LietzauFamily

Today we had a very fun sledding and skating adventure!  We bought skates today (it took us 4 stores till we found some – most of the stores were out of kid skates this time of year!) and decided to test them out.  So we loaded up Lily in her little sled, grabbed the skates, and headed out to the park.

Gabe and Lily head to the park.

Lily was kind enough to let Gabe put his skates in the sled he didn’t have to carry them (plus she’s so small she still had lots of room in the sled).  Gabe was very excited to pull Lily to the park.

Lily likes her sled.

We had just barely enough snow on the roads to use the sled.  The last few days have been very warm so the roads have mostly melted off.  But there was just enough along the edges, except for crossing intersections (SCRAPE across the bottom – ah well!)  Lily is wearing the bunny snowsuit Angie got her for Christmas.  Between that, and the tiny sled, everyone we passed went, “Awwwwwww!”

Have fun at the park!

Once at the park, I took over pulling Lily to the skating rink while Gabe took a few runs down the sledding hill on his sled.  By the time I’d walked to the rink, he was ready to go.  It went well – Gabe only fell down a couple of times.  I wiped out on the first step on my skates (the slush from the warming house to the rink was SLIPPERY).  After that, we both skated very nicely, Gabe shuffle skating, with me pulling Lily on her sled.  I didn’t get pictures of the skating on account of having my hands full (and trying not to fall down).  Next time!

I want to hear your best Timberwolves howl, and let’s howl at the moon:

That’s the moon at the Target Center where we saw a Timberwolves game.  SO MUCH FUN!  Gabe and Mike had gone earlier as a father/son evening when our neighbors gave us tickets (they had a recital to go to instead, so they gave them to us – how cool are our neighbors?).  They had so much fun, we decided to go again, and when Gabe got a free ticket through school, and reduced tickets for adults, we just had to go!

We had a blast – we had excellent seats (they upgraded us to really good seats for free, even though we already had reduced tickets – such a nice ticket agent).  Gabe loves all the atmosphere and drama.  When the game starts, all the lights go off, and the moon lights up, then everyone starts howling (very neat) and then the announcer introduces the players.  Once the game starts, there is also a howl-o-meter, which comes up whenever the opposing team shoots a free-throw.  So we all howl like mad, I guess to throw them off their shot, but even if we don’t, it’s pretty hilarious.  Gabe gets so into it – I’m surprised his voice isn’t hoarse by the end of the night.

The Timberwolves won too, and they won the last time Gabe went – but have lost pretty much every other game this year.  So if they want to win more – maybe they should give Gabe tickets to the games – he seems to be pretty lucky!  Gabe knows most of the starting players, but at this age, his favorite “person” is Crunch – the mascot.  He got to sit on “Christmas” Crunch’s lap and Mike snapped a picture, but unfortunately it didn’t turn out:

Too bad it’s blurry – it’s a funny photo.  The Timberwolves Dancers would hop out of the photos when little kids posed with Crunch, and hop back in for the adults and teens.  I guess they thought Gabe was big enough because they stayed in his photo – hah!

Such a great night – and thank you to Jacquie and Carol who were nice enough to watch Lily!

Every weekday Lily and I walk Gabe up to the bus stop (corner of Winsdale and Toledo).  It’s been really cold lately (-10 to 5 degrees in the morning), so I’ve been really bundling up Lily – two blankets, one thick flannel, the other super thick and fluffy polar fleece – and tossing her into the sling Kelly borrowed me.

All Bundled Up

On most days, that keeps her nice and toasty.  The -10 day we had to walk Gabe up and run back home – it was way too windy and the chill cut right through.  Some days I have her wear her winter snow suit, when she’s all awake.  But if she’s sleepy, blankets are the way to go, because I can lay her down to sleep in her crib once we get home (that usually the case in the mornings).

Here are some more pictures from Halloween and our family visit.

Halloween 2009

Halloween 2009 Pictures

14 Photos

Family Visit - Fall 2009

Katie, Tom, Kelly, Baby Shelby and Grandmother Anita visited us.

12 Photos

 

Katie and Tom came out to our house first, and took Gabe trick-or-treating.  Tom and Mike also put together the playset. Later Kelly, Baby Shelby, and Grandmother Anita came.  Baby Shelby is such a cutie! And it was really nice to see Grandmother, I’m glad she was able to come up. It was a full house, but so much fun!

Quick Post – New pictures!  More coming soon – promise!

Lily's Birth

These are pictures from when Lily delivered.

12 Photos

Hospital Stay

Pictures from our hospital stay (not counting the birth).

12 Photos