Who would have thought it would be freezing cold and snowing in North Carolina today? Of course, Owen was excited and wanted to go out and play in it!!
Making a snowball with daddy!
Mama says “Pictures, please!”
Back inside to find Katie and Grannie watching out the window…
Katie’s first snow!
The fam.
Owen always seems to sidle over to Papa when he’s eating a PB&J…and of course Papa shares it with him!
After practically DRAGGING Owen outside, he had a BALL (no pun intended) with Papa playing soccer and practicing catching the ball!
He kicked it under the car and said “SCORE!!” 🙂
This is how he catches the ball about 90% of the time—LEG UP!
Throwing the ball to Papa!
Helping Grannie make Jello.
…I got to see Top Gun on the big screen!!!
Why didn’t I see it in 1986? Because I was 12 (or 13) and my mom saw it first and said “It’s just a bunch of planes flying around and it made me sick.”
I KNOW, RIGHT?!
So I’ve watched it about 25 times on VHS…then DVD…just waiting for the day it MIGHT come back to the theater.
And that time was now…for a special limited release in IMAX 3D!
To help promote the films upcoming 3D Blu-ray release on February 19, Paramount decided to re-release the classic in a six day run that started on Friday, where the film averaged about $6,600 per screen.
And it was only an hour away in Wilmington so HELLS YEAH I was going! WOOHOO!!!
We considered it an anniversary [of when we met in February 1997] / Valentine’s Day outing so ate a sushi lunch first then walked down the street to the theater where I saw this:
And had to have some!
Yum!
Then it was off to the movie. Aren’t the 3D glasses stunning?
And the movie was AWESOME! Wow. The 3D aspects didn’t blow me away…but there were some cool aspects and the actors felt very close and sometimes it felt like you were IN the cockpit with them!
Also, interestingly, with the awesome THX surround sound, I heard A LOT more of the background noises that just melted away in TV showings even with a decent home surround sound system (like a running shower and background music that were never as pronounced).
It was my first actual 3D movie (other than Honey, I Shrunk the Kids at Disney about 20 years ago or 3D/IMAX attractions at Cedar Point) and I’d have to say 3D has come a long way. And it took a good 20 or so minutes until I finally stopped noticing that I was watching the movie through glasses and just enjoyed it without distraction. Well, except I had to pee about 30 minutes in but hell if I was going to miss one second of the movie after waiting 26 years!
We ended our day’s outing with a trip to Costco…so it was a great day! And I can cross See Top Gun on the big screen off my bucket list!
We were out of town (for the first time ever on a birthday-month photo day!) so Papa had to take the picture! He had just about as much luck as I do—there were about 30 attempts! 🙂
And apparently Owen had a good time with Katie, too!
I’m still surprised Grannie got him to play with it!
We were sitting around this morning before we headed to the airport, and Owen was playing on the iPad. I wasn’t really paying close attention to him but my ears suddenly perked up when I swear I heard him say dammit. I brushed it off as just not hearing him correctly (it was almost a whisper) but a minute or so later he said it again!
“Dammit. I can’t get /whatever/.”
I turned to look at Linda and said “Ah, his first swear word.” And she agreed that’s what she thought he had said before.
I am not 100% sure where he picked it up, though I’m pretty sure it was me—as I’ve been known to let it slip now and again. And at least he used it correctly!
Thanks, Grannie Lin!
I keep trying to get a picture of Katie’s new tooth, but she always closes her mouth! It’s not fully in yet, either, which makes it a bit more difficult. But she still takes cute pictures!
Owen got a bubble gun for his birthday, so he was testing it out with Papa!
And this is how he apparently hides now:
It was cold enough this morning to need a hat! He doesn’t like wearing hats as much as he used to when he was little, so I’m amazed he even put it on at all! See, Grandma Marsha, I said he’d wear it SOME day…
Fun with leftover Lego parts!
Balloon fight with Grannie Lin!
Posing with his presents—and in his birthday shirt—for another birthday picture!
