Punxsutawney

On Saturday we took a little trip that's been on our list since last year.  We drove an hour to the cute little town of Woodstock, Illinois.  This is where the film Groundhog Day with Bill Murray was filmed.  We wanted to go last year, but then a huge blizzard came.  We wanted to go last Saturday, but then Eric had to work.  But we finally were able to make it happen this last Saturday.

It's a really cute town too.  It doesn't take long to see practically all the sites from the movie because they're all within a few blocks of each other, and most of them are right around the main downtown square.  My only complaint was that it was FREEZING!  I don't remember the last time I was so cold.  The wind was blowing and made it feel even worse.  We weren't able to stay outside for very long.  But we grabbed a few pictures and then had some yummy hot chocolate in a cute little cafe.  It made for a fun Saturday excursion!

Cherry Street B&B

The Hotel (actually an opera house)

Where Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell danced

Movie Theatre

Emma next to the plaque outside the cafe location (it's not an operating cafe anymore).

Where Bill Murray repeatedly stepped into the slushy pothole.

Eric and Emma about to step where the pothole was (they've extended the sidewalk since the movie was made)

Eric doing his best Ned Reyerson impression.  

The actual Ned Reyerson, having just removed his hat.
He's actually holding it like Eric is, but you can't see it.

Shedd Aquarium

On Wednesday Emma had a great day.  At school they were celebrating their 100th day this year by doing several different activities.  Emma had two favorites though.  Everyone brought some kind of snack or treat to share and each kid had to count to make sure they had 100 pieces of food.  Sounds like a lot.  They must have thought they'd bee eating all day!  The first graders also made a human chain 100 people long around the halls of the school by laying down in a big long line.  I walked into the school in time to see this.  I didn't know they were doing it, and was just there to pick up Emma a little early.  I walked in and saw all the kids in Emma's grade laying down on the floor, including Emma.  It was a weird sight to see, but all the kids had huge grins on their faces, so I guess they enjoyed it.

Her class also had a party today.  The kids had decided on a luau party.  They were all supposed to wear hawaiian shirts (or as close to it as they could).  Emma wore her hawaiian shirt (it's actually a dress my sister got for her years ago in Hawaii that now fits her great as a shirt), but wasn't done there.  No.  She took her lei and her grass skirt too.  I decided not to let her take her coconut bra.  Thought it would be bit much.  I love how into it she got though.  It reminded me of spirit days at school when I was younger.  I always wanted to dress up and thought it would be fun, and didn't know why some kids thought it was dumb.  School was so monotonous I liked anything that made it seem different and unusual.

We hadn't told Emma what else we had planned for the day.  Eric's work is a sponsor for many of the museums in Chicago, and he can get various discounts at them sometimes.  All this month he can get up to four people into Shedd Aquarium for free.  That's major savings for those of you unfamiliar with their prices.  Not including gas and tolls, a trip the the aquarium for my little family would normally cost over $100 dollars.  So to be able to go and only have to pay parking?  Sign me up!  With how busy the rest of this month is going to be for us, we decided Emma's half day would be the perfect time to go.  So Eric took the day off.

When we told Emma we were headed to Chicago for the rest of the day her eyes lit up.  She knew we were in for an adventure of some kind.   She loves seeing the skyscrapers in Chicago.  What she didn't like seeing was Soldier Field where the Bears play.  It's practically right next door to the museum.  We of course pointed it out to her just to elicit a reaction, and she played right along.  The funniest thing she did was to hold her breath as we passed.  I guess she didn't even want to breathe the same air as them.  The Packers should pay her for amazing loyalty to them!

All throughout the aquarium she kept oohing and ahhing and grabbing our hands to drag us places to show us things while saying "oh my gosh oh my gosh."  She had so much fun!  She said her favorite part was the dolphin and whale show, but she also loved the jellyfish.  In fact, all she wanted from the gift shop was a purple stuffed jellyfish.  It was hard getting pictures of some of the fish (which you will see below) because you couldn't use a flash of course, and with all the glass there was a lot of reflection going on.  But I got enough to remember the trip by.  At the end of the day Emma told us it was the best day ever.  That's just music to a mother's ears!

