When we got back from my parents’ house after the New Year, it felt like we hit the ground running! January was full of fun for all of us.
Early in January, it was Maelle’s turn to take Mr. Snuggles, her preschool pet, home for the weekend. Luckily, we already had a few fun things on our calendar, so we made sure to take photos of Mr. Snuggles having a blast. Maelle and I joined some friends at an indoor play place one morning, so Mr. Snuggles got to join her in the ball pit.
That weekend, Maelle was invited to a horseback-riding birthday party! SO FUN. SO COLD. The kids got to take turns riding the ponies, standing on the back of a giant black horse (!!!) and chasing some alpacas around the ring. It brought back major memories from my childhood, as I rode for many years as a kid and early teen. I must have asked my parents for a horse every birthday and Christmas for a decade! I now understand why it was a hard ‘no’ every time. Ha!
Maelle LOVES puzzles. She basically does almost every single one she owns every day. I enjoy doing them with her, and don’t mind seeing them put together all over the floor…as long as we don’t lose any of the pieces! She can do 100-piece puzzles by herself, and she helped me with a larger one after Christmas.
We love watching the Bills play, so I decided to start making some fun food for the games. We had DIY pizzas, homemade wings and even tacos, but our favorite side item was the white-chocolate drizzled potato chips! They are super fun sprinkled with pop rocks (!!!) but ordinary sprinkles will do. I actually had some pop rocks, but not enough, so I did both. I saw the recipe on Molly Yeh’s Instagram and had to try it. They did not disappoint.
We joined some good friends down in Ellicottville one weekend and Maelle tried skiing! She loved the magic carpet (but was sad that it didn’t fly) and was able to go down the bunny hill a couple times. It was a great chance for her to try it out, and we’re hoping to get her to Emery Park here for a few runs before winter is over.
Toward the end of January, we celebrated Chinese New Year with the Nyes. We missed the event last year, as it conflicted with our make-up Christmas at my parents’ house, and we were glad to be able to attend this year. It was a huge gathering with 20 people! Maelle enjoyed the sparklers the most!
Here’s hoping we’ll get some more snow before winter is over!
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