A couple days before Christmas we went down to the Old Mill to catch a horse drawn carriage ride before hitting up happy hour at one of our favorite spots.
We got down there just in time and were lucky enough to get the last ride offered for the season. Lots of anticipation waiting our turn in line for Jerry the Horse. But, such a fun festive way to start our Christmas weekend.
We had a perfect simple Christmas at home this year. The only other time we have not traveled for the holidays was two Christmases ago when the boys were born and that was kind a blur in it's own way. It felt nice to not be on the road, able to cozy up at home and enjoy each other. The kids loved opening their Advent calendar each morning, all the build up for the special day was exciting, visiting Santa, ice skating, going to parks, cooking nice meals...just living our life as we do and loving it.
Xmas eve was spent with fun friends the Plantenbergs and their little Mae who is just a few days younger than the boys. It is crazy to try to wrap my mind around the fact that just two years ago these babies were still all squished inside our bellies. (see pics from 2009)And now, a fast two years have gone by and we have such independent, capable little people marching around telling us what is on their mind.
We did a repeat of that Xmas eve of 2009 with a mouth watering sushi feast again this year. The best roll made is credited to Eric with is tricky inside out sesame seed covered tuna, crab, mango, sweet potato cream cheese roll. YUM!
We put out cookies and carrots for Santa and his reindeer, read "The Night Before Christmas" and tucked Calvin, Jett and Piper in with hopes for dreams of sugarplums that night.
Thankfully they were all so tired that not a creature stirred until 7:15am Christmas morning.
We all went down together to see what Santa brought and it was so fun to see especially Piper's reaction to the two seated doll stroller she asked for. The boys were stoked about their remote control cars too. I was surprised that they were actually able to work the cars and when we skyped with my parents, my dad informed me that it was in there genes to be rock star remote controllers!
We took our time opening stockings one at a time (very hard for Jett to wait his turn), had an easy breakfast of cinnamon rolls, bacon and berries, then went back to passing out presents. Everything was open and ready to be played with by 11am. Santa's presents were by far the biggest hits, but the sticky octopus that slowing crawls down the wall came in as the next best entertainment. The kids spent probably 45 minutes throwing them up at the bathtub walls squealing with delight as it creepily crawled down the wall.
Lots of hugs, snuggles, thank you's and LOVE...and a little overwhelmed whining that I guess couldn't be helped from such a stimulation overload kind of day. I love our kids and am so thankful for their presence and energy in my life. I cant imagine my life any other way, these three kiddos make me smile.
Calvin and his new ladybug helmet
Me and Piper trying out my new yoga mat with a refreshing down dog.
Jett LOVES dolphins and whales and he adored his new stuffed humpback whale. It was so cute how excited he was when he opened it. And this new fuzzy friend has gone crib camping every nap and night since!
After nap we had two more big presents to surprise the kids with from Grammy and Grandpa Richard. A new 16" wheel bike for Piper and a spinning seesaw for the boys. Christmas was good to these three, what lucky little kids! Unfortunately it was too cold to play outside for long, but long enough for Piper to crash on the dismount a few times! All is good, her little legs will grow by spring and she will be ripping it up on the mt. biking trails. In the mean time the seesaw was fun for all three to bounce and bop on.
Christmas dinner was another fantastic feast of king crab legs and spinach artichoke dip...so simple, but oh so good. We are eating well at Camp Staley.
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