Just outside the Aquarium. 

This eels eye was very creepy

Emma decided these were the smartest fish because their heads were so big - big brains.

I thought this crab was kind of creepy too.  Of course, I think all crabs and lobsters are rather creepy.

Loved the Jellies!

Emma enjoyed touching the star fish.

I found my twin in the gift shop.  What do you think?  I thought this fish was so funny - most of the stuffed animals for sale had smiles, but not this one for some reason.  I liked this one the best anyway.

Emma trying to be a penguin.

Climbing on some "river rocks".  And I realize that her arm looks like it's growing out of the middle of her back, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't.

Investigating the submarine.  It makes me laugh at how little thought she put into including Eric in this picture.

She's all ready to go out on the lake.

Playing in the Snow

Emma has wanted to play in the snow so bad this winter, but we just haven't really had any snow.  So earlier this month when we finally got some she was thrilled.  But then we were all sick for a few days with stomach issues, so obviously we didn't feel like going outside!  Finally the day came when we felt good AND there was snow outside.  What a miracle!  So Emma got all bundled up and we headed out.  We were only outside for about 10 minutes.  The problem?  Emma's snow pants were too short.  That was a surprise to me.  We had here try them on in the fall before the winter came to see if they still fit her or if we would need to buy a new pair.  She needs them for school here, so it's important to have a pair that fit.  They seemed fine, so we didn't worry about it.  Apparently she grew this fall, because they are way too short now, and snow was getting all in her boots and making her feet cold.  She had fun while she was outside, but didn't want her feet to freeze!  Poor thing!  We've since acquired a new pair that fit great, but here are a couple pictures that let you see just how short the snow pants were.

New Year's Eve

Usually on New Year's Eve we have been with my family.  This year was obviously different since we stayed home for the holidays.  We decided that we wanted to keep things simple and just stay home and celebrate together.  My family always did appetizers for dinner, so we did the same thing, but wanted to do all things that Emma liked and would enjoy too.  Eric and I love making appetizers, but we'll save our fancier stuff for another time.

The evening started off great with the Utes winning their game!!  Go Utes!  Then we played games all evening long.  Emma loves playing Eric in chess, especially on her new pink and white board, but she also loves her Lego games.  I think she has 8 Lego games now.  She got some new ones for Christmas, including 2 new Lego Heroica games.  These ones are great because you can play them individually or you can combine them into bigger games.  So of course Emma wanted to combine all 3 of hers into a huge game.  I can't remember who won - I just know if wasn't me.

There was also some gaming on the Wii.  Emma loves sword fighting, and is actually really good at it.  Eric and I have to really try our best to beat her!  But she also loves dancing.  I've added a video below of her dancing with Eric to Katy Perry's Hot n Cold.

In this picture she is arching her back in a funny way which makes her look like she has a gut!  She was looking all smug because she just beat Eric and me at sword fighting.  She's real humble, can't you tell?

Emma was very excited to stay up until midnight.  She's done it the past couple years, but this year she seemed more excited and more alert than ever.  I think she just may have her mom's night owl gene.  She was giddy as we counted down and gave the very best new year's hugs ever!  She loved toasting our sparkling cider, and was hesitant to go to bed.  Even after midnight she didn't want to miss out on anything.

The next day we had church in the afternoon.  Awwwww.  It was so nice to not be in such a rush in the morning.  I even had time to do Emma's hair.  I had seen a cute style online and tried it.  Emma really liked how it turned out.  Gee, I may just start doing her hair every week.

And I have had a hard time adjusting to life if this new year.  I was so busy over Christmas break doing as little as possible, that having to function again has proved to be a little difficult for me.  Maybe by next month I'll be ready.   Maybe.