Weekend in Wausau

Nolan, Madeline, Gunner all ready and bundled up to go cut down the Christmas tree!

Last weekend on Saturday morning I drove up to Wausau to spend the weekend with my family!  Shannon, Colleen, and I surprised Nolan and Maddie and took them to see Frozen.  I had the absolute pleasure of sitting next to Shannon for the 85 minute film.  Have you ever gone to a movie with Shannon?  The first 30 seconds of the movie, she looks at me and says, "Okay, this is already too much singing."  This was actually my second time seeing the movie, so I'm thinking, Oh, she is not going to like this.

Well, there was a moment in the movie that Shannon seemed to enjoy.  A line in one of the songs, "what's a ballroom with no balls" sent her into a laughing fit.  The only two people in the theater busting a gut: Shannon and Me!  I'm pretty sure the people in front of us, behind us, and next to us were ready to kick us out.

What I LOVE about hanging out with the Mudler family is they always having something going on, but always make time for naps.  And, boy did we nap yesterday!  It was awesome.  What makes napping even better is there are kids eager to snuggle.  Nolan, Gunner, and I crashed in the spare bedroom on Saturday night and I woke up with Gunner's head pressed up against mine.  Nolan had his arm underneath me and wrapped around my rib cage in an I'm-never-letting-Aunt-Kiki-go kind of grip.  There really is no better way to wake up.

  

Shannon has some Grandma Jean tendencies, I've noticed.  As soon as I snuggled myself up in the recliner with a blanket and a 5-year-old lap warmer, Shannon comes out looking like this:

Apparently, it is that time of year when we rearrange the entire house and prepare for the Christmas tree.  So, there I sat in the recliner watching all of this crazy cleaning happen thinking to myself, "it's going to be cold out there, but hey, I can be a lumberjack."  

After the prep work was completed, we bundled up the children in their boots, snow pants, winter coats, hats, mittens, and scarves until they were walking like Randy from A Christmas Story.  And, we ventured out to the tree farm to find the perfect tree.

NOTE:  Shannon had no part of cutting down the tree

Nolan

Gunner having a hard time getting back up.