Christmas vacation to Plymouth

OK, it wasn't a huge vacation, just one extra day, but always so much fun!

The kids opened gifts from KK and Grammi and Bean on Christmas night.  As if they didn't get enough!

Grammi and Bean got Natalie a Zhu Zhu pet, which was a big hit.  AND she got a super cool personalized Dora book, which tells of great adventures of Dora and her friends Natalie, Grant, Gaby and Julia!  (Gaby and Julia are her friends from school!)

The day after Christmas, the Fitch's joined us for the big holiday dinner.  Look at GoGo, such a good sport sitting at the kids table!  GoGo left not long after Christmas for his semester at sea with Mass Maritime Academy.  You can follow his voyage here!  http://www.maritime.edu/seaterm/  As of the end of January, they have already been to Costa Rica, Ecuador, and through the Panama Canal! 

If there is music playing, little buddy is dancing.  He always gets the gold star at Maureen's when Sheila comes for singing and dancing time.  He is the FUNNIEST and CUTEST dancer!  Here he is in Grammi and Bean's kitchen, dancing with daddy!

Christmas 2011

It's Christmas!  It's Christmas!  Both kids were not as into it as I thought they would be... but it was still way fun.  I really should say NATALIE wasn't as into it as I thought she would be.  I thought for sure at 4 and a half, she would be psyched.  But it was pretty typical for her- it took her 10 minutes to get through the stocking, and then after about 2 gifts, she was ready to be done and just wanted to play with the two things she had already opened! 

Natalie painted Van Gogh's Starry Night for us at school and gave it to us for Christmas!  It was my favorite gift, by far.

And that's saying something because I got a sweet pair of red, white, and blue inov8s.  These shoes are the bomb, FLite 195s.  I actually prefer the 230s but you can't get those in these awesome colors!

We are really dorks.  If you think CrossFit won't change your life, think again.  Inov8 shoes and this big thing! Todd was thrilled with this fermentation pot that he got from my parents!  I think that was his favorite gift.  He's already got a big batch of sauerkraut in there!  I was hoping that by getting a fermentation pot, that meant I would be getting some ... ahem... fermented beverages!  Alas, I was sorely mistaken.

Little buddy got a Hess truck that has a little speed racer on top of it from Nana and Pop Pop.  He was so happy, it's still one of his favorite presents.  You can see here, he had little interest in much else.  He loves laying on the ground and racing his cars around (look like someone else you know Cory Swales???)

Speaking of Uncle Coco and Aunt Brie, they got him this Big Book of Things that Go.  I mean, you would have thought they gave him a ... well, a book of things that go!  He couldn't get enough of this.  We have to read this on a daily basis.  Please note the chaos that is our living room.

Time to stop and have a Christmas morning breakfast break!  Keeping it real with eggs and bacon.

Grant had to immediately get back to his reading.  He couldn't put this classic down!

Natalie finally came back to opening presents, and had a great Christmas!  We asked her what her favorite gift was (right after everything was opened) and she said it was the Strawberry Shortcake Berry Cafe set she got from Nana and Pop Pop.  They did better than Santa did this year!  Above, she's opening their gift.

Yep.  He's STILL reading the book.  Check this out guys, it's a digger!  (Or as he says, a 'deeeger!') Merry Christmas everyone! 

Christmas Eve 2011

On our way back from church, we break out the reindeer dust. You don't want Santa, Rudolph and the gang to bypass your house just because they couldn't see it, now do ya??? No way. So you sprinkle some reindeer dust on the ground and the reflection of the moon on the glitter lights the way to our house. Here's Natalie taking a toss...

Santa Grantie ran around the house in his holiday gear, and boy was he cute!

After dinner and bath, the kids got in their jammies and Daddy read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. Grant lasted about 1 sentence, and darted for the play room. Natalie really likes the story though. Here, they are saying, "And laying a finger aside of his nose..."

Naturally, we have to leave Santa a note, as well as some egg nog and a cookie. We heard Santa might want to try paleo, so we didn't want to leave too many cookies for him. Natalie's note says, "Santa, We've been good. Love, Natalie and Grant." Please note the beautiful bubble letters that my daughter did, despite the fact that I had no idea she could do so.

And when I woke up in the middle of the night to see if Santa had been there... he HAD!

Thanksgiving 2011

Where is the time going???

