We had such a great Christmas break, visiting my family in NC. First up was Becky's house in Charlotte. Then a mini-college reunion in Pinehurst. Then we retired to my parents house in Clemmons, NC for 5 days.....
Abby was happy to see O'Malley (the dog), I was happy to relax & let my parents entertain the kids for a few days, and Nate was oh.so.excited to make bracelets from his new Rainbow Loom for everyone in the entire state of North Carolina :)
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| He has his Daddy's giraffe neck :) |
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| Bracelet power |
The kids had a ton of new toys to play with, and first up - by Nate's request - was the fort building set. Which, ended up being a bust b/c it was SO hard to put all the pieces together. I got about 4 pieces done before giving up, and then Greg & his elbow grease finished it out. Needless to say, this was the one & only fort we were gonna build all week!
Poppy was a trooper and happily complied with all of Miss Priss' demands. Even when it included playing "ponies and make-up" for an hour and then "hiding from the bad guys" in a makeshift fort :) That is one good man.
My parents took the kids to see "Frozen" one afternoon at the movie theater. Nate had already seen it but was happy to see it again. And Abby will go wherever popcorn & a coke are promised :)
That night, we headed to Arigato (a Japanese steakhouse), b/c Nate enjoyed the "ninja place" here in town so much on his birthday. I insisted on getting the kids "Shirley Temples" to drink, which is a (non-alcoholic) drink that my sisters and I loved as kids at Arigato. Memory Lane!!
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| Nate loved it; Abby not so much |
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| Happy to sit by Nanny at dinner |
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| Showing off their chopsticks |
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| My attempt at a "selfie" |
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| Nanny's first attempt at a selfie....hilarious! Turned out SO blurry haha |
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| Bromance at the end of the table |
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| The chef made SpongeBob out of rice!!! |
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The next day, Bec/Mike/Anderson came into town and we met up at the Children's Museum downtown. I had been there before with the kids and N&P, but it was Becky and Greg's first time. It is a bit overwhelming b/c there is so much to do! But I think all the kids (and adults) had fun.
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| SO happy to be a Krispy Kreme assembly line worker. Future career!? haha |
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| "Here's a treat, Anderson!" :) |
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| Nate LOVED counting all the (fake) cash from the cash register |
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| Taking a breather |
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| I swear, this man can take a nap ANYWHERE |
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| "She came in like a wrecking ball....." |
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| She was scared to death to climb up this thing..... |
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| ....but Nate did it.... |
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| ....Daddy encouraged her.... |
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| ....and she did it too!! Hard to see but that is Abby & Nate talking at the top! |
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After naptime, we got in some more playtime with our favorite cousin! Anderson had never seen a "fort" before and was a bit confused at first. But Abby persuaded him to come inside! #cousinlove. #firsthashtagever.
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| Anderson preferred to play hide-n-seek with the sheet, ha! |
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| 3 maestros |
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| Taking O'Malley for a walk |
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| Hula hoop diva |
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| Playing "Horse" (or Double Dare) with Aunt Bebe |
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| Anderson's favorite new phrase: "Dunk It!" :) |
For some reason, this kid is obsessed with Uncle Greg. No offense to Greg b/c he's obviously good with kids. But he just doesn't play/interact with Anderson a ton. Well, apparently Anderson doesn't care b/c I think his 3rd word ever was "Greg." And to this day, he says it a ton and lights up when Greg is in the room. It is beyond cute!
On New Year's Eve morning, we headed to IHOP with the whole clan - minus a sleeping Greg - and had a wonderful breakfast. Anderson shared his favorite new phrase "Crazy Poppy" and said "Hola amigo" to our waiter over and over. (Yes, he was Hispanic and yes Anderson is a fan of Dora. Hilarious.) Then we took a quick trip to the -freezing! - park before Anderson had to head back to Charlotte.
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| Hot chocolate in REAL MUGS to warm up once we got home! |
Nate worked tirelessly all day on this glow-in-the-dark lego set from Nanny & Poppy (it's called Laser Pegs if anyone cares.) And this one set can make 12 different creations! So cool! We opted for the Indy Car racer first :)
On New Year's Eve, my dad and Greg have a tradition of running a 5K race at midnight. (Yes, you read that right. They are insane.) I have run it once in my life but ever since having kids, I prefer my own bed at midnight to running 3 miles in the freezing cold. Nevertheless, it is a tradition for them and who I am to deny that!? This year, only Greg ran it b/c my dad has been having foot issues (plantar fasciitis is the PITS!) Needless to say, I didn't get any pics of Greg at the race b/c I was at
home like a normal person and sound asleep. Here is a pic of the ugly
a$$ shirt he got though! :) And apparently he placed 3rd in his age
group. Go Greg!!
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| These two, up to no good :) |
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| Making a homemade poundcake with Nanny - family/secret recipe! |
Another tradition over Christmas is going to see the "Festival of Lights" at nearby Tanglewood Park. This is quite a sight to see, but since I've seen it the past 20 years, I'm not as impressed anymore, ha! The kids, however, love it and ask to see it every year. We drive through the park and usually have to wait up to an hour to get in. However, this year, we went on New Year's Day, which is the last day it's open. No lines AT ALL, it was great!
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| The kids got "hot" and decided to put their heads out the windows like dogs. |
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| Which nearly gave Poppy a heart attack. |
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We left NC early on the 2nd and headed to TN to see Greg's family......our last leg of the world tour....the kids were sad to leave N&P but excited for Christmas #3....
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