Mom's Day Off

As a special gift to our favorite friends (The Hussmans, Bookmillers, Santa Marias, Wilsons, and Millers) this Christmas we offered a mom's day off! The parents got to drop their kiddos off for 5 hours of fun! We made a santa craft, played games, climbed in the castle, made a few ornaments, ate some pizza, watched a movie, decorated cookies, and played in the park. PHEW! Now I need a day off! In all honesty, the kids were great and it was so much fun! The parents couldn't believe their good fortune to have 5 hours of free time 1 week before Christmas. This, too, will likely become an annual tradition in the Vaterlaus home! BTW-This is only a smattering of the 80 pictures we took of our fun! With kids this cute you just have to take lots of pictures!

Playing in the snow!

It's true! Arizona gets snow! Almost two weeks ago a fantastic winter storm blew in to Tucson. There were warnings of possible tornadoes, blizzards in the mountains, and severe winter storms in the valley. It was wonderful! The only thing that would have made it better would have been not having to work! On Saturday morning we headed to the mountains. After a quick 20 minute drive from our house we were in the snow! The kids had a blast with their first snow experience! They loved making snowballs and throwing them at each other and daddy! My Little Reader even made her first snowman! And believe it or not, the view out my front window still frames a snow capped mountain range! I love it! The funniest part of the day was going to Walmart later in the day and finding wading pools for sale in the front! You gotta love Arizona! Preparing for swimming season with snow capped mountains just minutes away!

Free, Free, Free!

This week as noted in the previous post, we made the biggest purchase of our lives.
So, I thought I would show you all the fun, free things we did this week.
Still on the free agenda...Lighted School House showing of the Polar Express with our friends Dave and Bella, Temple lights in Mesa on the 19th, and a drive through night at Winterhaven!

I love free food!

Reid Park Zoo Lights! We never went in Phoenix because it was too expensive.
I was thrilled to find out that our Membership allowed for a free night of Zoo Lights!
It was funny to see all the Tucsonans bundled up in snow coats, hats, gloves, and scarfs. The temp was maybe 60!

Free concert with the group Parachute! Can you believe how close we were? My Little Reader loves their song and was completely star struck!

Free snow...in Tucson! My Princess in Training was not at all amused.

Free playtime at our favorite local toy store.

Free hot chocolate!

A definitely NOT free cupcake ($3.50 each!!). However, it was DELICIOUS. I know because when a piece dropped to the ground My Princess in Training snatched it up and popped it in her mouth before I could stop her!

Yes, it was that good!

All Aboard! The Polar Express!

Thanks Moma and Opa for a great trip!
We will remember it for a long time!