Disney on Ice: Treasure Trove

On December 9th Corey & I took the girls to Xcel Energy Center to see Disney on Ice. We went last year too and the girls loved it so much we decided to go again. I've always loved watching figure skating shows and skating in the Olympics and it is really neat to see skating live! The show included the Disney classics Snow White, The Lion King, Aladdin, Peter Pan and The Little Mermaid as well as some new favorites like Tangled and The Frog Princess. The only hard part about going to these shows is trying to avoid the extremely expensive toys and gimmicks that the girls always beg for.

"Angels Among Us"

The first weekend in December the girls had their big Just For Kix Winter Dance Show entitled "Angels Among Us". It was hard to find the time off to go because the show was scheduled on my weekend to work and several ladies that I work with on my weekend also have kids in dance. There were 3 or 4 of us looking for the weekend off. But, thanks to the kindness of our co-workers, we were all able to switch weekends so we could watch our "angels" dance.  This is the first time the girls showcased their new routines for the year. As usual, they did a fantastic job!

The Holidazzle Parade

I've been wanting to take the girls to the Hollidazzle Parade for years. Finally, I called Tracy and simply said, "Okay, let's pick a day to go to the parade". So, we scheduled it and went. We went the weekend after Thanksgiving because that it what worked for our schedules and we thought it wouldn't be as cold as some of the later weekends in December. Ha! It was COLD!

It just so happened that on the day of the parade, Rocori went to state in something (football or basketball)--I don't know. Anyways...Mike, Tracy, Gavin & Maggie were at the game at the dome until just before the parade. So, on our way down, we met Mike's dad at a gas station in Brooklyn Park and picked up Molly and brought her with us. Did I mention that it was cold? It was a long walk from the parking ramp to the parade route and Miss Molly wasn't being the most cooperative, but we finally managed to get to where we needed to go. We had a bite to eat and then thought we better get a spot on the street before the parade started. Oh yeah, and it was COLD!

The rest of the Velander clan arrived just in time for the parade. It really was fun to see. All the floats and most of the participant were completely covered in lights. It was snowing a little and it was really beautiful downtown. The girls loved it despite the cold! The parade lasted a little less than an hour and then we packed up and drove home. I got us a little lost finding our way back to the parking ramp (yes Corey---you were right), but that was the only glitch to the otherwise fun evening.

The late fall, early winter, let's-get-together-before-the-holidays party!!

Separated at birth?

I can't remember the name of this game, but it was so much fun. We divided into teams and had to guess a word or phrase with one of our team members giving hints. If you were the team holding the machine when the buzzer went off the other team got a point.

So, I'm a little behind on my blogging. As usual December and January came and went in a blur--between Christmas, dance shows, band concerts, and Chloe's birthday it has been a crazy couple of months!  But, better late than never, right? Anyways, way back in November we decided to plan a get-together because it had been a couple of weeks or months since we had all gotten together. Ashley was gracious enough to host our little gathering at her house. Everyone brought some appetizers and we just enjoyed getting together with friends before the rush of the holidays hit.