Winter Break in Bullet Points...

 

• saw The Hobbit with the hubs.  It was long, but entertaining, and I had lots of time to eat the four boxes of movie theater candy I received for Christmas.  Oh, and there was popcorn.
• had the best barbecue on this side of the Mississippi.  Beau finally convinced me to try Herb's Barbecue, this very appropriate looking bbq joint in Waterloo.  I had a polish sausage and it was TO DIE FOR.  Seriously, if you haven't tried this place, do it.  And don't you dare let the looks of the place deceive you ;)
• spent entire afternoons in our pajamas.  Beau would come home from lunch, leave, and return again to find Cruz and I in the exact same spot as he left us.  I had a good week of accomplishing almost nothing and it felt SO good.
• took Cruz sledding.  It took almost 20 minutes to bundle him up, and I'm not exaggerating, TEN minutes of actual sledding.  Let's just say my anti-boots wearing man is a little skeptical of the cold weather.  We settled for cheeseburgers and coloring at the Screaming Eagle instead.
• finally had our first adventure at Trader Joes.  If it wasn't for Cruz pretending he was Richard Petty with his mini shopping cart, I could have perused the shelves of this place for hours.  We've been enjoying their everything bagels, beer, honey apple butter, and cheese, and even checked to see if they shipped!  Oh, to live in a place with more options than Hy-Vee...
• watched lots of movies (see We Bought a Zoo if you haven't, I'm telling ya)
• did some painting
• baked some cookies
• attempted to teach Cruz how to play Memory and Chutes and Ladders.  Chutes and Ladders is a no for right now, but he likes the concept of Memory.  He's really good at flipping (more than two) cards over at a time, announcing 'no match!' and taking ours when we find one.  And this is what it's like playing board games with a two year old...
• raced lots of racecars
• ate a lot of cuties
• played with the biggest container of blocks known to man.  While Cruz made himself a home inside the container, Beau and I had contests to see who could build the best building outside the container.  (winning!)

I've loved having this extended break at home --- quiet, slow time with this little family and days to just be mom.