Katie in her new party dress…with Grannie (and a gift from Grannie):
And trying to peek around me to watch TV like Owen does:
Owen’s finished (lame) Lego cakes:
The appetizer set up:
Attempting to Skype with Gramma Jean/Grandpa David and Grandma Marsha/Uncle Rob (it didn’t work too well—our network couldn’t handle it):
Most of the attendees:
Singing Happy Birthday:
Really excited about his new Xbox Sesame Street game from Grandma Marsha and Uncle Rob:
And the guitar I found on clearance for $3 (and took the batteries out ahead of time!):
He did pretty well opening presents…except he really loved the first things he opened (Lego Cars and a Ninja Lego) so he wanted to stop right then and play but we made him keep going. 🙂 We did stop about halfway through, though, because he was losing interest and really wanted to play. Which was just fine.
One last attempt at a good Katie pic:
Our attempted family photo:
And just for comparison…last year’s photo:
Tom and I had run to the store to get a few things we needed for the party and to give Owen a chance to see us leave. When we came home, this is what we saw:
So tonight Tom and I went out again, leaving the kids (Owen) behind. He was just getting ready to get in his bath so I went up to tell him.
Me: Owen, daddy and I are going to the store.
Owen: [Looking down.] I’ll be crying.
Poor kid. But so cute because of the way he said it…like he was resigned to the fact he’d be crying but wasn’t actually that upset about it.
But as it turned out, Lin said he did pretty good. Phew.
Four more days to go.
Tom and I had to run to the store tonight and likely wouldn’t be back by Owen’s bedtime. He has never had any separation anxiety…so we didn’t think anything of leaving and having Grannie and Papa put him to bed.
But apparently tonight was the night.
We got home about 10 minutes past his usual bedtime and he was still up getting a story. And he was crying. Complete with fistfuls of Kleenex. 🙁
Lin said he had been like that on and off all night, saying he missed us and he’d never see us again. 🙁 And then when he saw me he cried harder. Poor kid.
So now we need to try and desensitize him a bit before we leave for four days. 🙁
Grannie Lin and Papa arrived around 4, and Owen quickly got Papa building with him! And Charlie jumped in the box as soon as it was empty!
And Katie checking out Papa’s face!
I’m sure there will be a bunch of these in the upcoming month…
This was another outfit from a gramma (I can’t remember whether it was Gramma Jean or Grannie Lin) Gramma Jean.
I forgot to mention…I am now part of a mom group that has weekly play dates! A sitter that I met through SitterCity invited me to join after we REALLY hit it off! I love all the moms there so I am VERY excited to be a part of it! We switch hosting duties and I offered after my first visit!
Here’s the kids before we were off for the morning. Because it was CHILLY, Katie was in a cold-weather 6m outfit…
and Owen was in his MSU jacket!
I think this one was from Grannie Lin…capris, that I think are supposed to be pants. 🙂
Cute cow PJs—thanks GJ!
Grauntie Marge sent Christmas gifts so we Skyped tonight to open them. The robotic bugs were a HUGE hit with Owen (and we think they’re cool, too). Here he is, showing them off:
And here we are having fun with them in the kitchen!
Katie’s Gund Peek A Boo Bear
Another cute outfit from Gramma Jean (Christmas) that I had to quick get Katie in because she’s just about out of size 6m already! Yes, we have another Owen on our hands. 🙂
Gramma Jean got Owen this talking gorilla bank for Christmas. He was—honestly—a little freaked out by it at first…so we just left it sit on the chair and activated the sound every so often. Well, today he was finally REALLY interested in it, so he moved all of his money from his old bank to this one, having a blast the whole time.
This was one of the outfits Gramma Jean sent Katie for Christmas…I figured I had better get her in it before she outgrew it! (And, it’s 70 today!)
And my favorite one, where you can see my reflection in her eyes.
So, Owen loved opening presents, but usually didn’t seem too thrilled with the actual item. But I knew he’d get to them eventually…so it’s fun to see what he’ll bring out of the toy room next.
Just now, he came out with three new packages of Cars cars that he opened from papa and Grannie Lin last night. 🙂
