Wildcat Den

There is this incredible place about 15 miles from our house called Wildcat Den. It is a wilderness area filled with cliffs, caves, and in the winter very large frozen waterfalls.

This seemed like a nice, picturesque moment with Quincy playing in some water falling on his head.



Then I took a few steps back and asked Quincy to carefully but quickly GET THE HECK OUT FROM UNDER THE 500 pound sheet of ice ready to fall on his HEAD!





Here are some more pictures from Wildcat Den and some less life-threatening situations.

Quincy's latest artistic contribution to the world

This is Quincy's most recent creation. I love the scene on the top left. The other day Quincy told me that this is how he would deal with two robbers if he were ever put into such a situation. I have since framed this and taken it to work to ward off any would-be burglars.

The boys

Just a couple pictures of the boys.

Regarding the picture of Q, our good friend Bryan Smith said, "That picture of Quincy just says everything about why our kids get along so well." Yup - a little sweet, a little silly, and a lot of crazy! Never a dull moment!

A night of sledding

The other night the boys wouldn't go to bed so we decided to try to wear them out. It was about 9pm when we strapped on our winter clothes and ventured out to the backyard into the snowy night. We had a ton of fun sledding, making snow angels, and just enjoying the evening. After about an hour, a few snowballs in kids faces, much crying, and eventually complete meltdowns from exhaustion, the boys were ready to come in. They were practically out before their heads hit their pillows!

Rollerblader

Mel says that during the past few days Quincy has spent more time rolling than walking.

A little acrobatic bed kung-fu fighting

My favorite is Quincy's crossed forearm move a few down below.

He believes that this is quite deadly . . .

Strattostanza?

Any coincidence that Stratton's grandpa's name is George?

More Skating

Well, Quincy announced to us that he is addicted to ice skating. He said that he loves ice skating so much that that's all he wants to do. And truly, it seems like that is all that he does now. Luckily with -28 degree temperatures (ok, really only -2, but the weather channel said that it felt like -28 with windchill) we don't have to find a pond. He can skate his little heart out right at home. He doesn't even need to go out into the road - he can skate on the driveway, the grass, the gravel, the dirt - everything is covered with a layer of ice that doesn't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. It is cooooooooooold!


A happy skating day for Q-man.


Skating down the grass hill - yeah, he fell








Fell here too!


And he was looking so graceful : )


I think he found some bunny tracks, or maybe our friendly mice!


Giving the street a try


Definitely a different look than in the spring/summer


After a long day of skating


Mel and Quince getting Stratt bundled up

Skating on Snow from keelefam on Vimeo.

Last week we had an ice storm so Quincy took advantage by strapping on the skates and venturing out into the dark, cold night. You'll notice that he's not just ice skating on the driveway, but on the grass and pretty much anywhere. Because about an inch of ice fell it turned our entire yard into one large ice rink! And Stratton didn't want to miss out on the fun so he decided to bring the scooter out for a ride.

Note: You can watch the video above in a little better quality if you click on the HD button on the top right of the video once it is playing.

Sweatered Mom Mel

Special thanks to Nony and Grammie Judy for sweatering Melanie. I guess this makes it official . . . Melanie is a mom. But a very cute one, no?

The Boys

Here are a few pictures of the boys in the Iowa winter.

Tree

We finally got our tree up . . .






Yes, he is playing a guitar ornament and yes, that is a pick.

The Tree

We made a video for Nony with some of this video in it. When we were watching it the other morning Quincy said, "Well Mom, I guess I have my costume on don't I . . . sorry 'bout that."

Well, it wouldn't have been the same without Mr. Incredible helping set up the tree. I mean, how else could we have ever gotten that star up?