Ryan's November School Art

3K Lumen Christi Catholic School

Lily's November School Art

3K Lumen Christi Catholic School

Gigi and Pop Pops

Gigi and Pop Pops with their rats. They sure do have their hands full!!!

Chicago is Our Kind of Town

We decided to take in all of the hustle and bustle of the day after Thanksgiving in grand style by heading to Chicago. Talk about a lot to see...soldier field, skyscrapers, giant beans, and Santa! We started off our morning at Macy's where we wrote a letter to Santa and then got to visit with him too! I was ready and raring to go all the way through Santa Land, while Lily pouted her way through. By the time we were standing in front of him though Lily walked right up and told him what she wanted (a Barbie and a LeapPad) while I ran away. I finally gave in once I was able to sit on Gigi's lap, but Gigi had to tell Santa what I wanted (a Brachiosaurus). I did clarify that it could be a toy one, even though I really want a real one so I can climb up him and shoot baskets in my driveway. Maybe next year I'll finally sit and smile on the jolly old man's lap, but don't hold your breath. For lunch we were lucky enough to get into The Walnut Room at Macy's and we sat pretty much right next to the giant tree. There were princesses walking around everywhere and one from Candyland even came over to visit with Lily. This of course made her day, and mine too. I believe my exact comment was "I want that princess to be on our Candyland, because ours' doesn't look like her". After lunch, we walked over to Millennium Park to check out "The Bean" and ice rink. The bean may be one of the coolest things I've ever seen and Lily and I became quite the trendsetters laying down to get our picture taken. Next thing you know everyone was laying down, even Mommy and Daddy. On the way back to the car we took in the Macy's window displays and then convinced Pop Pops that we needed balloon animals to make our trip complete. It was quite a day filled with so much to see, and Lily and I decided that we need to go back to this place next year because Chicago is our kind of town!

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all! This year I am thankful for all things Lightning McQueen and dinosaur. Lily is thankful for Wrigley and her family. Lucky Lily, because she got to spend the whole afternoon with the extended Rivera family, including our cousins Ava, Logan, and Marcus. Lily and Ava quickly became best friends, but they were nice enough to include me in all their fun! Along with the family we enjoyed lots of yummy food. There is so much to be thankful for here in our world!

P-T Conferences

Today we were thrown off a bit because we had to go to school after dark. We came to find out that we were just along for the ride, Mommy and Daddy were actually at school to meet with Mrs. Otero. Supposedly they were there to hear all sorts of wonderful things about us, but what else would you expect?!?! Mrs. Otero said we were bright kids who had a lot to offer in class. She did mention that I am a bit emotional and that Lily is a little mother in class so apparently she has been paying attention quite well. She felt we were ahead of the game with numbers, letters, and sound recognition. She shared some of our work including the Halloween story we had to write where I felt my picture of Lightning McQueen wasn't good enough so I convinced her to let me make two copies. Mom and Dad were happy campers with all she had to say so I guess that means Mrs. Otero is keeping us!

4 Year Check-Up

Another birthday, another yearly check-up. This is our least favorite part about having a birthday, but Mom explained to us that unfortunately they go hand in hand. We (or mainly I) were dreading our appointment today because with doctors comes shots. I started crying as soon as we were called back and started begging for the nose shot (flu nasal mist). I cried about a month ago when we got that as well, but I'd do that again over a shot any day. Well, it turns out that all of my tears were for nothing...we didn't have to get any shots. I relaxed a bit after that and Dr. Hagerman proclaimed that we are two healthy looking kids who are growing nicely. Here are our 4 year old stats, although Mom thinks our heights are off by a 1/2" or so because we refused to stand up straight.

Ryan
Height: 40 1/2"(60%)
Weight: 41 lbs.(80%)

Lily
Height: 38 1/2"(25%)
Weight: 36 lbs.(55%)

Friends?!?!

Today was bring a friend day at Lily's ballet class. Against my better judgement, I went as Lily's friend. I was against the idea all week, but everyone she asked was busy so I got chosen by default. The first picture pretty much sums up the class...Lily danced, while I watched from a distance. Mom told me to find one thing that looked like fun so that I could dance with my sister, but I just couldn't seem to find anything that looked fun enough. No amount of candy was getting me onto that floor, and Lily didn't seem to mind so all in all bring a friend day was a success here in our world!

Snow!

We headed up to the cottage for some much needed rest and relaxation. We had received a little bit of snow at our house early Thursday morning so we kept our fingers crossed that we'd have snow at the cottage. Our wish came true and we arrived to about 3-4 inches of snow. It wasn't much, but it was enough for us to make snowballs and snow angels. We also got to put on all of our snow gear and go on an adventure through the woods. I didn't find a whole lot, but Lily and Mom managed to see a bunch of turkeys running across the road. They were probably running for their lives since we heard Thanksgiving is coming up. We're hoping for much more snow next time and for some ice on the lake. Then we can go on a real adventure!!!

Tiny Dancer

Tonight was parent night at ballet so Mom and Ryan got to sit in on class and watch my moves. We started with stretching and while pretending to be butterflies, I told Ms. Lindsey that I wanted to fly to Gigi and Pop Pop's house. I showed off my chasse, jete, passe, and releve all while letting my tongue hang out. I was concentrating so hard that it must have just kept slipping out. We got to give our audience a sneak peek of our performance that we'll do in several months too. It was a fun night, but now it is time to get back to work so that I can perfect my act!

Reptilian Rascals

We spent the beautiful Fall day at the zoo; Daddy and I at zoo class, and Mommy and Lily just roaming around. I've been looking forward to this class for awhile since it was all about snakes, lizards, alligators, and turtles. Dad and I are reptile experts now that we've taken the class. We learned all sorts of interesting things, like the fact that all turtles have 13 spots. Bet you didn't know that?!?! We got to study a snake skeleton and get up close and personal with the turtles. I loved that all the snakes we saw were slithering around, and the alligator we saw came all the way from China. I don't know where that is, but the teacher said it was really far away so it must be cool! Lily enjoyed her day too. All of the animals were out because the temperatures are cooler now. She got to meet the zoo's newest addition, the lion triplets. She also saw a few of her favorites like the seals, zebra, and penguins. The polar bear even came out today which is a rarity. The only animal she didn't get to see was the badger. He is new to the zoo, and he never comes out of his hole. We're beginning to wonder if he really exists. Guess we'll have to visit again soon so we can find out!