, Spider".

 The kids really wanted to take Eliana to the Children's Museum now that she is walking.  Carson just couldn't wait to show her everything!  Beth and I actually got to chat for about half an hour while Carson built the contraption above, Laney worked on a magna tile tower, and Eliana played in the sand box!  That's a long time! 

 Some college chemistry major students were at the museum conducting experiments and I practically had to drag Carson away.  He had those safety goggles on and got his hands right into everything and wanted to know how everything worked and of course....wanted to try it all himself. 

 Carson and Laney spent the entire car ride trying to convince Aunt Sarah to stay the night...they gave it their best shot!   Maybe next time! 

 How cute are these two riding the roller coaster together?!   Aunt Sarah took the pictures while I spotted them...it's pretty darn fun being an Aunt! 

 Happy Birthday Lexi!  Lexi turned 11 years old on Valentine's Day!  Carson was all over making sure we  celebrated her birthday with a special party including cake and gifts.  He told me in the morning that I needed to make sure I did whatever Lexi felt like doing that day. 

 Lexi had a special chicken and steak treat and Laney picked out some special treats for the rest of us! We went to the store to buy a simple cookie cake and came back with the  BIGGEST CUPCAKES EVER. 

 

 Patrick took Carson over to Clarkston so he could tackle snowboarding again, this time at Pine Knob.  He tells a hilariously dramatic story from the chair lift, but other than that Auntie says he  improved and had even more fun!  He even went down the hill and back up by himself one time.  There are a couple videos below.

 

 Hot dog break with Grandpa, who came to watch from the warm indoors.

 

 Carson starts off on the top right corner of the video in this one.  Pretty good! 

 

 It's amazing how he just gets right back up.