TLC Spring Break - Man vs. Snow

Man vs. Snow - the adventure begins
We found this untouched patch of pure white snow and had to make a trail

Posing on a huge drift off the old logging road. We found snow drifts many feet deep, natural streams of melt, crusty ice puddles, downed trees blocking the road and lots of mud!

Every once in a while mom gets to get in the picture!

A few times Ian was waist deep in the snow banks!

Mud stomping

Can you build a fire in the pit filled with snow? Yes you can. With gasoline.

TLC Spring Break - Snow, Sun or Something In between

TLC as seen from the main road, Sagle Rd.
The boys and our friendly country dog dubbed McCain (cuz he's old and white) walking the steep driveway

The view of Lake Pend D'Orielle as seen from the cabin - almost

TLC from the old logging road below the property

Welcome to Spring Break 2009 in Northern Idaho. This is where we were 'roughing it' all week, fondly known at TLC - The Log Cabin. It's the boys favorite place to visit, despite the 8 hour drive. They are getting better year after year. Scratch that, Nate still asks about 700 times, 'when are we gonna be there' but thanks to the technology of navigation, he can see for himself! Ian is just a happy camper. Happy to sit, happy to eat, happy to nap, happy to watch DVD's.

Happy Birthday Nate!

From Elmo to Pokemon. Chubby baby to skinny grown up little boy - Nate is 6 today. Happy Birthday Kiddo!

An interview with an 6 year old:

Name: Nathaniel Stewart Shuster

Age: 6, exactly

Shoe size: 12

# of teeth lost: 2

Favorite Color: Orange

Favorite Food: Shrimp and corn dogs

Favorite Movie: Spongebob

Favorite Sport: Basketball

Favorite team: The Saints

Favorite Player: Reggie Bush

Best Friend: Matthew

Favorite vacation: Log Cabin

Favorite Show: Man vs Food

Favorite thing to play: Wii

If I could have one wish: $1000 dollars

What is your bedtime: 7:30pm

What's time do you think is late: 12:00am

What job do you want to do when you grow up: Sell houses

Party On!

Big Birthday Bash 2009! Nate and 2 friends, Nicholas and Cole celebrated their 6th birthdays Friday at Chuck E Cheese. Nearly the entire kindergarten class came to celebrate with the boys which was a lot of fun - and crazy! Check out all those boys in the group shot (I can't imagine why the girls didn't want to get it in - wink!) I think this is the first party I've ever been to that we've consumed almost the entire Costco cake!

The Making of Greendrops

In Ian's favorite book "I Will Never NOT EVER Eat a Tomato" (which you MUST pronounce to-mah-to, not to-may-to!), Lola will not eat peas. But Charlie convinces her that they they are not peas, the are green drops from Greenland, and they are incredibly rare. Lola nibbles a few and discovers that "oh, quite tasty."

A few weeks ago Ian came home from school with a tiny sprouting seed that we later discovered was a pea plant. Today we transplanted the growing sprouts into a pot dubbed Ian's Garden Growing Pot. Perhaps my hopes are high that the child who requested I remove the 'green balls' from his soup a few weeks ago will taste the peas that will hopefully grow, but I gotta try!

Happy St. Patrick's...er, Early Birthday

Nate and Red
Wii NFL Madden '09 - the best gift ever, says our almost 6 year old!
Pokemon shirt, #2 on the list

One of MANY silly pics we took with Daddy

Ian and mommy sporting the green for the day

We've got such a crazy week ahead of us we decided to celebrate Nate's birthday family-style tonight. (Never mind the fact that he got his free birthday at Red Robin email.) Between karate, Dave's work, Kelli's work, a class birthday party on Friday and the beginning of spring break, tonight was perfect. Red Robin himself was even on hand to sing to Nate.

In other news, a mischievous Leprechaun visited our house today leaving gold coins for Ian, peeing green pee in the toilet, and rearranging the bedroom furniture in Nate's room.

Mom vs. Fever

Move over Man vs. Wild and Man vs. Food, it's Mom vs. Fever in this house this weekend. I though we'd been the lucky ones these past few months as we've seen kid after kid in both Nate and Ian's classes fall to fever, vomiting, strep throat and croup. But the bugs found Nate on Friday night! He made it to his final game Saturday morning and rallied to play and get his trophy, then promptly went home and crashed out and hasn't moved since (and mom makes a pretty cool sick bed on the couch!) Ian is staying at an arms length at all times (but has to have a pretend sick bed just like brother) and I think I have Clorox wiped every inch, every remote, every hard surface of this house! His fever is a steady 103 degrees and he can't keep a drop in (but hasn't spilled a drop thanks to the 'sick bowl'), but I brought home a McD's shake that just might do the trick. Just gotta get him healthy for his birthday party on Friday!

Table dancers

I have no idea where they get it from...

Take THAT Global Warming

"Today is a great day for shorts," says Ian. Take THAT Global Warming!

Voodoo

Last night Dave and I went downtown to see Kathy Griffin perform live at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Hysterical! Bravo was taping the show for an upcoming special airing on April 14, so we'll be able to see her again. (don't look for us though,we were way to far back to get on camera, but it was still so cool!)

After the show we popped down to a famous Portland landmark, Voodoo Doughnut. A few weeks ago we watched one of our family's favorite shows "Man vs. Food" and Adam visited Voodoo while filming in Portland. They have the yummiest doughnuts and funniest flavors you have ever heard of, and are open nearly 24 hours a day. Below, Nate is eating the famous Voodoo doll Doughnut complete with a pretzel for the pin and red jelly filling for blood. Ian has a raised doughnut with vanilla glaze and fruit loops. Other strange flavors are a maple bar with bacon slices or the Arnold Palmer, a cake dougnnut covered in lemon and tea powder.

Boys vs Doughnuts
Tasty !

Dissecting the doll. First, remove pin from heart and stab around looking for jelly blood

Too rich for me!

New Kyu

Testing with friend, Jalen
Tight and focused

Woo hoo! A green stripe to add to the belt.

The Karate Kids and Sensi Guido (Nate is far right, front row)

The Littlest Dragon was invited to participate for a certificate but lost his nerve when he got up in front of the group. (Sound familiar?) He promptly his his head in my vest and fell asleep - totally an Ian defense mechanism. When all else fails, check out and go to sleep.