So this year, I had it all planned out.  We were going to have our holiday card pictures taken at JC Penney on the Sunday before Thanksgiving.  The cards would be in the mail by December 3.  But then the day before we were scheduled to have our pictures taken, Grant came down with a stomach bug.  Even our trip to Florida, where we were scheduled to leave on Monday before Thanksgiving, was in jeopardy. 

But he recovered quickly, or so we thought!  We made it to Florida Monday afternoon, but by Monday night, Grant was sick again.  On top of it, he and I both came down with a cold.  But thankfully no one else got the stomach bug.  Natalie and Daddy did a little swimming in the chilly pool (I think it was 74 degrees).

Little buddy didn't want anything to do with the pool, so he and Nana got to watch the garbage men pick up the trash, and they were so nice and even honked the horn for him!

Unfortunately this year, there weren't a lot of fish off the dock, even with the big light that my parents have to attract the bait.  We checked every night, which Natalie loved to do.  One night we saw a few fish, but nothing like what we saw last year.

Todd, Cory, Dad and Britt (Brie's sister) did a little golfing too.  You can't go to Florida, where temps were in the mid to upper 70s, and not golf!

Todd and I also ran our first ever official 5K.  Cory ran the 1 mile and Brie did the 10K on Thanksgiving morning.  The night before, we went out for a little Mexican.  You know, to carb up.  HA.

Unfortunately, when we got back, Grant had been sick again.  UGH.  We didn't get any pics of the 5K, because there's no where to put your camera, but Todd and I both set PRs, and I ran mine in about 29 minutes.  It was hard to tell because you start so far back of the starting line.  Last year, they kept the clock going, but this year, they didn't, so we figured it was about a minute after they shot the gun that we actually started the race.  The clock said 30:03 when I crossed the finish line, so subtract a minute and that was about 29 minutes.  Not too bad!

We took some nice family pictures on the dock too- one of all of us, and one of the four of us.

Next up was a trip to the beach one sunny morning.  Of course, poor Grant is also teething his 2-year molars.  So he chomps on his fingers a lot.  And his fingers were sandy.  Plus he hates bare feet in the sand.  Plus his sister stole his trowel, which was his only source of fun at the beach.  So after about 10 minutes, Grant and I went home.  But Natalie and Daddy enjoyed some time on the beach!

Above is the one picture I snapped of Grant and Daddy before Grant and I left.  Below is Natalie buried in the sand.  She thought this was really funny.

Mommy not only missed out on going to the beach, but she also missed out on going out on Pop Pop's boat.  Grant decided he didn't want to have anything to do with the life jacket this year.  And since it's a law that kids have to wear one, well... we just didn't go.  But Natalie and Daddy had fun with Nana and Pop Pop!

Pop Pop even let her drive the boat!!!!!  She took this very seriously, of course.

Finally by the weekend after Thanksgiving, Grant was feeling a lot better, so we went over to the Pfaelzer's house on the beach and got to play in their heated pool and had a cookout!  The Pfaelzer's lived next door to my parents since I was 5, and only recently did Mrs. Pfaelzer move to the beach.  Emma, Kriss and baby Coco live there (for now!) too!

Above, the guys swimming with their little ladies.  Natalie swam with just floaties and the assistance of a noodle, but eventually, she accidentally started swimming without the noodle.  She started panicking, but I was encouraging her by saying, "You're doing it!" and she got excited and started doggy paddling. 

I love the picture above.  Hey Ladies.  My name is Grant and I like long walks on the beach and fluffy puppies.

Little buddy didn't want to swim, but he liked hanging in the lounge chair with Pop Pop before the sun set.  He was funny- he whined the first 20 minutes we were there until we put his shoes on him, then he was perfectly normal and happy.  He hates not having shoes and socks on.

The next day, which was our last full day in Florida, it rained, was windy and kind of cool.  So the four of us went to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, the home of Winter, the dolphin who does not have a fin.  They made a movie about him called A Dolphin Tale, starring Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd and Harry Connick, Jr.  A doctor made a prosthetic fin for him, although in real life, he just swims around without it.  Here's Natalie and Grant checking him and his buddy Panama.

A little later, Winter was showing off for the camera.  That Winter is such a ham!

I know the picture below is blurry, but Todd and I thought this was HILARIOUS!  Run away from the shark Grant!  Run away!!!!!!!!

Until next year Florida, happy Thanksgiving!

Chippy, the Elf on the Shelf

Santa sent us one of his special elves this holiday season.  We named him Chippy, and every night, he flies back to the north pole to report Santa about how good or bad Natalie and Grant have been.  Then he flies back, and lands in a new spot every night.  One morning, we caught him with his girlfriend, Barbie...

