Life is busy. And crazy, and filled with so many wonderful memories and people and places.
It is always my goal to get the blog written within a week of a major event and yet that rarely happens. I didn't manage Christmas cards for the second year in a row, and the blog is a week and a half overdue, but I have been enjoying the moments!
Though we pass Goofy Golf at least three times a week, something about Christmas week brought the big green dinosaur to Potatoes's attention and he was adamant we had to play. So on Sunday before Christmas (what our minister called Christmas Adam, because Adam came before Eve....:D), we enjoyed a family game of Goofy Golf. Potatoes shot a hole in one on the first hole! He had such good form, we had a couple groups pausing to watch him putt. Watch out, Tiger!
We enjoyed a lot of classic Christmas activities and tried to keep the week low key, as Daniel had surgery to correct his deviated septum this week and needed to lay low and avoid rough housing.
Potatoes wanted to watch the classic Rudolph repeatedly and loved the Bumble especially.
Just a boy and his pup
Family tradition of homemade pizza on Christmas Eve
Than Potatoes helped daddy with making cookies for Santa. Unfortunately the first batch turned out a little flat, literally, so they had to make another!
On Christmas morning, we all actually slept in until after 7am, and finally we went in to wake Alexander up so we could all enjoy the surprises left by Santa together. I love this kid so much. After seeing the play doh and the mini trampoline Santa left under the tree, he didn't want to open any more presents! He wanted to play with what he could see, and kept asking if we wanted to open presents instead.
One of his favorite presents was his Spidey mask and shooter. He has worn this mask nearly every day and loves greeting people with it on, convinced they will have no idea that it is actually him under it.
This dinosaur mat was probably my favorite present under the tree. On Thursday before Christmas, I got to thinking that Daniel really didn't have much to open. Rather than me going to various stores and picking up junk just to get him something, I thought, Daniel and Alexander are so very close, and Alexander is so creative. I should just ask him what he wants to get Daniel. So I did. He thought about it for a second and then said, "a dinosaur." "Ok. So you want to get daddy a dinosaur. Like a dinosaur toy?" Quiet for a few seconds...."No. I want to get daddy a dinosaur mat. Like my art mat, but one that daddy and me can play all our dinosaurs and all the games on. Together." With only a few days notice, I ran all over town trying to find the right item. We aren't known for our shopping around here, but of course Amazon came through. We found the perfect mat, complete with TWO raptors, a volcano, and a nest of pteranodon eggs. Daniel loved it and so did Potatoes.
Once he got into the swing of things, he loved opening gifts, and has played with every single item with true enjoyment.
Zoey got a new bed, her own dinosaur, and a ball. We threw out both pieces of ehr old soccer ball, which had truly become a lovey...she wouldn't play with any other ball, even though the old one was a rubber band mess and a separate leather flap of skin. Two weeks after Christmas, and tonight she finally played with her new ball. We searched for months to find one that was the same diameter to replace her lovey.
After our Christmas morning together, we packed up the car and drove to Atlanta. We got an Airbnb loft in the middle of downtown, and my mom came and stayed in it with us.
Within two hours of getting to the loft, I managed to throw together Christmas dinner with the very basics...no can opener, no cheese grater, no casserole dishes. It was not my best, but it had all the essentials!
Craig, Heidi, and Jan came over after Christmas dinner with Heidi's parents. We had so many laughs opening a few more presents and playing Jurassic Uno. It was such an easy, relaxed, fun way to wrap up Christmas night.
As a loft, the floor plan was a bit strange....Daniel and I didn't have real walls separating our room from the rest of the living area, my mom had a murphy bed just off the kitchen, and Potatoes was on an air mattress in the walkway. When we woke up in the morning, we saw the air mattress clearly had a leak somewhere...
Potatoes in a hole!
After a leisurely morning, we walked from our loft through Centennial Park to the aquarium
We were all so very excited to get to the aquarium. Yes, the animals promised to be entertaining, but moreso, Bryan was meeting us there! He was in town from Las Vegas to see his parents, and spent the day after Christmas with us.
We had a wonderful time at the aquarium, but the clear highlight was the Beluga whales. While watching the beautiful white animals, one of them made a large, cloudy, green mess in the water. Immediately, all four, including the culprit, rose to the surface to get a breath of fresh air. Alexander's belly laugh was something I will always remember. He will gladly tell anyone who will listen about the Beluga whale that 'tooted.' When we went to see the dolphins, he said, "I want to see the dolphins toot!" The guy standing next to us looked at him like he was crazy.
Pushed to the max
After the aquarium, we enjoyed an Atlanta must- Taco Mac. I was so excited that Weston made the long trek downtown to have dinner with us with her two beautiful girls, and yet I failed to take a single picture! I am so blessed to have such wonderful friends in my life.
After dinner, we went to see the Hawks play the Pacers, also within walking distance of our place.
We had a great time at the game, and the Hawks were actually winning for quite a lot of the game! In the end, the PAcers came back for the win and even covered the spread, but the Hawks put up a good fight and made it worth watching.
After the game, we said goodbye to Bryan as he walked down the stairs to the underground MARTA entrance. As we walked over the bridge towards the loft, Potatoes turns back and asked, "Does Bryan live down there?" We tried to explain that a train would come and pick him up to take him home, but we may need to take him on his own train ride soon!
For our last day in Atlanta, we headed over to Craig and Heidi's to make cookies. They had set up EVERYTHING just perfectly for Alexander to participate, including a Spiderman table cloth, dinosaur sprinkles, and they even have a T-Rex cookie jar.
We spent hours making cookies, pizzas, playing in the rain, and just enjoying being together.
We made quite an impressive batch of cookies!
That night, everyone came back over to the loft for a game of Family Feud, which again resulted in uproarious laughter.
This trip was one of my favorites as it was so centered around just being with the people we love. It was a great way to say goodbye to 2018 and begin preparing for the year to come! We spent NYE with Ahgo and our new and yet already dear friends and neighbors, and their daughter who is just 4 days younger than Potatoes. Again, we had too much fun to take any pictures, but the memories of the two monsters running through the house, enjoying sparkling grape juice, and counting down the ball drop at 9pm will not be forgotten.
These three
Here's to many memories and forgotten photo opportunities in 2019!
Happy New Year
