Holiday Lights at ZooMontana

This year the zoo was able to put up their Christmas light display again. They haven't had it for a few years because of COVID. The day we went it was snowing and even more beautiful because of it! Merry Christmas!!

Wynns Hogwarts birthday year

Wynn turned eleven on December 6th! He wanted a Harry Potter themed party and Andy set up a quidditch court for him and his friends in the gym at the church. They played hard and had fun. Wynns favorite things right now are listening to audiobooks, reading non-fiction books about world war II, and photography. He's been taking tennis lessons and has discovered he really likes the sport. It's great that there are some indoor courts here so he can stay active during the winter. 

Christmas tree project

Andy got the kids each a little Christmas tree to put together. They had to solder the lights on individually. He helped each of them learn how to do it and they did a great job! I didn't get a chance to get a picture of Sydney and Wynn's since I want at home when they did theirs but they loved it too. 

WESTA conference in California

I had another work conference the following week in Foster City, CA. Grandma and Papa Shinsel came for a visit, so Andy got to go with me. Neither of us had ever been to San Francisco so we saw the main sights. We enjoyed our harbor cruise a lot and even got to see dolphins and a harbor seal. 

The next day we did the big red bus tour of the city and crossed the Golden Gate bridge at night!

Convention in Florida

I went to Fort Lauderdale for the CruiseWorld convention. The days were long with classes and meetings but the sunshine afterwards made it all worth it. I may have learned a thing or two as well. I got up early one morning and took a taxi over to the beach to get in a walk. I ended up at a state park right next to the beach. I read that manatees feed along the seawall there, but I didn't see any 😐. I've seen manatees before but never in the wild. I enjoyed the few days in the sunshine and the ocean breeze. 

Halloween 2022

We had a special ops Navy Seal, Belle and Yoshi this year for Halloween!! The kids enjoyed trick or treating at the zoo, the trunk or treat at church, and in the neighborhood. SO MUCH CANDY!!!

Museum of Ice Cream NYC

At the Museum of Ice Cream in New York City, Sydney and I had a ton of fun. It was basically a place to take lots of pictures, eat ice cream, and be weird, so naturally, Sydney loved it. Her two favorite rooms were the sprinkle pool and the playground room. The sprinkle pool was like a ball pit but instead of the balls being round, they were shaped like plastic sprinkles. This was probably the most innovative and completely different room, which was why it was so awesome. The playground room had a swing set, a jungle gym, a basketball hoop, a ping-pong table, and an actual (kind of) ball pit. Sydney loved this room because it allowed her to be a little kid again. My favorite room was the yellow room, which was completely yellow and honeycomb themed, which made us both so happy. It was like positivity was flowing from the walls and lightening our souls. The ice cream that they had was all Halloween and fall themed, and it was pretty good. It was so much fun!

 

NEW YORK CITY

 

Sydney worked for months to earn money to take a trip to New York City. Andy and I both went with her. Her favorite part was the Museum of Ice Cream, which she liked so much that it will be getting its very own post. Her outlook on life was forever altered by the sheer shock of the energy and smell of the city. She loved seeing three Broadway shows, Hamilton, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and Wicked. Harry Potter was her favorite as well as the Harry Potter New York store. We spent several hours in there completing a mystery quest and looking at all the fan gear and displays. It is hard to encompass everything we saw in New York in one post. She enjoyed riding the Subway because you got to go underground and it helped you move through the city quickly. Central Park was a nice escape from the smells and sounds of the city. It was the only place you could feel the real sunshine. We did a lot of souvenir shopping and checked out the big displays in the brand-name stores like LEGO, Hershey's, FAO Schwarz, and Disney. Even though she doesn't want to live in New York, she wishes  she could bring a few skyscrapers and Broadway plays to Billings :).