MRWE: Chef & Maleficent

I was a little surprised when Mason said he wanted to see Chef, since originally I thought it was something I'd be more interested in seeing.  The movie was a light-hearted film about a man who loses his restaurant career and begins a food truck, all the while trying to build a better relationship with his son.  It was a good thing we had dinner before seeing this movie, because all the food prep scenes could make your tummy growl.  The movie isn't going to win any huge awards, but it was a cute flick in general. 

This was definitely my pick.  Some one described it to me as, "just like Sleeping Beauty", but I wouldn't say that's really true.  The story is based on Sleeping Beauty, told from Maleficent's  point of view, but has several twists and turns.  I thought Angelina Jolie did a fine job, even though I don't think she's that amazing of an actress.  The costumes and scenery were fun.  I wish that the three fairies had been more of the plot line, since that's a favorite part of mine from the original animated film, but overall I thought the movie wasn't too dark, and it was a creative twist on a classic Disney film.

Movie Reviews with Ellen (MRWE): The Muppets

The Muppets (2011) movie with Amy Adams and Jason Segal was our pick for New Years Eve.  Something light, funny, and only my sister had already seen it.   Overall I'd give this movie two thumbs up.  It was a cute movie.  It definitely had it's predictable parts, but some funny one-liners.  The overall premise was about two brothers Walter (a puppet) and Jason.  Walter's dream is to be on the Muppet show, and he heads to Hollywood to get the gang back together!  It was enjoyable and I'd recommend it as a good, clean, family movie. 

Florida Vacation

Moving walkways were a BIG hit!

Mason spent a lot of time in 2014 away from home, so when he had to go to a conference in Florida for a week in November, I said the kids and I were going to come along.  At first it started as a joke, but it turned into reality!  Since Mason had to travel on Sunday and Saturday it made it worth it since we'd be there for the entire week. 

Just like Snow White. 

I was pretty nervous about how Woodrow would do on the THREE airplanes we had to take each way, since he had been very cranky with teething prior to leaving.  Fortunately, both boys were GREAT on the flights.  When we got to base (Hurlbert Field) the room we initially got was not going to work.  Mason turned on the lights and bugs were crawling all over!  Fortunately we got moved to a cleaner room, but some of the things we saw really made me remember why I love living up North!

Playing with pine cones outside the hotel room-every morning. 

For most of the week, we ended up staying at the hotel room in the morning while Mason went in to work, and he'd head back around 11/11:30 on his lunch break, so we explored some fun local places, and then the kids and I would drop him back at work and we'd go adventuring in the afternoons.

The kiddos and I went to the Gulf Breeze Zoo and had a blast!  We started off with a train ride around the zoo to see the bigger animals.  Theo loved that he got a ticket and got to ride on a train.  But, I'd say the biggest hit of the day was the Budgie Aviary.  Some people that were leaving the zoo gave us a bunch of feeding sticks (popscicle sticks with birdseed stuck on) and a cup of food for the animals at the petting zoo.  I thought that the kids would freak out with all the birds flying around, but they had a BLAST!  We ended up going back to that part of the zoo three times.  Theo also liked feeding the animals.  He kept telling the sheep and goats, "sorry, this food is for the llamas and giraffes."

Am I not supposed to go behind this rope?

Another afternoon we hung out at the beach.  I was a little nervous taking the boys to the because I was afraid they'd both be running into the water.  Luckily, they were more interested in running away from the water.  It was a little cool for swimming, but we ended up taking a little walk along the beach dipping our toes in.  It was a very sunny day but man, oh man, sand is such a pain to clean up and it got all over the car.

Theo was excited "Frog and Toad" lived outside his room.

We were able to snag some time with Mason one of the days and we headed out on a Dolphin Cruise.  We were a little skeptical that their 99% rate would actually be true, but we decided it would be a fun experience.  The kids did really well on the boat ride, which was two hours long.  When we went around the harbor the kids on the boat were allowed to throw Fritos to the Seagulls. It was a little terrifying to watch the crazed look in the birds eyes, but Theo had fun.  We saw one dolphin fairly quickly and Mason and I figured that was going to be the only one we saw, so they could check the 99% box, but after taking the boat around the Gulf for a little bit, we ended up seeing dozens of dolphins.  It was incredible!  We also saw a Manatee in the distance, Jellyfish, a Sting Ray.  The kids were also able to go up and pilot the boat and they got a little certificate and got to pick a toy from a treasure box.  Over all a totally awesome experience!

