North Carolina Family Time

It was really great to spend time together as a family of four!

The only family picture we got on the trip...whoops!

Daniel booked us a fabulous Airbnb right on the lake

He had the condo set up perfectly by the time we got there!  He had a pack n play and even a Christmas tree to make it really feel like home away from home.

He put one twin mattress on the floor beside the other twin mattress....

creating the perfect jumping zone!

Unfortunately the jumping zone turned into a danger zone when Niko threw himself into the nightstand.  Luckily there were enough pillows to prevent any further injuries!

We got to see some rain, and even big fluffy snowflakes on Christmas day!

The boys just wanted to be close to daddy

We enjoyed being able to spend Christmas morning together

Unfortunately, one of Alexander's gifts was shipped to Alabama instead of North Carolina, but he was pretty excited when Daniel showed him what it was!

While North Carolina was a bit of a shock with how little precautions they took with COVID (and I thought we were kind of slack over here!), we made the most of our time and did our best to social distance without isolating the whole trip

We had a really fun ice cream and playground date with the Daffins!

We have both added second baby boys since I last saw Lindsey before we both left Florida.

Overall, our time with daddy gets two thumbs up!

I'll Be Home for Christmas

 

If home is where the heart is, our home this Christmas is in North Carolina!

The last time we were all together, we had a crawling baby and a four year old.  Things sure change fast!

A Birthday to Remember

 My little Potatoes has grown into an amazing FIVE year old!

In our small group of park friends, we have five December birthdays out of nine kids!  Rather than trying to figure out pandemic birthday parties, Jennifer became the mastermind behind Decemberfest, a progressive party to celebrate all our December kids.

We started in our spot- the park- for a series of relay races.  The kids all had a blast!

From the park, we headed to my backyard to decorate gingerbread houses.

Gammie came up with this activity and together we worked out the kinks for construction out of school lunch milk cartons. 

After gingerbread houses we went to Jennifer's yard to bust a piñata and then to Lisa's where we sang to each birthday kid and blocked the wind as best we could for candle blowing.

Alexander chose to do a monster truck cake and I let him take over the design completely.  We were pretty excited with how it turned out!

He wanted to add the ambulance on the side...just in case

Craig and Heidi came to Vegas for our own family Decemberfest, since my birthday is the 8th, Heidi's is the 9th, and Alexander's is the 15th.

We had an amazing night out for the grown up birthdays

Heidi and Allison found a mouth-numbing, taste changing, off the menu cocktail for us to try at the Champagne Bar at the Cosmo

I think I will make it an annual tradition to have dinner on the balcony at the Bellagio during the Christmas season.  They run the fountain show more frequently and set it to Christmas music.  It is an incredible experience.

Heidi lost her phone, and with it, most of our pictures from the night...

Thankfully I captured this gem

Mask Life!

The boys were thrilled to have Creidi to visit!

We love having them here are I was amazed by how patient both of them were with the constant play and activity that my boys wanted out of them.

Luckily the birthday bounce house we got Alexander helped burn some of their energy!

We were so glad Bryan and Anne could join us for Alexander's birthday dinner.  I don't think Bryan has ever missed one...even flying across the country to Disney two years ago to celebrate Alexander.

Alexander's actual birthday began with a game of Jenga (thanks Grandpa!)

And ended with a playdate with Alexander's best friend from school.  They bounced and decorated dinosaur cookies and made an absolute mess of his room.  It was a blast.

We also had a special treat with getting to see the Pryor's on their cross country move.  We had a great, socially distanced, visit and were able to celebrate two more December birthdays between their daughter, Joanna, and Laura's mom, Rachel!

Being born in the hap-happiest season of all is definitely something to celebrate!