Playing in the Snow

Christmas in Minnesota meant the first time since we lived in Iowa for my boys to have a chance to play in the snow. Kallsen (5) and Parker (4) don't remember Iowa and the snow. So for them, this last minute trip to Minnesota provided lots of news and exciting adventures. In this first video, Kallsen attempts to make a snow angel...

In this next video, Joseph (13) gets to try his hand at Snow Blowing. I think he learned it isn't as easy as it looks...

In this last video, Parker struggles to pull his sled back up Grandpa and Grandma's drive way. The boys all had a blast playing in the snow.

Tomorrow were going to go down to the lake and let the boys walk on water. Frozen water but still walking on water.

Minnesota Christmas Snow

Our Christmas Eve day in Minnesota was filled with lots of snow, sledding, snow blowing and making snow angels. Here's a few pictures of our snow filled Christmas Eve day...

Kallsen making Snow Angel

Kallsen dragging his sled back up the drive way

Grandpa Tom Snow Blowing


Joseph using the Electric Shovel to clean the deck

Parker playing in the snow

The boys walking up the driveway

Grandpa Tom pulling Kallsen down the driveway...while running!

Our first Christmas in Minnesota since 2006 is going to be filled with lots and lots of snow. The forecast is for 20 inches over the four day Christmas weekend.

Merry Christmas!

Side Trip to the Dells

On our way back from Minnesota, we took a side trip to Wisconsin Dells. Wisconsin Dells is to central Wisconsin what Gatlinburg is to the Smokey Mountains, Branson is to Missouri and Myrtle Beach is to South Carolina. The Dells, as the area is referred to, is known for Duck Boats and water parks. We stayed at a Water Park called Great Wolf. Great Wolf Lodge is a resort where one can go for a vacation and never leave. They have the water parks, restaurants, bars, arcades, laser tag, story time, a candy store and lots more, I'm sure, if we had looked. We were there for one night mostly to rest and have fun in the water park. We arrived about three in the afternoon. We checked in, played for 2 hours before meeting my nephew Chris for dinner and then played several more hours after dinner and then played for three or so hours the next morning before hitting the road.

Our trip to Great Wolf Lodge in Wisconsin Dells was really a good trip for Kallsen. It was the first time he was tall enough to do most of the bigger slides and rides by himself. He was able to climb the stairs, go down the large water slides and do all the really neat stuff by himself. Here's a video of Kallsen and Joseph coming down one of the slides that requires you to ride face first on a mat.

In this next video a large bucket fills with water and every so-often it dumps a bunch of water down on the people below. You can see Joseph, Kallsen and Parker running to get drenched right before the water falls.

A couple of side notes...we bought an AquaPack camera bag from National Camera Exchange in Golden Valley, MN. The bag allowed us to take pictures and film the boys without worrying if the camera got wet.

If you're reading this on Facebook through a note, you can go to AdamandSaraWright.com to see the videos.

The Dells

On the way back from Minnesota to South Carolina (we're in Kentucky as I post this) we stopped in Wisconsin Dells at Great Wolf Lodge...an indoor water park and hotel. Here are some pictures of the boys having all kinds of fun...

Kallsen and Parker in water tree house

Kallsen dumping water on someone below

Joseph right after getting hit with large amounts of water

Kallsen getting soaked

Parker sliding down small slide

Parker walking across bridge

Minnesota Zoo

One of the things we did while in Minnesota was go to the Minnesota Zoo (the New Zoo). I had never been. I think it opened when I was 10 or something. We always went to the Como Zoo...maybe because the Como Zoo was free and the Minnesota Zoo wasn't.

Grandma Judy, Joe, my sister Sarah and her three boys, my sister Kara and her daughter and my cousin Brianna's son Jay all went. Below are some of the pictures from the day at the Zoo.

Parker, cousin Derek and Kallsen

The Snake crossing the path might have been the high light for the boys

Kallsen (I LOVE this picture)

Jay and Joseph

Parker being Fierce (I LOVE this picture)

Joseph checking on cousin Jackson

Derek and Parker

Sara Beth and her two youngest

Sara Beth and the boys marking what they've seen so far

Parker looking at fish

Grizzly

Joseph, Jay, Kallsen, Amelia and Parker

It was a great day at the Zoo. My sister Sarah and her boys Davey, Derek and Jackson had to leave early...I wish they all could've been in this last picture.

Tripping to Minnesota Part 2

Here's some more pictures as we travel across the mid part of the country on the way from South Carolina to Minnesota. We've not visited Minnesota since April, 2007. I'm looking forward to visiting my parents, seeing my sisters, brother-in-laws; friends; Joe from Ireland; playing a round of Disc Golf in Minnesota; going to the Minnesota Zoo; having my first Jucy Lucy and some RR time.

Later today we're going to the observation deck of the Willis Tower in Chicago. 1,350 feet above the city. Below are some pictures of the trip so far...

Giant cross in Tennessee

Rough looking welcome sign

Parker & Kallsen shading their faces from the sun in Kentucky

Picnic time at rest area in Kentucky

Crossing the Ohio River going from Kentucky to Indiana

When we crossed into Indiana, the Southern Indiana Welcome was closed...this was the best we could do...Parker and Kallsen in front of the Smart Car.

The Boys acting silly in Indiana

Tripping to Minnesota

We left today for our vacation to Minnesota. Here's a couple of pictures as we post from the road.