Another awesome turn of events was that we were able to meet my dear friend Andrea and her family.  We both drove 3 hours and met halfway for dinner.  I got to meet her youngest daughter, and she got to meet our boys!  It was a crazy meeting, and I wish we had more time to visit and talk, preferable at one of our houses.  I hope our paths cross again and we can be stationed together again.

We also went up to Eglin AFB one day, which was about a half hour away, and checked out their Armament Museum.  It was nice to see all the jets flying around, and walk around seeing lots of static displays and ya know...all that plane stuff...

Another great friend from Shreveport lives where we were and we got to meet up with her and her daughter, who's Theo's age, and got to play at a very fun park.  It was nice for the kids to just be able to play outside and enjoy another kid.

They were having some fun!  One grunt and he went off to sleep in the corner. 

One of our last days we headed to the GulfArium to enjoy some sea animals.  It was a little sad to see the dolphins in a tank after seeing them our in the wild.  The kids enjoyed being up close to the animals and again, enjoying time outside. 

I'm really glad that we took the opportunity to enjoy somewhere warm, and be together.  We all really had a great time and I'm only a little jealous that Mason gets to go back next week! 

We survived!

          

Holiday Train

The Canadian Pacific Railway has a Holiday Train that passes through North America in December.  I think there are two routes, one in Canada, and one in the US.  We skipped it in 2013 and figured "we'll be here awhile", but this year, Mason was out of town, so I thought I would take the boys.  The weather was a little chilly, but not too windy, and I'd heard this was another Minot "must see".  Fortunately, the schedule is pretty precise and that the train would arrive around 7pm and there would be a performance for half and hour.

The boys and I had an early dinner and baths, and then I got them ready to head downtown.  There isn't that much parking, and I'm glad we got there around 6:00, because parking was already sparse, but we found a great spot.  We hung out at our favorite location, Main Street Books, enjoying hot cider, playing trains, and browsing for books, and then headed out to get a spot near 6:45.  The train arrived a little after 7:00pm and their performance car was quite a treat.  We had a good spot for viewing purposes, but not really escaping once we were cold...again, glad this was only 30 minutes.

There were performers who had been on NBCs: The Sing Off, an Accapella group or two, and some chicks pushing their albums on iTunes...clearly I padi great attention.  The boys had fun, but Theo was pretty cold by the end.  Both boys were crying as we got back in the car...a sure sign of a good time had by all.  Lol!  It was fun, I'm glad we went, not sure we'll go again...but we'll see.  :)

 

Woodrow at 17 months

I started writing this post, and by post, I mean the title on Woodrow's 17 mo. birthday and then here we are almost at the end of the month again...which means I have really not been doing well with my goal to post (at least) weekly this year, so I don't get so far behind with the stories I want to make note of. 

Anyways, this month we were in Evanston for Woodrow's 17 months!  What a little dude!  I look at him and don't see baby anymore, he's turning in to such a little boy.  He's got such an understanding of all that we are telling him, we're ready for some words to come out of his little mouth.  He's started to say, "ehh" and point to everything...hopefully those will form in to words sooner rather than later.  But he definitely communicates most of what he wants, and follows directions pretty well. 

What an eater...Woodrow is still pretty particular about what he likes to eat, but when he finds something he likes, he chows down.  Spaghetti seems to be a very big favorite these days, along with red grapes, and applesauce pouches (my crazy boys will eat the pouches and won't touch it from a normal container)! 

Although I don't have an official height on Woodrow, he's definitely taller, since he is getting in to more and more trouble.  :)  He LOVES to climb, hide, investigate EVERYTHING, and figure out how things work.  He's in to figuring out all the electronics in the house, yet doesn't really like to sit and play on the iPad the way that Theo did.  Although he will sometimes sit to watch Daniel Tiger. 

He's really in to our talking toys these days, and stuffed animals.  Fittingly he also is enjoying the touch and feel books that we have, and interacting with books like Pat the Bunny, etc...and if Theo's got it or doing something, Woodrow wants to be right there too.

Unfortunately, Woodrow was pretty sick in December, and ended up getting an antibiotic and having nebulizer treatments...and he ended up with the stomach flu (ewwwww).  We're all glad that's over, and are thankful for medications that zapped his cough away quickly.