Rain, rain, come and stay!

There was a toss up as to what post I should start with first this week. We did quite a few things over the weekend and I wanted to share them all right away. However, since it's raining today, our new purchase won the vote.

I wasn't expecting to have the truck today since we had a busy weekend and I usually like to hang around home on Mondays as a cool down day. When I heard the rain this morning, I knew it would be a perfect day for coloring, painting, and even making a train photo frame from his birthday party (yes, it was back in December). Alas, hubby forgot that he had a physical therapy appointment for his back this morning so we needed to take him into the train station or else he would have to pay for parking at work.

Little Man and I headed to our local mall which happens to be one of the best outlet malls that I've been to. Especially when you take into consideration the sales that both the Disney and Children's Place stores have on a regular basis. But Little Man's heart was set on visiting the LEGOS Store, aka "Block Store". I purposely parked in front of Children's Place entrance to make sure we stopped there on the way out. I just received an Extra 15% off coupon of your entire purchase and wanted to see if they had any winter coats left to pick one up for next year.

We made our way to the LEGOS Store, stopped at Auntie Anne's pretzels with a Buy One, Get One coupon, the Disney Store (which was having great sales by the way), and then to the Customer Service station to spin the wheel. We signed him up for the mall's kids club and every time we go to the mall, he gets to spin a large wheel for a prize (nothing spectacular this time).

Unfortunately, Children's Place didn't have any winter coats left, but they did have other items on sale for only $1.99! Other items were just marked 50% off the already marked down price. I'm telling you, this place could be your best and worse nightmare shopping for kids' clothes.

So long story short, we finally purchased our first pair of rain boots. I made sure to get a size 9 so he could hopefully fit into them next year as well (as long as his big feet don't grow too fast). Even though Mom lets him splash in some of the smaller puddles, he was so excited to actually go splashing in the BIG puddles.

We get home and he makes his way to the big puddle....




The boots? Shark boots! And yes. Those are fins on the back of the boots. The price? Less than $8 after being on sale and with my extra coupon. Love Children's Place!

Stupid Rodent

I'm sure everyone, including me, were really hoping for a short winter. Alas, the stupid Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow this morning meaning there will be another long six weeks until spring.

Last year, I remember doing a Groundhog Day entry with different facts about the groundhog and this special day, but this year...

I just want spring to be here.

Spring has sprung

The Vernal Equinox, or the first day of spring, may not be here yet... but don't tell these guys. Sorry for all you winter fugitives out there... but spring has definitely sprung here in the D.C. area.

Dreaming of sand

I think Little Man is getting cabin fever...and I'm right there with him. Unfortunately, it's still cold here. But this weekend when he handed me his winter hat, I knew he wanted to go outside. Lately because I'm just so tired of the cold, we haven't been taking our usual afternoon walks. It's just too cold, especially with the wind chill factored in. So instead of just walking around outside and letting him lead the way (wait, I still did that!) I decided to bring out a few toys.



He actually had fun digging up the mulch and putting it in his little bucket. This summer, I plan to get him a bigger set for him to play with at the play ground. They have a special spot with LOTS of sand. Not to mention, we'll be going to Orlando this October for a long weekend.

Needless to say, I'm dreaming of sand too. While listening to the request radio the other day, someone called in to hear Kenny Chesney's "All I want for Christmas is a real good tan". Now that's what I'm talking about - even if it's not Christmas time.


So, only 12 more days until....

This...




Turns in to this....

Happy Groundhog Day!

"As I look around me, a bright sky I see, and a shadow beside me. Six more weeks of winter it will be!"

Punxsutawney Phil has spoken: we shall have six more weeks of winter.

Seriously?? When have we not had six more weeks of winter?? I decided to do a little research on a Saturday morning. Although I couldn't find some actual statistics about Phil's predictions (okay, I admit. It's Saturday morning - I didn't look that hard). But here are a few history facts about Groundhog Day and our favorite groundhog:

~During Prohibition, Phil threatened to impose 60 weeks of winter on the community if he wasn't allowed a drink.

~ In 1958, Phil announced that he was a "United States Chucknik," rather than a Soviet Sputnik or Muttnik that became the first man-made satellite to orbit Earth.

~In 1981, Phil wore a yellow ribbon in honor of the American hostages in Iran.

~Phil traveled to Washington DC in 1986 to meet with President Reagan. He was joined by Groundhog Club President Jim Means, Al Anthony and Bill Null.

~Phil met Pennsylvania Governor Dick Thornburg in 1987.

~In 1993, Columbia Pictures released the movie Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray.

~In the years following the release of the movie, record crowds numbering as high as 30,000 have visited Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney!

~Phil appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show in 1995.

~In 2001, Phil's prediction was shown live on the JumboTron at Times Square in New York City.

~Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell attended the ceremonies, making him the first sitting governor ever to do so.

Well, I know I was hoping for an early spring and apparently so were these guys:




Sorry, Buddy. We'll get out the bucket and shovel to play in the sand soon enough.