New Years Eve 2011

We tried something new this year for New Year's Eve and made reservations at Lou Malnati's for their annual New Year's Eve party. They had two times to choose from and we went from 3-5PM. When we got to our table there were party decorations, noise makers, hats and lays. They had a DJ and many different characters walking around. We preordered our food and it came out shortly after we got there, which was awesome! Payton parcipated in a parade around the restaurant and thoroughly enjoyed blowing the noise makers. Brady on the other hand HATED the noise makers and screamed hysterically every time they were blown, which was all the time!

After we left Lou's, we headed out to Brookfield Zoo to see their holiday lights. We brought the wagon for Payton and the stroller for Brady and plenty of blankets to keep warm. It was a pretty chilly night but Payton stayed warm with some hot cocoa. We had a great time walking around and seeing some the animals who were braving the cold. Despite not having any real plans for New Year's Eve, we ended up having a great time and everyone was in bed early. :)

Christmas in Florida

Payton "monkeying around" - at the Ape Sanctuary in FL This is a great picture of Gaia and Grandpa Al (well minus the terrible lighting)
Payton and his favorite bird

Holding a baby alligator

Watching the dolphin show - minutes before the dolphin "Nicholas" completely soaked him!

At the Clearwater Aquarium

Feeling the rays

Brady enjoying the swing

Taking Brady down his first slide experience

Getting ready

Brady and Graham

Looking for turtles at the turtle pond

Walking on the beach

Graham and his two boys

Payton being silly

Brady enjoying the pool at Gaia and Grandpa Al's house

The whole family

We made our annual trip down the Florida on Christmas to visit Graham's parents in Tampa. The weather was great for us this year, 80's the first day and 70's the rest of the week. Not too shabby! Everyone had a great time as usual. Graham's parents gave us tickets to do a Segway tour in Clearwater by ourselves. We had a great time and the Segways were so much fun!!

We also went back to the Clearwater Aquarium and got to see "Winter", the dolphin in the movie, A Dolphin Tale, again. The last time we went to the aquarium, a few years ago, "Winter" was not a celebrity yet and the place was empty and they were hurting for money. This year the place was packed and the dollar signs were everywhere. The place was decked out with props from the movie!

We made our annual trip to the turtle pond, which Payton just loves and we tried out a new place, the Ape Sanctuary. There were so many apes and monkeys there that were rescued, it was amazing. Payton learned that if you stare at an ape long enough, it will feel threatened and spit at you. LOL!

We had some great meals, great conversation and wonderful company! We can't wait to come back in June!

Christmas Morning

Brady exhausted after a busy morning! Payton reuniting with "Ducky"

What is that?

Checking out his new shaving kit

Looking in Daddy's stocking

Helping Brady open his gift

Hugging Brady after opening the gift he got him

Brady on his new sled from Santa

Look what Santa brought....

Perry the Platypus slippers!!

Waiting at the top of the stairs to see what Santa brought

Christmas mornings just keep getting better the older Payton gets. This year by far was the most exciting for him and us! Santa left a few of the gifts that Payton had asked for, including "Ducky" that he lost about a year ago. Payton told us that he thinks Santa took Ducky away on purpose so he'd stop sucking his thumb and now Santa thinks its time to give Ducky back. So cute! Brady of course had no idea what was going on but he did get a new sled from Santa and enjoys playing with it and trying to get on it from all angles! The boys were up super early so we had our gift opening done before 8 AM. My parents came over for a traditional egg, sausage and cheese casserole before heading out to the airport. We had a 12:30 PM flight to Tampa to catch!

Christmas Eve 2011

Sprinkling the reindeer food Setting out the cookies and milk for Santa
Getting the cookies and milk ready

An attempt at a picture with the grandkids

All the cousins

Finnley opening gifts

Payton helping Brady open presents

Jolie

Payton with his Beyblades

Our annual Christmas Eve tradition is to go to my parents house for dinner and gifts. The kids have a hard time waiting til after dinner to open gifts so we usually give them one before dinner to help tide them over. After a very yummy dinner, the chaos began! I had a hard time keeping track of who was opening what but they enjoyed every minute of it. Payton got rollerblades, a scooter, Beyblades, Lego's and a telescope! Brady got a suitcase with formula, diapers, clothes and some toys. Graham and I even got some presents too! We all had a great time and were sad when it was time to go home.

When we got home, Payton got things ready for Santa by putting out the milk and cookies (high up so Sami couldn't get them). We also sprinkled reindeer food out front so the reindeer would find our house better :).

Friends

Brady pushing Kaitlyn on the car Grandma's with the babies
Jen with Colin and Megan with Levi

I am very fortunate to have a VERY close group of girl friends from grade school still in my life! I think of them all as family and feel so lucky to have them in my life. Their families are like extended family for me and I am just as excited to see their parents when we all get together.
A few days before Christmas the girls and their parents came over so everyone could meet the new babies (there are 3 new boys to the group)!! My only complaint is that I wish we all lived much closer together so I could see them more and the kids could play more. We are all pretty spread out from Texas to Chicago to Michigan to California but we still manage to keep in contact and pick up from wherever we left off. I am one lucky girl!