Logan's science fair project

Logan's school has an optional science fair and back in the fall when I was all motivated to participate in stuff, it seemed like a good idea. We looked at ideas online and chose a simple one where you put a gummy bear in water and see what happens.  We did the experiment back in November and figured we had a ton of time before the fair in January. Then came the holidays, and Logan's birthday, and everything else and we found ourselves the night before the science fair running to Walgreens for a poster board and picture prints.  It turns out Mark and I are pretty awesome at 5 year old's science fair projects though-- in the hour between dinner and the climbing gym, we whipped out a nice little display. The hardest part was cajoling and then threatening Logan to draw a picture of his gummy bear experiment and write out the title for his display or else he was getting sent to his room for the rest of the night.  It all turned out well though... we've clearly kindled a love of science based on the picture below and Mark and I got top grades for our display.  In case anyone's interested, gummy bears grow 50% after 1 day and their color leaches out into the water.  Eventually after 4 days they fall apart.

Happy 5th birthday Logan!

LoLo is 5!  For his 5th birthday, Logan had a Star Wars birthday party at our house.  This was our first year doing a solo party for Logan, since in past years we've always done combined birthdays with the other 4 families that have "January babies".  I didn't know how good I had it with those shared parties.  This year's party went off well, but boy was it a lot of work.  We decided to have it at home because we didn't want to set a precedent of paying for a big gym or rec center party.  In retrospect though, I'm pretty sure those places are worth every penny to avoid the getting ready, the cleaning up, and especially the figuring out what to do with the kids the whole time.  Who knew 1.5 hours could seem so long.  Fortunately, Mark designed an awesome light saber craft and the boys spent most of their time wacking each other with their foam light sabers.  I was kind of worried about it ahead of time... I was contemplating making the parents sign a waiver or getting that umbrella liability policy we've been meaning to get for years. Fortunately, no one got hurt, everyone seemed to have a good time, and I'm not expecting any litigation.  I'm going to work on campaigning for half birthday celebrations in the future though, so we can just send them outside!

Light saber battles

Blowing out the candles

Birthday cake

Daddy joins the light saber battle

And is quickly brought down by 5 boys

Logan and Darth Vader

More light saber battles

We quickly went from 0 to six light sabers in one day

We also went to Logan's school for his "Celebration of Life".  We sat in the middle of the circle of kids holding a candle that represented the sun as Logan walked around the circle holding a globe, making his 5 trips around the sun.  He'd pause at each trip around so we could tell the class what Logan was like at each age.  Its quite a hippy dippy thing but I love it.

And then we had the annual celebration with the other January babies.  Only 3 of the original 5 babies made it this year, but we carried on the tradition.

Logan, Ayla, and Quin celebrating their 5th birthdays

Logan- 5 years

At 5, Logan is still sweet and cuddly. He loves Minecraft, legos, and Star Wars.  He's in Ms. Kristin's P1 class at Free Horizon Montessori.  He's never very enthusiastic about going to school, but then he never wants to leave at the end of the day either.  His favorite teacher is Ms. Miranda, the after care assistant. His school buddies are Christian and Oliver, and his mountain buddies are Jac, Quin, and Teddy.  He loves his cousin Axel and would spend every second with him if he could.  He tolerates his sister and is pretty nice to her most of the time. 

Grandma & Grandpa A's visit

Karen and Marshall came to visit over New Year's, which has become somewhat an annual tradition. The first few days were super cold, but then it warmed up so we could get outside.  We got in some ice skating, hiking, Star Wars, Jump Street, and lots of wrestling and playtime with Grandma and Grandpa. And Mark and I got to have a date night! Thank you Karen & Marshall!

Family shot at the beginning of the hike. 

Marshall and Mark

Mark & Ama found a cave

Hiking at toddler pace.  We managed to make a couple miles take a couple hours!

Karen & Marshall

Ama do it!

Ama, Grandpa A, Grandma A, and LoLo

Skating at Evergreen Lake.  We went on New Year's day when a bunch of crazies were jumping into the lake. We opted to skate and play hockey instead.

Logan trying out some moves on his new zip line Mark just installed in the playroom

And here's a video of Logan on the zipline: