I uploaded all of the Christmas-related pictures I have, so these are in no particular order. It was a wonderful Christmas season!
The kids did a much better job decorating their tree this year--the ornaments made it all the way around the tree and weren't just clumped near the bottom!
opening a present from Grandma and Grandpa on Christmas Eve morning
The only thing Harper asked Santa for was a "big princess doll", so she was happily surprised when he brought her TWO life-size Frozen dolls!
Santa brought Ryder a Lego robot kit that involves some basic coding to program what the robot does. Very cool!
Harper and "the girls"!
The kids picked out a road atlas and a book about the mountains for Andrew since he's slightly majorly obsessed with trips to our land.
Harper helped Andrew pick out a candle and some essential oils for me.
Harper and her friend Ceci at school right before winter break
Harper's holiday program at school. She's standing proud at the top left, in her cowgirl boots of course! :)
Harper (aka Wonder Woman) helped me make spiced sugar cookies for Santa.
Ryder picked out some hidden picture books and puzzles for Harper, and she chose a remote control car for him. They know each other so well!
Andrew thought Santa might appreciate this little bedtime snack. ;) Don't worry, the Wild Turkey was soon replaced with a glass of milk.
Harper and "the girls" eating coffee cake and breakfast casserole on Christmas morning.
Ryder loves his new stuffed snake that he found coiled under the tree.
a gift from the kids--ha!
Even Garcia got spoiled with some new toys for Christmas. Unfortunately he has already ripped this one apart and it had to be thrown away. :(
Two Annas
Hal wasn't sure what to think of Harper's new friends when they showed up at Pops and Grann's house for Christmas dinner!
an intense game of Clue
I was tired of "the girls" taking up the entire couch, so I had a little fun putting them in different places.
On Monday I took Harper for her annual well visit, and I'm glad of the timing of it because the doctor was able to check her out head to toe after her sick spell this weekend. I was afraid that maybe she had an ear infection that was lingering around after her congestion a couple of weeks ago, but everything looked clear! She lucked out and didn't get any immunizations since she had a low fever on Sunday. And instead of getting 4 shots before Kindergarten like Ryder did, the vaccines are now paired so she will only have to get two. We will go back in March for those!
Harper has been asking to go to the beach since we haven't been in a long time, so today I finally made it a point to take the kids for a little while before dinner. Andrew met us there, and we enjoyed just watching Ryder and Harper chase each other (and the seagulls!) around and dig in the sand. The water was FREEZING but of course that didn't stop the kids from getting in and swimming. Once the sun set, we headed home for warm showers and some dinner. As I sat in my beach chair, I just kept thinking, "Is Christmas really only six days away?" It felt like a beautiful summer evening!
Months ago we booked two camping sites for this past weekend. As the time got closer, I found out my holiday party for work was scheduled for Friday night. I really wanted to go to the work party because it was a holiday lights tour, and I love Christmas lights. Andrew and I decided that he would take the kids to the campsite and enjoy some time with Pops and Grann since they were camping on Friday night too. I would go to my work party and then meet up with everyone later that night.
Ryder woke up on Friday morning super congested and just feeling blah. Same thing that Harper had a couple of weeks ago. Since Andrew had taken the day off work to get our camping stuff together, we let Ryder stay home with him to take it easy and rest. They headed to the camp site mid-afternoon, so after work and school I dropped Harper off to join everyone and I headed to my holiday party. About twenty minutes into the trolley ride, I received a text from Andrew that Ryder had thrown up and really wasn't feeling well. :( I felt so sorry for my little man, but I was riding on a trolley and couldn't get to them until the tour was over. When I showed up at the campsite, Ryder was just lying in the camper van waiting for me--he said he wanted to go home and sleep in his own bed. I didn't blame him at all! So I took him and Garcia home, leaving everyone else there for the night.
