New "do," Damage-control style

I've always taken great pride in the fact that my girls are not very destructive.  For the most part they take care of things and I trust them with things like markers, scissors, pens, etc.  Well, that changed yesterday.  As I was walking upstairs to take a nap, because frankly I was just exhausted, I found what looked like hair sitting on the top step.  I picked it up and saw that it was McKenzie's hair.  I found more chunks of hair in the hallway that led me to her room where I found McKenzie at the bathroom sink with scissors in hand happily chopping away at her hair.  At first glance it looked like all she had gotten was her pony tail.  So I calmly took the scissors away from her and asked her if she wanted a hair cut.  She became very excited and said, "Yes!"  We started to set up shop in my bathroom when I realized it was worse than I thought.  Not only had she chopped her pony tail, but she had taken a off a few inches on the side and had gone all the way to the scalp in the back.  Laughing I walked downstairs to tell Jeremy that we were headed to Pigtails and Crewcuts to get McKenzie's hair cut. 

I don't know if I was too emotionally exhausted to be upset that day or if I realized that there was simply nothing I could do, but I laughed about it the whole way to the shop.  We walked in and said simply that she had given herself a hair cut and asked if they had room for us.  Luckily it wasn't busy and they fit us in right away.  Once the stylist had McKenzie in her airplane, we really assessed the damage to see what could be done.  Short, we would have to cut her hair short yet still leave some layers to hide the missing patch in back.  I'm glad I'm not afraid of short hair but it was still a shock to see about four inches of McKenzie's hair gone.  McKenzie sat perfectly still for her hair cut and was just happy to be there.  I was entertained by all of the hair cut stories the stylist had to share and realized McKenzie's could have been a lot worse.  After we came home and things settled down a bit, I found all of the hair I had missed before.  There were patches of it all over the floor in her bedroom.  I cringe to think what would have happened if I hadn't walked upstairs.  She would have kept going and who knows what kind of hair cut she would have now.  I guess it's time to hide some of the scissors huh?

 

Leprechaun Loot

The Leprechauns found our house again this year.  This visit they were on a tower-building spree.  They built towers out of blocks, Gatorade bottles, books, pillows, couch cushions, and movie cases. 

 

What we learned pretty quickly is that on top of each tower they had left two gold coins. 

 

 The girls soon collected quite a few and thought that was the end of the leprechaun loot.  We were all very surprised when we found gold coins in our pancakes too!  Personally, I wouldn't mind more visits from the little guys if they always leave gold behind.

Ice Castles

Last year we went to the Ice Castles when they were in Silverthorne.  I was a little disappointed that they had been moved to Steamboat Springs this year, until I found that we were going to Steamboat Springs after all.  I was so impressed last time I saw them by the engineering of the icicle castles and the sheer size of it all that I couldn't wait to see them again.  The design was different this year and the towers didn't seem to be as tall, but we still found some neat sculptures.  Both of the girls were really happy to find broken icicles on the ground.  We simply couldn't keep McKenzie's out of her mouth. 

 

If she dropped one, she would crawl on her belly to find others.  That's what I call dedication. 

 

We found one icicle that was a constant drip and we all took turns trying to catch the drops in our open mouths.  McKenzie got more on her face and neck than in her mouth.

 

Jeremy threw the girls and we were able to get some fun pics. 

 

 

Then we gave the camera to Cambrie to take a picture of Jeremy and I.  I am glad she's able to get us in the shot now. 

 

Jeremy playing with broken icicles. 

 

Peaking behind an ice wall. 

 

Trying to get a picture of the neat ceiling. 

 

Cambrie getting to make a silly face in front of an ice wall.

 

And just wandering through the tunnels. 

 

I love seeing them all lit up at night, but we had to head back home and will have to wait until next time. 

Tubing at Howelson Hill

While browsing for activities to do in Steamboat over the weekend, we found a couple tubing hills.  We had previously assumed the only ski hill in town was Steamboat, but there is also a smaller, family-run joint named Howelson Hill.  The best part about this hill is that the girls tubed for free! 

Each of us received a tube that we would haul up the magic carpet to the top of the hill. 

 

From there we would simply wait our turn to fly down the hill. 

 

 

McKenzie barely met the height requirement and I was slightly nervous about her riding by herself.  Luckily for us, since it was a family-run resort we could link up to three tubes together without any problems and I was able to keep track of McKenzie that way. 

 

 

There had been a few warm days and cold nights which meant that we flew down this hill.  We went fast enough that each time we went over a bump my stomach got butterflies.  McKenzie's face looked so worried with every run, but she loved it and wanted to keep going. 

 

Cambrie was feeling brave and even asked to spin down the hill. 

 

I was simply enjoying the fact that the girls were enjoying themselves and there was absolutely no complaining at all!

Steamboat Springs

For our seventh anniversary, Jeremy surprised me with a family trip up to Steamboat Springs.  I knew Saturday morning that we were taking off Saturday afternoon and I was completely surprised.  After a quick morning packing we were off on an adventure.  While we were up there we went tubing, played in the snow (since there isn't any to speak of at our house), swam in the hotel pool, visited the Ice Castles, and simply had a good time.  I am going to post some of the random pictures in this post, then the more event-specific pictures in following posts.

Cambrie loves, loves, loves icicles.  She was so happy to find an endless supply.

And we found the McKenzie loves, loves, loves eating snow.  She was perfectly content to sit and eat snow regardless of what we were doing. 

We found a snow-covered park to play at.  While it was difficult to swing on the swings because of the low clearance, that didn't stop Cambrie from getting high enough to jump out every chance she got. 

I convinced McKenzie to sit on this snowman's shoulders while I took her picture.  With each step I took back I kept thinking, "Snowman please don't collapse.  Snowman please don't fall.  McKenzie please don't let go."  Luckily for us everyone stayed put.

With Jeremy around you never know what ordinary thing will create an adventure.  Case in point, this bower roof.  I saw a roof, Jeremy saw a sledding hill.  Without much prodding he was able to convince Cambrie to climb up and sled down.  She had a lot of fun until she landed "plop" in the snow instead of sliding down her ramp. 

Jeremy thought it was too much fun to pass up so he sled too.  He also went "plop,"

We also found a thin sheet of ice in a parking lot that was perfect for sliding across.  Cambrie was able to hold her balance pretty well.

McKenzie was just holding on for dear life. 

They also played king of the mountain for a bit.  Cambrie successfully pushed Jeremy down a few times, but Jeremy ruled that mountain.  Two seconds after this picture was taken, all three of them tumbled down the hill since Jeremy lost his balance.  I love that I got the moment on film.

Princess McKenzie

A neighbor friend gave us a bunch of new princess dresses, shoes, crowns, and other fun accessories.  Since that package was dropped off, my princess McKenzie has literally become Princess McKenzie.  Her favorite outfit is the Belle dress with matching accessories.  We have been everywhere in this dress: Cambrie's school, the gym, Lowe's, the grocery store...you name it.  I love seeing her so dressed up.

Chuck E. Cheese

Last week Cambrie was invited to a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese.  Since it would have only been McKenzie and I at home for dinner, we crashed the party and stayed to play too.  We ordered pizza, picked up some tokens, and partied with the birthday kids.  The girls hadn't been to Chuck E. Cheese in awhile so they were very glad to be there.  I was just glad to not have to make dinner :)  With their last token they chose to have their picture drawn by one of the games, and it makes me smile so I thought I'd share.