Christmas Activities, Part 3

This was our tree this year.  It's probably the smallest amount of presents we've ever had under the tree, but it was really just right.  There is also a wrapped didgeridoo for J in the corner that you can't see.  (And he loved it.)  Mr. GV and I decided on a new TV and couch this year as our big gift.  

Milo opening his gift of a green and purple squeaky stuffed dragon, which he loves to carry around with him.

Christmas Eve we went to Mr. GV's parents' house for a gift exchange.  

We spent the night at Mom's house, then forced the poor child to wait to open gifts until later.  It's really not fair, and we won't do that again.  Meanwhile we enjoyed homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast.  

J enjoyed watching his Mommy open her gloves he picked out. 

The aftermath of a child's Christmas.  

Breakfast for lunch!  Hash browns, biscuits, sausage, tempeh bacon, tofu scramble, and gravy, all vegan of course.  

J enjoyed getting to play with his cousin a couple times over Christmas break. They are 5 months apart and seem to be a lot alike in personality, so play well together.  

Visiting Santa

Santa came to my town the day after Thanksgiving.  He rode in on the front bumper of a fire truck no less, along with his elves and Rudolph.  

There was quite a bit of waiting in line involved.

J heard "The Polar Express" along with his cousin, and they were gifted train whistles, seeing as the story involves a train and the building the story was being read in was the old train depot.  Here J is listening for the next cue in his job as bell ringer for the story.  

Even Santa has to keep to a schedule.....

The visit with Santa and Rudolph!

Excitement.

Train time!

Animal petting/learning time!

Craft time!

This was the cutest thing.  I don't have a picture of the finished craft, but when you put the painted handprint on the paper it looks like Santa's hat and beard.

Cousins.

50, 40, 4

On my mother's side of the family, we have three birthdays all on the same day.  I am fortunate enough to share my birthday with my uncle.  This year we were able to celebrate together!  

The children's table

Here I am arriving at the surprise party at Macaroni Grill.  It had been a hard morning, as we had just euthanized sweet little Pearl a few hours before.  

Being greeted by my best boy!

All of my grandparents' grandchildren, except for one who couldn't be there. 

The original three grandchildren.  Even though those two lived a couple hours away, we saw each other A LOT when we were growing up.  After I was born, it was over 10 years before the next grandchild in the family came along.  

The great-grandchildren

J was the hero.  My balloons floated up and he was able to capture one of them....with a little help from Mr. GV.

He got a round of applause from the whole back room!

Blowing out the 40 candles.  *Sigh*  Look at all the smoke.  lol

The candles melted quickly and combined with the caramel on top of my vegan birthday cake.

The 4-year old celebrant in the red shirt. 

My uncle, with two of his siblings.

My grandparents' children.

Sister S and her man.

Sweet little cousin.

Here we are--40, 4, and 50!

My complete family.

My birthday flowers from my mom and family.

Family Reunion Part 3 (final)

After showers, the boys decided they needed to dance!

 Earlier there had been some watermelon eating outside.  Pre-bath, thank goodness. 

 When it was time to go, J was not ready for his cousins to leave.  There was a bit of wrestling.

 And some rolling around on the ground.

It was a good day, filled with lots of reminiscing, photos, stories, "I didn't know that!", and playtime.

Family Reunion Part 2

After the first round of reminiscing and water play, we headed out to a local restaurant for lunch. 

 These two young'uns were pretty tired already at this point. 

 J's room looked something like this, which is pretty good considering there were three boys in there, playing hard!

 After lunch the moms relented and the boys had another round of Slip 'n' Slide. 

And of wallowing around in the resulting mud. 

 Some (OK----one) of the grownups even got involved with the fun. 

 There were a few pileups. 

 And lots of big splashes. 

 The way that J approaches the Slip 'n' Slide is this:  He runs toward the end, then throws his feet out from under him, landing hard.