Ryder woke up Saturday morning feeling much better, although he still didn't have much of an appetite, so we headed back to the campground. The kids played on the playground, the grown-ups visited, and we finally made breakfast around 10:30 or so. Steve, Ali & Maisie came shortly after, and we spent the day playing outside! Ali even brought some nature scavenger hunts that she had created to use with some of her students last year, so we modified them a bit for our little people. :) All three kids had a great time looking for insects, pine cones, leaves, and "evidence of humans" just to name a few. Before Pops and Grann left for the day, we gave Andrew his birthday presents. Maisie was disappointed that there was no cake, because "you have to have cake at a party." We told her we would have plenty of sweets and desserts next week for Christmas.
Garcia discovered that his tie-down would reach into the van and onto the bed. Ha!
We wanted to block the sun to keep it from blinding us at the table, so luckily Ali had brought this tapestry that Andrew made for her several years ago.
a cabin ornament for our tree
Ryder, reading by headlight.
Saturday evening we walked over to the "campfire circle" area of the campground where one of the rangers was giving a presentation on vultures. It was actually pretty interesting as she told us some interesting facts about the ugly birds--Ryder leaned over to me at one point and whispered, "I really like this!" He even raised his hand and asked a question during the Q&A part at the end. That's my boy! After our vulture lesson we made s'mores and eventually got everyone tucked in for the night.
I woke up in the middle of the night to Harper whining for me. I figured she was just disoriented, so when she said she wanted to snuggle with me, I brought her into bed with Andrew and me. Now remember, the mattress in the pop-top might be a double, so it was a tight squeeze. For a while we lay facing each other, and I remember thinking how restless she seemed--it took her a long time to just lay still and fall asleep. I rolled over with my nose against the wall of the van and fell asleep until I heard the unmistakable noise of someone about to throw up. I shot up and turned to see Harper throwing up all over my pillow. I moved her to the floor of the van, and as I tried to get the door open she threw up some more all over the floor. I was beyond grossed out, but my goal was to get her outside so I could turn on a light and survey the damage. Andrew is a heavy sleeper, but he hates vomit so much that when I woke him and told him what happened, he quickly moved off the bed so I could grab everything and stuff it into a trash bag. Once I had collected everything that had been "contaminated", I loaded Harper and Garcia into my truck and headed home. It was 3:30am, and I had never seen so little traffic on the road! We got home in no time, and I put everything into the washing machine on heavy duty extra rinse, gave Harper a quick bath, and went to bed. We slept in until about 9:30 since we had been up for a while in the wee hours of the morning, and Andrew and Ryder got home after cleaning the camp site and packing everything up themselves. It was definitely nice to have a lazy Sunday at home after a weekend like that...whew!
Ever since our vacation to the mountains this summer (and again to escape from Irma), we have all been eager to go back. In fact Andrew has been joking that he has "cabin fever", but meaning that he's caught the cabin "bug", not that he's stir crazy! We decided to spend the week of Thanksgiving in Blue Ridge, GA, and were fortunate to find a cabin available for the dates we needed it. We pulled the kids out of school Monday and Tuesday so we could hit the road early Monday morning. We were at the rental cabin by 4pm, and our week of fun began! Cool fresh air, crunchy fallen leaves, mountain views, and time together just the four of us made it a perfect week. I think we've found a new Thanksgiving tradition!
The novelty of sitting in front of a warm fire was exciting all week!
playing "restaurant"--Harper was taking Ryder's order for dinner
I love the irony of sitting in a bathing suit in front of the fireplace.
I couldn't resist taking a picture of the temperature before we hopped in the hot tub!
I enjoyed having my hot coffee on the balcony several mornings while wrapped up in a blanket...ahh.
We were pleasantly surprised at how many colorful leaves were still on the trees. It was beautiful!
Andrew cooked a batch of gumbo that we ate off of for several days.
We spent Tuesday and Wednesday on our property, hiking, exploring, and just enjoying the fresh air. It was easier to see the terrain since so many trees have already lost their leaves, so it was like a brand new view!
That's my girl, playing Barbie while sitting in the woods.
when nature calls 😉
crouching by the fire
collecting and breaking up some sticks
Where's Waldo Andrew?
Andrew was in his element, wearing camouflage from head to toe. He was definitely hard to spot if he walked too far away!
Ready to hike! He was still wearing the safety glasses that Andrew had him put on while they were target-shooting.
I thought this hollowed out tree looked cool.
a view from what will be a perfect cabin spot on our land
An original land survey from the '60s marked a beginning point of our land by describing it as the spot where there was "an iron pipe and a forked dogwood." Ha! Andrew used GPS coordinates to find what is supposedly the same spot.
This is the same humongous tree that Andrew and Harper hugged the last time we were there. It's just off the side of what could be a future driveway to our cabin, but it is technically on the neighbor's property. They had several big trees taken down recently, and it was sad to see this one gone. I didn't sit and count the rings, but it had to be extremely old!
Harper helped me make Nana's sweet potato casserole recipe. It's just not Thanksgiving without it!
Our Thanksgiving dinner! We ordered it online ahead of time from a local grocery store deli, and it was delicious! All we had to do was slide things in the oven to heat them through--my kind of cooking with very little clean-up!
Harper enjoyed every last bite and was the last one to leave the table!
Harper's second birthday celebration! She picked out this cupcake for her Thanksgiving dessert, and Andrew and I let her open the presents from us.
~the view from our bedroom balcony~
Andrew opened the curtains one morning and said "wow!" There was a blanket of fog in the valley, and it looked like a river!
wearing a new outfit while reading a new book--both birthday presents
Our "designer dog" enjoying time in the cabin.
We spent several hours in downtown Blue Ridge on Friday, doing some shopping and people-watching. At the place we stopped for lunch, this inflatable snowmen actually shivered, and the kids thought it was pretty funny. :)
a yummy lunch spot
Her butter was finger lickin' good!
Andrew's lunch: a brat and German potato salad
I love the name of this brewery, located in Blue Ridge. Perfect for Andrew! 😜
Harper wanted nothing to do with having her picture taken, but Ryder was a good sport!
Ready to dig in to some funnel cakes!
Do you think Ryder enjoyed his funnel cake?!
Ryder wanted to take a picture with the camera, so these two goofballs made crazy faces.
We really enjoyed the hot tub at our rental cabin. It felt AMAZING to soak in when it was 30-40 degrees outside. Getting out was not quite as enjoyable--brrr!
Harper caught a couple of different ladybugs during the week with her bug kit. One of them she named Rose and kept for about a day before setting her free. This one on her thumb might have been the one after Rose. I can't keep track!
Ryder and Harper each picked out a good walking stick to keep as a souvenir, and Andrew spent quite a bit of time carving their names into them and making notches for their ages. I was very impressed!
exploring in the woods
Although we had the rental house until Sunday morning, our original plan was to leave on Saturday to avoid major traffic and have a day at home before going back to work and school. But as the end of the week approached, none of us were ready to leave! Andrew and the kids convinced me we should stay one more day in order to enjoy the Christmas parade and holiday lights on Saturday. I'm so glad we did because the kids LOVED the parade! They saw Santa and Mrs. Claus arrive on the train, and once the parade started they sat and waved at every car or float that passed. It was a great way to kick off the Christmas season!
waiting for the train to arrive
When they blasted the horn, the kids couldn't believe how loud it was. Their eyes were HUGE!
Why am I the only one smiling? Once again, Harper wanted nothing to do with having her picture taken and Ryder just wanted to drink his hot chocolate.
(I love the bite marks around the lip of her styrofoam cup).
They were laughing and running around until the parade began.
Harper, the "blur"!
Garcia is such a good sport in the car, whether Ryder is putting headphones on him...