Shout Out

I just want to give a shout out to Delta Air Lines, who dealt with our annoying peanut allergy so nicely this past weekend, even though we are all non-revs and aren't supposed to ask for special treatment.  On the way to Cincinnati for my grandma's 100th birthday party (more on that later...), they chose not to serve peanuts to everyone on the plane.  I mean, this was after a 4 hour delay that made us a half hour late to my Grandma's party, so the least they could do was not kill my kid, but I digress... On the flight back, they didn't serve peanuts AND they made a special announcement on the PA that my little guy had a severe allergy!  I kind of felt like a celebrity.  That plus the Woodford Reserve made that flight a lot less stressful.  Good times.

GG's 100th Birthday Party

My Grandma, Frances Swales, turned 100 on December 7.  100 years old.  Can you imagine the things she's seen in her lifetime?

Todd, the kids and I flew to Cincinnati on Saturday the 3rd.  Well, we tried to anyway- our flight was supposed to leave at 8 am.  There was a problem with the engine, so we never boarded, but instead, they announced they were flying in a part from (ironically) Cincinnati, and then we would be taking the plane that brought the part BACK to Cincinnati.  Since the 8 am flight was the only one of the day, they kind of had to get us there.  A bunch of people got on the non stop to Columbus, but we had a car waiting for us in Cincinnati so we decided to wait.  We didn't take off until 12:30, and didn't get to Cincinnati until about 2:30, about a half hour before the party started.  We all changed clothes in the bathroom (ah, memories of my childhood!) and quickly got our rental car.  The kids were surprisingly VERY well behaved, and slept most of the flight.  Of course, Grant woke up with conjunctivitis ... UGH.  It seems like it's never ending with him lately.

Above is a picture of the whole family- minus my cousin Patti.  My grandparents had two children, my dad and my Aunt Martha, who passed away in 2002.  She had 3 kids, Mike, Patti, and David.  And then of course, there's us!

Here is Grandma with me and the kids.  This is the first time she has ever met Grant.  She met Natalie once back in 2008.  The party was really fun!  There was a great big cake, and ice cream for everyone.  Brie's mom Darlene made this great poster of Grandma that everyone signed, wishing her a happy birthday. 

After the party, mom, dad, Cory, Brie and the four of us went out to LaRosa's for some dinner.  The kids were totally spent, and there was a long wait, but thankfully, Cory and Brie's hotel room was right next door. So we took the kids over there for about 20-30 minutes and watched some TV and played trucks.  It totally did the trick.  Since it was also Cory's birthday, mom and dad got him a cake.  Here we are posing with the cake... which would later slide down dad's jacket when he tried to pick it up.  No more post-party alcoholic beverages for you! 

We all got a great night sleep and since our flight didn't leave until 4 pm on Sunday, we got to go visit with GG again.  I love the picture below- it really looks like Grant and GG are having a lengthy conversation! 

Grandma even got a letter from President Obama and the First Lady Michelle Obama, wishing her a happy 100th birthday - very cool!!!

After our visit with GG, we went back to the farm to eat a quick lunch and let the kids take a quick (around an hour) nap.  While Todd and my dad went out to get some lunch for us, Natalie, Grant, Nana and I walked around the farm and went over to Mount Pleasant Cemetery, which is next door to my grandparents house. 

Here the kids are running around outside, right before I put their coats on them.

Coats required, it was chilly.  Hey, let's head over to the cemetery!

The conversation about the above picture went something like this: Me: "Natalie, please do not dance on the graves of deceased people!  It's disrespectful!"  My mom:  "Oh it's okay, that's so-and-so's grave and she's not dead yet!"  Oh, fantastic! 

A few minutes later, Ben came by on his ATV (he lives across the street, his grandpa is my dad's cousin, I think).  He came over to drop off some venison sausage, and Grant and Natalie got to sit on the ATV for a few minutes.  Ben was so sweet to let them sit there.  He even let them rev the engine!  Thought Grant might have a heart attack! 

After nap, we headed to the airport and had an uneventful flight home, thankfully.  Wish I could say that I stayed put for a few days... but the next weekend, I went to Atlanta for my friend Sally's baby shower.  She is having a baby girl, Maley Marie, in January!  I was only there for about 48 hours, but it was so good to see my friends Sally and Jen!!!!