Boys' Birthday Party & Maylee!

There has been a lot to celebrate lately in our family! We celebrated our favorite boys...Austin & Colin on Sunday with a birthday party. Austin turned 4 back in December and Colin turned 7 in January. Below is the card I made for Colin:

 Austin requested a backhoe and Colin requested worms and dirt for the cake. I combined both ideas by having worms coming out of the hole the backhoe dug.

Birthday boys: Colin & Austin

Make A Wish!!!

 Yesterday, Bella finally tore apart her newest toy; luckily it was right on the seam and easy to repair.

 There is a new addition to the Grothaus Family!!! My cousin Christy and her husband Andy welcomed a beautiful little girl Monday night.

Card I made to go with her gift.

Maylee

Bengals Playoff Trip to Houston, Texas

Randy and Lexus went to Houston, Texas to watch the Bengals play the Texans in the Playoffs.

 This was Lexus' first plane ride, good practice for when we fly to Ormond Beach, Florida this summer!

 Randy and Lexus found a Children's Museum to pass some time before the big game.

 Finally...game time has arrived! Randy said most of the Texans fans were nice at first, but as the game progressed they became really rowdy. Definitely a different feeling being an outsider, than rooting for your team back home at Paul Brown. They did have great weather while they were in Houston; it was in the 70's.

Lexus at Reliant Stadium

Bengals in the huddle

 Unfortunately, the Bengals lost to the Texans. Hopefully they come back next year with some experience under their belts ready to play some great football!

Faces after the Bengals lost to the Texans ;-(

Overall, they both said it was fun trip!

Family Time at the Bob White

Over Christmas Break, we spent a fun day at the Bob White Club with the Grothaus Family. It was fun to show our kids a special place we spent many, many days at growing up. It was fun to share with them things from my own childhood and create new memories with them in the same place. Thanks to Uncle Eddie, Tristan, Myles, Mitchell and all the boy scouts for a delicious breakfast!

Great Grandpa, Austin & Randy chilling out by the fireplace.

Halle & Kimberly pointing to Great Grandpa & Grandpa Grothaus' badges

Lexus, Colin, Austin, Halle & Kimberly

As I look at the picture below, it reminds me of the many times we sat at the bar. I am glad my own children get to experience the outdoors and have an appreciation/excitement for all the things you can do in the outdoors. They will grow up knowing there is so much more than just TV, Wii, etc...

The first activity of the day was archery; all 5 kids got a chance to shoot a bow and arrow at the targets. They all did really well! Lexus has been asking for a bow, she really enjoys archery. (maybe for her b-day)

Randy showing Austin how to shoot.

Kimberly

Lexus

Halle and Colin

Second, we headed over to the Trap House. I love trap shooting, but guess I have gotten really rusty (only hit 1 out of 5). Somehow, I remember being better when I was a kid. Kimberly did a fabulous job hitting the button that released the clay birds.

Lexus, Grandpa and Martha shooting trap.

Last, we hit the shooting range to shoot 22's. The kids really loved this! For one, a 22 doesn't have a big kick like the other guns, and second it is pretty easy to load, line up your sites and shoot at a target and actually hit it a few times. Even Austin hit the target, with a little help from Mommy ;-) The night before we bought all 3 kids a starter gun to share. It can either be a 22 rifle or a 4-10 shotgun. The adults got to shoot a 38 pistol and a British gun my Dad owns (it sounded like a cannon going off).

Austin and Mommy shooting a 22 rifle.

Randy helping Kimberly get started.