new year's eve

daddy went to work and the kids and i decided to go to the museum. madelyn has wanted to do most of the things she normally misses out on while at school and today she suggested the museum. feeling excited about going, she wore head to toe sparkles and shine.

the boys were pretty excited too. it wasn't all that warm, but we still walked up the monument stairs a few times before leaving. well, the kids slid down like a slide on the sides. the marble had to have been freezing on their behinds! another unexpected bonus to today's visit was that the museum was still decorated for Christmas and there were lots of things to look at beyond the normal exhibit.

madelyn pretending to be eaten by a dinosaur. i only have a picture of her because i forgot about not being allowed to use a flash and this was the only one that came out (because i used a flash - the others were too dark).

mason asked me to take a few videos of him to "show daddy how strong i am." the first is him using his arm strength to power a light bulb and the second is lifting a weight with one pulley (the most difficult option).

the picture doesn't capture how lovely the christmas lights and decorations were in the historic town.

manning was quite taken with the dalmatian in the fire station and it was extra cute because he was wearing his firetruck shirt.

when we got home, i was able to talk all three boys into a nap because the kids want to try and stay up until midnight tonight. they napped in our bed so that daddy could work on his building project (their room was too noisy). love.