Spring Break - Niagara Falls

Well this year for spring break we packed the car and headed out on a road trip to Canada. Yup, the year of the polar vortex, the Munsons head NORTH! Typical. At any rate we had a lot of fun and tried a lot of new things. Enjoy....

 

Road trip excitement.....

Crossing the bridge.....passports in hand.

These guys really enjoyed the new car with the third row seat.....

guess what so did their parents....

First stop : Niagara Falls....

Luckily the falls thawed before we got there. Even with some chunks of ice they are an impressive sight to see.  This was the view from our hotel room!

The American Falls. Brady looks like he is going overboard.

The first day was quite chilly, but the rest of the week was manageable.

This is what we would wake up to every day....

We definitely preferred the Canadian side.

 

Gift shops galore....

The maid of the mist wasn't running because of the ice chunks, but we were still able to go down and behind the falls which was neat.

We are actually behind the falls....apparently all mist.

We did the 4-d experience of learning about the falls.....

Can you imagine being in a barrel?

We never escape the promotional picture..... not sure why I can't rotate?

This was Brady's souvenir hat, he wore it everyday, all day, but it was so great he never got lost we could always find his neon orange head in the crowds!

This gives you a good idea of how much ice was still left in April.

Kids loved when they would light the falls up at night......

Under the falls.....

Spring break - sneak peak.

Since I am obviously behind here is a little video the kids put together on our trip.

 

Front And Center....

Brady had his first grade musical the other night and long gone are the days of Brady hiding in the back of the bleachers and pretending to mouth the words, we were so proud of him as he actually seemed to be enjoying being front and center, and being on cue and focused! He did great and has come full circle since his preschool Christmas recitals....check out our main attraction, he's the guy in the green plaid belly shirt in the front row (apparently he has grown since the last time he was "required" to dress up) enjoy....

And Some random folk dancing......

Oh the "Possibilities"

Brooke had her 4th grade musical. It was really sweet, everyone had to dress up as what they wanted to be when they grow up, Brooklyn choose a baker (surprise surprise!) And the theme of the musical was all about the possibilities that lies ahead of them. It was a little bittersweet as this was her last elementary musical. It was fun to watch her and all her friends and how they changed over these last six years.

Brooke the Baker.

Brooke and her girlies...

A doctor, a photographer and a baker, it will be fun to look back on these pictures in 15 years!

 In her groove....

Solo.

Live feed.....

The one thing she said after it was over was that after that much practicing she was sad they only got to do it one night. Must look into a theatre program for this one, she would love it.

Self Reflection.

All True.

Rest of February.

We continue to plug through winter here....

Lots of hikes and walks outside.....

Roxy didn't like not knowing where the kids were hiding.

Lot's of dance routines being made on the ice.

Friday nights at the Y, rock climbing.

Road trip to WMU for a basketball game.

wrapping up winter sports....I like this picture...."would you just give me the ball already"

Finding peace and quiet wherever you can. (I will have to remember this spot!)

School fundraisers......this was the first year they had to pose in snow.

Roxy kicking me out of the lazy boy and stealing my blanket.....Ridiculous.

And this valentine that came home from school cracks me up.

Makes Total Sense.......

So as this long winter wears on us and leaves us indoors most of the time, we have to get creative.

I mean what is the worst possible thing that could happen?

Hospital visit, dry wall repair, ripped mattress, 15 minutes of them not asking us what we should do....The later prevailed!

Pine wood derby.

So apparently along with cub scouts comes this thing called Pine Wood Derby.

Well this was something that Poppa I mean Brady was very excited about. He determined he wanted his car to look like a football, indicitive of his latest obsession, so I turned to Chris and said "Can you make it happen?" He responded....I think we are heading to Lansing next week :) They needed to enlist Poppa's expertise and his woodshop in his basement! They came back and I was quite impresssed with what they Poppa had created! Chris promised me Brady got involved a little but all and all it turned out pretty cute I mean cool. 

 

Here is Brady checking the competition on the test track.

Luckily it was quite organized and all digitalized (of course) Lining up for round one of what seemed like 140 rounds.

I still think Brady's was the cutest (i might be bais) but lets just say I think a few "Poppa's" got involed as the flag is pretty cool too. The Yellow kid's Poppa must have been outta town wah wah wah.....

There is Brady behind the rope watching if his car finished first.

The football did great, better than I was expecting,no offense Poppa, but I thought we would have a lot more first year learning curves.  Brady's car continually did well and he ended up coming in 3rd place overall in his den (all first graders) and 10th place overall in his pack (all first - fourth graders)

Congratulations Brady I mean Poppa!