Kallsen, Parker and Joseph just as we crossed into Georgia

Kallsen & Parker as we enter North Carolina

All three boys at the top of Smokey Mountain National Park

Our Recent Past

Here are some pictures of the boys taken over the past week. If you're reading this on Facebook, you can see all the pictures at AdamandSaraWright.com

Joseph enjoying a cold drink

Parker on slide in Easley

Parker and Kallsen at Sertoma Field

Me and my boys coming down giant slide

Kallsen in his race car

The Drag Strip

The kids in the neighborhood have 'built' their very own drag strip on the block we live on. It's about two lots or houses long...beginning at the corner of our lot and going past our drive way to half way in front of my neighbor's house.

In this first picture, you can see the kids (including Kallsen, Parker and Joseph) lining up for a race Sunday afternoon. In this particular race, Kallsen and Parker were on trikes, Joseph was on his skate board,one of the neighbor kids was on a bike and the others ran. You'll notice that a neighbor girl was lined up behind Parker...her goal was to 'push' Parker to a win. The drag strip goes slightly down hill...and Parker isn't one for 'full speed' so pushing him down the hill didn't go very well for Parker.

In this next picture, you see Kallsen and Parker heading back to the starting line after finishing a race. Kallsen is more daring than Parker...going as fast as possible with his feet just above the ground. If he starts to lose control (realllly lose control) he'll put his feet down to slow his momentum.

Here's Parker, in one of my favorite pictures of the day, in reflection after a stunning defeat to his brother. Better luck next time Parker.

I love that we live in a neighborhood where the kids still have some imagination and they don't spend all their time indoors playing video games.

Best Weekend Ever!

There used to be a show on VH1 called The Best Week Ever! While I never watched the show I imagine it was a look back on the week in entertainment and was presented in a way that it was The Best Week Ever!

In the spirit of the show that I've never seen I want to say this past weekend was the Best Weekend Ever!

It started with Joseph's basketball game Friday night. On Saturday we went to Kallsen & Parker's basketball game. Then it was a quick trip to Wal Mart (always fun for children) and then home. While Momma, Joseph and Kallsen got lunch ready and prepared for the day, Parker and I had some one on one time going to the dump (another big event in the life of a child) and then it was off to Moonshine Mountain.

Moonshine Mountain is about two hours away. We spent a majority of the time in the car on Highway 11 going across the most northern part of Oconee, Pickens and Greenville Counties. Beautiful views of the mountains and mountain lakes on an unusually warm February day. There were lots of motorcycles and regular bikes taking in the beauty of the day.

Once we arrived at Moonshine Mountain there was a wait of 45 minutes to begin tubing due to the large crowd. We took that time to do a helicopter ride. Joseph rode with another group and Kallsen & Parker rode with me. That was a lot of fun and something that I had wanted to do my entire life...a helicopter ride. Once the helicopter rides were done, it was time to start snow tubing. You can see pictures and a video on the previous post on the blog and see more pictures and video on my facebook page.

Joseph on Helicopter

After snow tubing we grabbed dinner at a local restaurant before the drive home. We got home Saturday night sometime after 11:00.

Sunday morning the radio station had some issues so I ran to the station the fix the problems. When I got home, the boys were having lunch with hopes of finishing before Daddy got home so I could take them to the park.

Kallsen & Parker at bottom of slide

I grabbed a protein bar and off to the park we went. We spent time sliding and playing on the playground before moving to another part of the park to swing. After swinging the boys wanted to go to the picnic shelter, where all the dry leaves were piled up, and play in the leaves. After playing in the leaves we headed back to the playground where some kids from the boys pre-school were playing and they played even more. Between all these events the boys also found time to play Frisbee.

Parker Close Up on Playground

Once we got home, three hours later, we had a snack of apple slices and then it was back outside where we rode bikes, played basketball, played Frisbee and taught the neighbor kids the finer parts of disc golf putting and driving. The day outside ended with a great game of Frisbee 500 with Joseph and some of his friends.

Sunday night, with the boys fully worn out (no naps for any of them...and our boys always take naps on the weekends) they went to bed really well and my wife and I enjoyed watching an episode of West Wing before it was our bedtime.

It simply was the best weekend ever.

Snow Tubing at Moonshine Mountain

Saturday we had a family fun day at Moonshine Mountain. It started when Sara renewed a friendship with a friend from high school through Facebook. Plans were made for a group to meet at Moonshine Mountain, a snow tubing place in the mountains of Western North Carolina.

Moonshine Mountain is about an hour and 45 minutes from the house, so not too far to drive. It is a bit shorter than driving to Sara's hometown of Jonesville, SC...where everyone that was invited still lives.

We had some miscommunication with the group. We thought we were snow tubing from 4-6 Saturday afternoon. The group was leaving at 4:00 and snow tubing from 6-8. While it would have been fun to be in a large group, it offered our family a great day of family fun and we were able to visit with Sara's friends once we finished snow tubing and they began.

By the way, the day was unseasonable warm at 71 degrees when we arrived. Being that Moonshine Mountain makes their own snow, their 9' base means they continue to offer snow tubing even on really warm days.

Parker being pulled up the mountain

Kallsen being pulled up the mountain

Joseph going down the mountain solo

Sara Beth being pulled up the mountain

Daddy, Kallsen, Joseph, Momma and Parker going down the mountain as a 'Train'

Family Train of Daddy, Kallsen, Momma and Parker

In the first picture of the 'Family Train' above, I'm taking the video you see here

I'll be posting more pictures and video on my facebook page. There probable will also be some pictures and video as well on Sara's facebook page.