Snowy Day

It was snowing outside today.
This doesn't happen very often in Delaware.

Homemade hot cocoa.

A snow angel!

Who needs a sled?

Viggo plays some baseball.

Skis? Nope.

Our children sweep the snow.

Poor children.

We do it a little differently here in Delaware. :)

Birthday Party! (Again!)

We all know that Viggo is 6 now, but it wouldn't be right to turn 6 and not have a kid party! So this weekend, four other little boys came over and a good time was had by all.

Nate decorated with crepe paper and balloons.

The crepe paper was purple and yellow. For our little Vikings fan.

And how cool are these candles!

I found football plates and napkins at Target! Way more fun than regular old "happy birthday" stuff.

There was a lot of Lego-building happening! Svea jumped right in.

Friends and treats. And a tag-along little sister. What more could a 6-year-old boy want?

Ice cream cake!!

My friend Heather holds Elin :)

Presents!

Everyone got to take home their Lego creation. As you can see, Viggo's police boat is quite the contraption.

Viggo got a really fun Playmobil car. I'm not quite sure how it works, but I think you pull it back and then it races for a long time. If we had a longer house this would be even more fun to play with.

Zoom-zoom!

Svea has enjoyed playing with Legos too. It was only a matter of time!

Here's her creation. I have no idea if she made this all by herself or had help . . . I was too busy drinking coffee and chatting with the other moms. Having a birthday party is hard work.

To top it all off, the Vikings played that night. Viggo watched the first half and then he went to bed. But when it was overtime, Nate pulled him out of bed so Viggo could watch Peterson play, and this is what happened.

Baby Girl

Elin gets tons of attention from Viggo and Svea. She's still enjoying celebrity status in this household. She loves it when her brother and sister play with her. It's good to be the baby.

Come back again soon!

Oh, Soren.
I tried to adopt him but his mom wouldn't let me.

Things aren't the same around here without you, Soren. The floor is a lot cleaner than it was when you were here, and that makes me sad. Please come back and make a mess. I miss watching you pitch Cheerios off your tray.

It's the reality of a wonderful visit . . . people have to go back home.

We loved having you, Lane and Soren! We hope that we'll get to see you soon, Ollie and Chris :)

Longwood Gardens

After church on Sunday, Lane, Soren, Svea, Elin and I went to Longwood Gardens. Nate and Viggo stayed home. They were watching the Vikings game. In case you didn't notice, they were both wearing purple for the dedication.

As usual, Longwood Gardens was completely delightful. It was raining and quite windy. Going to and from the conservatory in the rain gave us a new appreciation for our bumbershoots.

It was worth walking through the chilly and wet weather to take in these cute little flowers.

Lane and Soren enjoy the amazing blossoming orchids.

Svea stops mid-stroll to give little Elin a kiss.

In the hothouse.

Svea discovers a drain with warm water. Soren investigates.

This carnation looked so Carl-Larssony, I immediately fell in love with it.

I picked it and brought it home with me.

Only kidding!!

I'm just kidding, Longwood Staff. :)

Lane and Soren by the sweet peas.

Svea loved opening all the doors for us.

Even when the doors were extremely heavy.

She eats her spinach.

We smell the sweet peas. This is just one of several pictures of us smelling. We smelled those sweet peas for a long, long time! It's good to stop and smell the flowers.

I love holding my wiggly little girl.

It's good exercise.

In the ballroom.

More water to play with! Soren was captivated.

He and Lane spent a lot of time with the myriad fountains in the Childrens' Garden.

It was such a great way to spend a rainy afternoon.

After Longwood, we went to Target. It was an emergency. We needed more stuff to potato print on, and we needed ice cream.