Grannie wanted to do something “Santa-y” this weekend for the kids, so we found a Brunch with Santa… Unfortunately I think it might be the last year to see Santa—neither one wanted to sit on his lap (though honestly, neither has ever loved the idea) but they agreed to stand at his side. They did enjoy the crafts afterwards, though. 🙂
It only took 44 years, a kid who loves Legos, grandparents who were willing to buy the set and the electronics 💗 and a last-minute extra set of tracks to fit around the tree stand… It ended up needing some parental intervention [to get the power hooked up correctly and the tracks in an approximate circle] but Owen did the bulk of it.
I was out shopping today and ran across this game.
Holy cow the memories came flooding back!
I kicked ass at it back in the day when my cousins and I each got it for Christmas. (Google tells me it came out in 1982, which is about exactly when I thought it was—I guessed I was around 8 or so.) This is what the box looked like then.
I asked on Facebook if anyone remembered it, and my cousins did—and amazingly, said her kids played the very game a short time ago!! I wish I still had mine, but I wasn’t about to pay $17 for it. 🙂
And this is what I look like:
😳😭
The only positive is now, according to my own previously set rules, I can officially listen to Christmas music. 🎄
Nick and Gracie making Christmas M&Ms (the rest went into Lisa’s monster cookies).
Just a few brats to cook…
All the kids like to fish but they say Aubrey is the one who loves it the most and is the best at it. She apparently gives lessons to other kids at their house!
Katie caught a fish!
Someone took an unplanned jump into the river (learning you can’t walk on lily pads):
Drying off…
I think this picture is a tradition.
And the mandatory annual family Christmas photo! Every year they give us grief about taking it… And this year with the craziness of the move I didn’t post it immediately and they were all asking about it!! So there. :p
And the annual kid comparison—Katie is getting closer to Aubrey but Aubrey is still ahead (which should be the case, as she’s almost 9). And as usual, Owen is definitely taller than Gracie…
But I think he beats Nick this year!!
Last year:
More fishing!
After a campfire and s’mores it was time for bed. The kids decided to all sleep in the living room… Poor Timmy. 🙂
Don’t Buy My Kids More Toys. Try This Instead. From ScaryMommy.
Hallelujah and Amen.
Let me give you some advice of what you can do instead: Just spend time with them. Take them out for ice cream, or a date to the zoo, or even to the park down the street. They will love that more than any toy, I promise. They will remember it longer too.
Our kids just had a birthday party and got lots of gift cards. The plan is to let them but one thing and then trade them experiences for their cards. Would you rather go to Target and get a Barbie or would you rather go to the zoo? A new Lego set or a baseball game? Fingers crossed my plan works.
When you’re cleaning your bedroom and you happen upon a Christmas present that you left inside something else so it’s like Christmas all over again.
We got the kids the LEGO City Advent Calendar Building Kit so after they had opened all the doors and built everything we asked if they wanted to do it again next year…because if they did, we had to sort all the pieces and take everything apart. They said yes. So I tasked Katie with that job to keep her out of my hair while I started putting away Christmas decorations. She did amazingly well! 🙂
She did it! She finished Rapunzel’s castle!!
The first was a Christmas present from Grauntie Marge—a supermarket!
I only had to put about three pieces together (and I had to keep prompting her) but she did it!!
The second one was a present from Gramma Jean—Arial!
Owen’s Lego Mixel Max (a bigger monster Mixel built with all three packs of the set) with assorted evil minions he created from the remaining pieces.
“Okay, now take a smiling picture!”
Santa brought Katie a Frozen Cookie Mix kit so we had to do those IMMEDIATELY. The tiny snowflake pieces were a pain in the butt and they look like a total FAIL but they were delicious.
We set the kids’ phones outside their rooms so they will stay up there until we get up at 7. 🙂 Then they come in and cuddle for a few minutes while mommy wakes up (daddy has already been up for at least an hour). Then it’s downstairs to check out what Santa left… I didn’t take many pictures this year.
A tiara from Grannie and Papa.
A Lego train for under the Christmas tree from Grannie and Papa (complete with all the electronics to make it run!).
Princess shoes from Santa!
Charlie right in the middle of things!
Owen in his MSU hat from Grannie and Papa—we all got one! (It was a very MSU Christmas, which we all loved!)
Katie’s Elsa cape (from Santa!) and wearing her princess shoes!
Trying to get them to sit still with their new hats from Grannie and Papa:
Owen’s favorite gift this morning—a whole box of Pokémon cards! 🙂
We moved the video camera in the living room to hopefully catch something…and we did! The kids LOVED it! SANTA’S BUTT!! 😆
Opening their one gift the night before (they both happened to pick a book).
And then some silliness trying to get a picture of them with Santa’s cookies.
Me and Heather, the hostess with the mostess.
The White Elephant gift of the salmon plank has a long and sordid history. It should end sometime in 2019 or maybe slightly before.
The whole group!
We were dressed for a friends’ Christmas party so we took some family pictures!
We made salt dough ornaments at our friends house the other day and went back tonight to paint some of them.
I’ve been wanting to do this…so since this is our last winter here it was now or never! ICE!® featuring Christmas Around the World — We told Katie we were going to see an ice castle so she was totally on board. 🙂
Experience the magic of more than TWO MILLION pounds of hand-carved ice sculptures and slide down two-story ice slides. All kept at a chilly 9 degrees! Delight in the celebration of cultures through holiday scenes and travel to the North Pole to see Santa and his elves.
They give you parkas to wear OVER your own coats.
Now, I grew up in Michigan. I know 9° weather. I’ve lived in 9° weather. And let me just say my body no longer likes 9° weather. EGADS was that cold. I’m very glad they gave us the extra parkas…
Waiting for the ice slide!
The ice slide!
And this is where my phone died from being too cold. It had only been out 12 minutes! Thankfully Tom’s had been under all his coats so he got his out and his worked better in the cold.
The kids liked it but it was really quite cold. I have to be honest and say I rushed through a bit faster than I’d planned because I was FROZEN. OF course after you exit, the outside 34° felt like a sauna! Then it was back inside the resort where they had lots of things set up to siphon away your money like photos, hot chocolate, mini carnival rides, Build-A-Bear, cookies with Mrs. Claus, etc… Katie really wanted to ride the tea cups and since I’m all about either of them learning to like rides, we spent the $5. She enjoyed it.
Then since it was lunch time and we were close to a yummy restaurant…we went to Succotash (it’s where we ate lunch before the USMC ball). The kids had a bit of hat head. 🙂
And then after we left we drove around National Harbor Pokemoning for about a half hour!!
Overall I’m glad we went…but it was a big chunk of money for what it was.
Our friends invited us to the Fort Belvoir Officer’s Club for Brunch with Santa! It was a bit of a disorganized hot mess in my opinion, but the kids got to see Santa and the food was pretty good. The best part was the company!
Comparing 2012…and now.
