Wintery Weekend in Baku

We drove a couple hours north of Baku last weekend to get snow and this weekend the snow came to us! It's snowed a couple other times this winter in the city, but it usually doesn't snow more than one day and it melts pretty quickly.

This weekend however we got a pretty decent showing and the forecast is calling for more later this week. My Facebook feed today was filled with lovely pictures of everyone's snowmen and we jumped on board and made one as well along with throwing snowballs at our best friends!

The view Saturday morning when we woke up. However, most of it melted pretty quickly and it was adorable when Madi asked me at lunch "Mommy, where is the snow going?" when she noticed it was melting!

We stayed indoors most of the day playing and doing the girl's nails. :-)

Saturday evening brought snow that continued most of the evening and we awoke Sunday to more than we've had before and it was the best snow for playing in!

Love this picture of us! We seem to only have ones of Mads and Coops so nice to have the moms for once! ❤︎

And while playing outside the twins took advantage of being left alone inside to stand in baskets way too close to Mickey Mouse.

During the younger girls' naps we headed back outside with Madi to finish our snowman and add some accessories.

Back inside these two curled up adorably and slept the snowy day away!

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Shahdag Sledding Weekend

This past weekend was a three-day weekend so we decided to take advantage and head up to see some snow and do some sledding! We have had all the snow gear for ourselves since Norway collecting dust and goodness knows barnehage prepared us for all three girls to be warm in their wool!

We left Friday mid-morning for the three hour drive to our resort. We stopped around two hours for some lunch at the Rixos Guba hotel and got a chance to see some gorgeous snow. Seeing fresh snowfall on tree branches is one of my favorite sights!

After we arrived at the hotel we didn't waste anytime in heading out into the snow. Two things I learned quickly - 1. The people at barnehage (Norwegian daycare) who layer on wool, snowsuits, hats, gloves, boots, etc. for multiple children every day, twice a day - just wow. I feel like I should call Madi's old teachers in Norway and thank them for the work it takes. I did not realize now that we have multiple kids how exhausting just putting on the gear can be. 2. It is quite possible we spent more time putting said gear on and off then was spent outdoors over the weekend - HA!

That evening we had patience-testing wait for our food that ended up meaning dinner for two in our room after putting the girls to bed. But it's quite possible the tomato soup made it worth the wait.

Saturday we had breakfast and then headed back outdoors. We spent the entire day outside breaking only for lunch. The twins napped in their strollers like they used to every day in the Norwegian-cold and Jason got some one-on-one sledding with Madi. Olivia refused to walk in her snowsuit. Period. She sat grumpy in the stroller until after she saw both her sisters going down multiple times and having a blast. Then she started sledding, but unfortunately I didn't capture her on video (and just realized pictures either - fail!) like I did the others because my phone died. Madi also decided she wanted to go solo and after on successful run she totally ate it (captured on video of course) and needed a break. We got her to go back out again with us for a few more runs before she wanted to go solo again and ate it. I think she just isn't quite heavy enough to be able to steer (plus the steering isn't fab on those anyways). We told her she was brave to try again by herself, but that we would like for her to go with us the rest of the time. We got her to do a few more runs before heading back into the hotel to meet-up with friends for dinner and some time in the hotel's playroom.

Madi sledding with Daddy -

Evy sledding with Daddy -

Madi sledding solo successfully -

Madi sledding and crashing -

Impatiently waiting for their turns. Neither was happy I asked them to wait a few minutes for Daddy to take them. However hauling 50+ pounds of baby up the sledding hill to go down with them is hard work y'all!

After our fun in the snow we turned on Animal Planet and Liv was thrilled with the show Pandamonium, hehe.

On Sunday Madi said she didn't want to sled, but instead build a snowman so we headed out for a short bit before making our drive home. Once we were out though she wanted to sled and kept asking to ski after seeing kids on skis around her. We told her that the next time we go to the mountains she can try a ski lesson if she'd like. The girls did a few runs and Jason put Evy on the sled going solo (we were on a much smaller hill then in the videos from the day before).

It was not great snowman-building snow so just use your imaginations. And bravo to us for having carrots on hand as noses otherwise Madi's dreams of Frozen might have been thwarted - ha!

On the drive home we stopped in Shabran to stretch our legs and saw this gorgeous building. It's also a regular occurrence to see cars weighted down with fruit in every possible space, but this time we captured a picture of it. ;-)

Overall it was a wonderful weekend and a nice getaway to see some beautiful snow!

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Weekly Wrap-up: Video Edition

January is in full swing! School has started up along with Madi's tennis and swim lessons, my weekly Bible study, etc. But the most fun has definitely been watching the three of these girls. They are so joyful (I know, broken record here) and they entertain us nightly. So enjoy some laughter and a glimpse into the start of 2017 for us. :-)

First up - the scooter. The twins have decided that they are big enough for any activity that Madi does. Including, but not limited to standing on chairs, climbing the cat tower, and riding the scooter. They will stand patiently on it while Madi or one of us pulls them around the living room. Makes perfect sense.

1. "Mommy, take a picture of me upside down!"
2. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse entrancement...
3. Evy playing
4. Lazy cats
5. Lots of laughs on the mini trampoline!
6. Liv snuggles
7. Selfie with the Little Sisters
8. We tried a new restaurant by our house, but the girls were not in the mood. YouTube for the win.
9. Evy and Madi earning their keep by helping unload the dishwasher


Puzzles are all the rage in the house right now. And shape sorters. Really anything along those lines. Evy especially has taken to matching shapes. She loves this Mellissa and Doug animal puzzle she got for Christmas and can finish it pretty quickly. Jason thought it would be funny to turn it upside down on her and sure enough, the first time he did she went straight for the usual places and animals. After a second she stopped trying and flipped the board! So quick. I wanted to capture it on video, but by this point she knew our game.

1. Madi learning how to play Skip Bo during sisters' naptime.
2. Daily afternoon dose of Mickey
3. Cat. She has destroyed multiple toilet paper rolls this month. She's free to a good home.
4. Stylin' Liv
5. Trampoline tickles
6. Bedtime is still shot. Now they've stolen our chairs and just sit here with these looks on their faces while we dance and sing like monkeys for them.
7. Salads - we found amazing lettuce (a true rarity here) and now order weekly and love having them back!
8. Sweet bedtime snuggles
9. Madi is an amazing big sister and the twins love her so very much. Evy's eye say it all in this picture - she makes them laugh, smile, and they look up to her. So precious!


So remember when we went to the circus in December? Did we forget to tell you about the obnoxious noisemakers that Grandma purchased? Well here, don't let us deprive you of the wonderful experience. (Can anyone actually figure out what they toy is saying??)

And just in case you didn't believe me when I said that evenings were entertaining around here, I've got three more videos of spinning in circles until your dizzy and fall down, laughter when being smothered, and races with walkers.

And finally my favorite of the month so far - the best Daddy in the world balances all three of his amazing girls. We sure are blessed to have him!

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