Christmas in July

The 4th of July has been a fun weekend for us the past few years. It's a weekend of family, cabins, water sports, fun food and fireworks. The weather was perfect and the entire Walton family came together for a fantastic long weekend.

Even the pictures that Kris and Billy took are perfect for 2011 Chirtmas (in July) cards!

Here's wishing you and your families the best this summer! Happy July!

7 Minute Mile

Ethan ran in his first race last weekend! He ran the 1/2 mile Mpls Recycle Run at Lake Harriet.
His time for 1/2 mile was just 3.30min! It was SO cute seeing him race. After he finished he said, "That was hard." Like he was expecting it to be easy. But he wants to race again, for another t-shirt and a medal.

Update: 5th Snowiest

Minneapolis got a few more inches of snow last week for a total of 84 inches for this winter. That moved 2011 into the 5th place for snowiest winter.

6th Snowiest Winter EVER

With 80+ inches of snowfall this winter, the winter of 2011 will go down in history as the 6th snowiest year EVER (as long as it doesn't snow anymore). And it's only March, which is the snowiest month.
So, this was a good year to learn to love the snow. We didn't really have a choice, but luckily the kids caught on quickly and have LOVED playing in the snow all winter.
Each time it snowed we plowed the snow from the driveway into the back yard, creating a kids dream come true--Mt. Walton-- the best playground for hiking, sledding and playing with dump trucks.
At it's peak, after our 80th inch of snow fell yesterday, Mt.Walton reach a height of 9 feet and the entire length of our backyard, around 35ft.
It's been a lot of fun. With Spring just around the corner I wanted to document Mt.Walton before it's gone. Though, I bet it'll take till June to melt this mountain!

Diapers Be Gone!

We made it! No more diapers in the Walton house... ever again!

Sticker charts, M&Ms and potty prizes finally got the job done. Cal has been diaper free for a couple weeks. He filled up his "Potty Chart" to get a "Potty Prize" today and we'll celebrated tonight with cupcakes! (1 sticker for each accident free day)


Here is Cal enjoying holding his new "James" train he got for his potty prize. By the way, I love these new Target carts. I actually drive out of my way to this particular Target because these carts are perfect for kids this age. Shopping carts can make all the difference when you're shopping with twins.

3 years already!

Can't Force Independence

When can I be done changing diapers?

I'm really tired of changing diapers. We've been changing diapers for over 6 years! Just after we got Ethan out of diapers around his 3rd birthday, we had a break for a few months while I was pregnant with the twins (but that shouldn't really count because of how difficult that time was for us) and then we were hit hard by the double diapers....

And we're still changing diapers.

I'm ready to be done with this diaper changing period of our lives. But that's not my choice. This all lies in the hands of the pooper: Cal.

Cal loves to have people do things for him. He won't attempt to put on his own clothes in the morning. He won't touch his shoes or boots and refuses to learn how to put anything on himself. I've tried everything in the book to get him interested in self-help skills. Bribing with candy didn't even work! He doesn't care. Do you blame him though? It would be great to have someone do everything for you.
But now that Cal is the size of an average 4 year old it feels funny changing a big kid's diaper. His poops are like man-poops.

I know it's bad to compare twins, but Teagan has been doing all of these things for almost 5 months. Teagan does everything herself! She won't even let me pick out her outfit in the morning. Not only does she use the potty she closes the door and demands privacy!

So, what can I do? I can't force him to be independent. And I'm not wanting him to grow up faster. I just want to be done with diapers!!!

Great Review for Great Wolf

We give the Great Wolf Lodge in Wisconsin Dells a 5 star review!
We had a fabulous vacation at Great Wolf with my parents and sister! The water park is a blast for kids and adults of all ages. There were water slides and zero-depth play areas for toddlers and little kids, and crazy rides for the adults. I'm not sure who had more fun, the kids or the grown-ups.
We pushed the 700lb weight limit on the Tornado ride with my dad, Nick, Shalene and I weighing in at 699lbs. Shalene and I flew down the Raceway face-first on mats so fast that we lost our bottoms. The kids were having the time of their lives on the little water slides water toys. We were in the water from 9am-9pm for 4 straight days! And best of all, we were oblivious to the snow storms outside while we were in our swimsuits in the tropical resort for a long weekend.
I recommend Great Wolf to all families, especially with young kids. We loved it!