All-Stars

Unless you've been living under a rock in Raleigh this past week, you're aware that this weekend was the NHL All-Star game here in Raleigh. Promised by the NHL many moons ago, it finally happened, and we were lucky enough to participate in some of the activities. Eric and I wore our 2000 All-Star jerseys to both the skills competition Saturday and the game on Sunday, and got lots of comments. We even posed for pictures with a bunch of drunk Canadians.

Madeleine had been feeling under the weather, but I wanted them to get a chance to participate somewhat in the weekend since odds are it won't happen again in their lifetime. Sunday morning we went down to the convention center for the NHL Fan Fair. We didn't stay too long and only checked out a few things as it was getting warm in there, and they were getting bored.

As you can see below, the girls LOVE sticking their heads through picture-taking things.

And we stood in line for well over an hour to try some of the hockey drills. Lily actually gets one here.

But, the girls' most favorite part is always the mascots and characters. Here they are stalking Ronald McDonald on the way out.

Shoe Fetish

I took the girls shoe shopping on Saturday at Stride Rite. I usually wait for their Buy One, Get One half off sale. But this year they came up with a 25% off coupon. Since that's essentially the same thing, we headed out. I am not a shoe person, so it amuses me that the girls actually get excited about going shoe shopping and suggested it.

Madeleine's always had feet a half size bigger than Lily. When they were little, it was easy to just buy shoes in the larget size and pass them down. But now they're actually wearing them out and smooth on the bottom. So when we go shopping, everyone picks them. I'm lucky they only go up maybe a size per year.

We always go to Stride Rite and get measured. The guy who works at our local one is super-nice and good with the girls. He's been fitting them since they could walk and has been really good with suggesting styles and sizes. The second toe on both girls' feet sticks up a bit, so I want to make sure the shoes aren't pinching them.

Madeleine picked the pink pair above.
Madeleine was IN LOVE with this purple pair. She was so disappointed when they didn't have her size. I did manage to find it online and order it when we got home though.

And I got them both these blue ones. Lily also got a non-glitter pink pair, but they've both enjoyed the compliments they've gotten on their new glitter shoes.

Winterfest

Outdoor ice skating is something I'd been wanting to try for years and hadn't gotten around to it. For some reason, I always assumed it would be crazy-crowded. This year the rink in downtown Raleigh is open past New Year's for the NHL All Star game next weekend, so I thought this would be a good opportunity since it has been so cold lately.

Now I know why it's never really crowded. Outdoor ice in Raleigh really sucks. Granted the outdoor ice I skated on growing up was only frozen puddles in the backyard, this was still pretty tough to skate on. Lots of ruts, and they couldn't even flood it because of a frozen hose. No worries though. Only about 5% of the actually rink attendees could actually skate.

But the girls had a great time, and we managed to stay about an hour. Madeleine was most interested in skating by herself.

Lily wanted me to hold her and see how fast she could go. She fell a lot more this time than last year, so she complained of a sore bottom because she "doesn't have enough tushie."

Madeleine passing a boy on the boards.

Lily and Daddy.

What a way to end the trip downtown - first trip to the Krispy Kreme at Peace and Person. Too many choices, but the best-tasting doughnuts in town.

(And Laura C - I did not intentionally copy your outing this week - it just worked out that way :))

The Deed is Done

After noticing Madeleine's tooth was loose on December 16, it's finally come out. She really started messing with it herself this week, so I think that's helped out a lot.

Daddy attempted to pull it out early in the afternoon with no luck. He tried again after dinner and it worked better that time.

Lily is very proud of her sister and can't wait to be next.

Happy New Year

We attended the First Night celebration downtown for the first time. The weather was dry and warm, so why not give it a shot? We made funny glassess...

Got a henna tattoo
Made fireflies
Hobnobbed with the acrobat circus

Made decorations for the mall

Left our marks on the Wall of Fame.

And watched the acorn drop and welcomed in the new year at 7 pm :)

Christmas Goodies

Chrismas was a joyous day around the Goodman household. Christmas Eve had us attending the Children's Pageant and Mass at Green Hope and eating snacks and opening presents at Grandma Sherry's and Grandpa Dave's. They had no problem going to sleep that evening. Everyone even slept until 7:15 am or so before waking us up.

The most anticipated gift of the morning was the Rapunzel tower that immediately needed to be assembled and played with.
After opening Santa's gifts, we packed up and headed out to Oak Ridge for a few days (see earlier snow post).

But what have we played with the most this holiday? Craft sticks and scotch tape. Here Madeleine is attempting to make a scepter (after playing the MobiGo Tinkerbell game).