Oh-Bla-Di

It’s been nearly a month since we celebrated our daddy all Hallmark-like around here, but we couldn’t let a whole year go by without saying all the reasons we love him!

We love Daddy because…

he shares his toys with us (even the expensive, fancy ones) and…

he lets us explore exciting new places and…

he teaches us important life skills and…

he lets us open his presents and…

he always has room in his arms or time on his hands for a snuggle.

We love you, Daddy!

*Finally getting around to catching up on our Kansas trip at the end of May.  I think I could write a whole blog on the study of how time flies!*

Just one month after our roadtrip to Texas, we climbed back into the Blue Blur and set off for the Land of Oz.  We chose to  follow I-70 this time since the mountains would be passable this time of year.  It was a very pretty drive and largely uneventful since both kiddos were relatively healthy this round.  We rolled in to my folks’ house by noon on Saturday and got to enjoy a whole afternoon of outside relaxation before we ever even ate a meal!

Ava settled right into outdoor roaming and busting out every toy Granddad had set up for her.  Wes’s daughter, Denim, was home for the weekend, so we got to meet her for the first time.  Noah and Denim are only about eight weeks apart in age, so they fell right to the baby-sized work of  stealing each other’s binkies and staring at one another.

Sunday morning we got all gussied up and took some family photos…

And then Monday, we hit the road to go visit the farm for Memorial Day.  We had a great picnic, in spite of the howling Kansas wind and the nearly-unbearable heat.  We had a lovely time seeing our cousins (Ava talked about nothing else for the week before we left) of both the original and new generations.

After all the excitement of driving halfway across the country and then the trip to the farm, we were pretty content to spend the rest of the week just putzing around with Grammie and Granddad at their house.  We played “Ariel” over and over again, fed the birds, climbed the climbing wall, rode the swing, and had a picnic lunch at the duck park.

Grammie & Granddad hanging out with “Ariel” on the porch swing.

Granddad & Ladybug Girl doing morning “chores.”

Noah just chilling in a chair perfectly sized for him.

Relaxing on the patio.

Going for a bike ride.  Huge advantage to taking the van…lots of cargo room!

We didn’t travel far from the folks’ home this time, so didn’t gather much in the way of souvenirs.  But, Matt managed to find something to bring home when we stopped the gas station in Lincoln to use the restroom on the way to the farm.

And here’s Ava modeling the front of that glorious hat for us.

That one’s a classic, I’d say.

Of course, a roadtrip this year wouldn’t have been complete without a trip to see a medical professional for Noah’s ears.  He spiked a fever Tuesday afternoon and we got to experience yet another parenting first…a trip to the ER!  McPherson doesn’t have an urgent care facility, so the ER was our only choice for instant care.  I’ve heard horror stories of ER visits from other mommies, so was delighted to find the ER nearly deserted at 5:30pm and the staff to be agreeable and helpful.

Just because we stuck close to home didn’t mean that we stopped having adventures, though.  In addition to the trip to the ER, we had some after hours fun as well.  Matt & I got to go on a double date with Aubrey and Lance one night and then another we had a patio campfire with Grammie & Granddad.  Ava got to make and eat her first s’more and then, after Ava’s bedtime, we adults got to have our own fun.  Who says booze and fire don’t mix?  Even Grammie thinks it’s fun to spit whiskey on a fire!

All in all, this trip was a “blazing” good time.  Thanks for the fun, Grammie & Granddad!  See you again soon!

I have a ton of pictures to share of Christmas Day around here.  So, rather than typing thousands of words to describe them, I’ll mostly let them speak for themselves.  Suffice it to say, though, that we had a lovely day.  Ava was thrilled to find that Santa had brought her the purple present that she asked him for, and Noah discovered that he could blow raspberries on his very first Christmas.  Thanks to the magic of Skype, we even got to open presents with both sets of grandparents.  Highlights for me were watching Ava try out her new dance stuff (girl’s got some moves!) and watching Ava & Matt play with the new RC boats in the pool.

Here’s the photo recap of a really great day:

Noah woke up super early, so we got some good cuddle time in before Ava woke up.

Whoozers slept in on Christmas Day.  7am!  Clearly she doesn’t quite get it all yet.  

Thrilled to find her purple present,with a bow, that turned into candy!

Opening her stocking.  She eventually opened all of them for us.  Such a good helper.

Twizzlers for breakfast.  Whoozers is truly her mother’s daughter.

All mornings should start with mimosas, I think.  LaCroix is a great champagne substitute for Ava’s drink.

Happy baby boy on his first Christmas!

Noah’s first bear from Mommy & Daddy.  His is named Jack.  Ava’s first bear was called Jill.  

Trying on her new ballet shoes

Dr. Who T-shirts for everyone this Christmas!

Both kids received a bunch of books this Christmas.  Every time we opened one, it had to be read immediately!

Opening presents is tiring!

New tap shoes!

Pretty ballerina

We spent the bulk of the afternoon enjoying our new toys and just hanging out.  Matt and I never got out of our pajamas!  We played several rounds of Ava’s new Memory game and spent some time putting together a new Playmobil set.  (Special shout out to Cousin Laura, who sent this great Christmas set all the way from Germany!)

When we were all played out, we settled in with some popcorn to enjoy one of Ava’s favorite gifts…Beauty & the Beast!  Thanks to several viewings of the movie in the last couple of days, her “Belle” skirt from Grammie is now getting lots of use.

Settling in to watch Beauty and the Beast.  The perfect end to a wonderful day!

Merry Christmas!

We have a lovely tradition going for Christmas Eve.  We fix an awesome steak dinner (completed with twice-baked potatoes & green bean casserole), invite some lovely friends to join us, and then, as we sit down to the table, finally take the big sigh that means it’s really and truly Christmas.   There’s something cathartic about this meal.  After all the rushing around this season sometimes brings, once we sit down to the table on Christmas Eve, we get to hit the pause button on our lives.

Also?  It’s when all the picture taking starts.  

After we enjoyed watching the carousel go round and round (very popular with the 16 month set)…

…we wrangled the kiddos for our obligatory Caspers/Hoffmans kiddos in front of the tree photo.  Here’s last year’s.  How time flies.

Since it’s just the eight of us for dinner, we get to stick with just dinner and then break up the party in time for each of the families to do our own traditions at home.  After the Hoffmans left, we set out cookies for Santa and read ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas.

Then it was time to nestle our children into their beds to wait for the big guy to come for a visit.  With a baby in the house, there was no long winter’s nap for us and Christmas day started early!  More soon!

From our family to yours, with love, Merry Christmas!