December 18th, we stopped for gas somewhere in Georgia, and I took a quick picture of our sleeping beauty through the car window, surrounded by presents.
December 19th we drove all day. When we arrived at Grandma Sue’s villa, we pretty much went to bed. And that Christmas started first thing the next morning, on the 20th! Here, Ian is inside of a cat toy. I’ve got a shot of him in this when he was much smaller. Cute!
And BOOM just like that! It is Christmas again! Santa is pretty amazing how he keeps track of all this!
Bathtub Elmo gets a hello hug!
*You can play with this for now Gramma, but I’ll want it back in 15 seconds. K?* See this image larger.
Something I discovered this trip — if you ask Ian to hold up a large toy, he will hold it up right in front of his head. By the time you ask him to hold it at belly level, he’s smiling a little less. That’s what we’ve got here… well that and the ol’ *Do I really have to smile at you when I could be opening presents?*
And yet more festivities!
It was time to build the space shuttle, so Ian and I did our best!
This orange kitty toy runs away from you when you chase it — so Nina chased!
Grandma Sue had some great stuff lined up for us to play, and this was one of them. We checked out the Christmas lights at a nearby park and the kids had a blast. And as usual, we can’t seem to get them both to hold still at the same time. So here’s Nina in looking non-blurry…
And here’s Ian looking non-blurry. Nina contemplates her belly button! (Love Ian’s shirt!) Great Christmas Gramma Sue, thank you! See this image larger.
The morning of December 17th, we arrived in Southgate the night before, said hello to Grampa Dave and Grandma Marcia, and woke up to a great breakfast! We swung by and picked up Great Grandma Betty and had a great day!
*Mmm! Something smells good!*
Bacon is one of several things you can give a child that will cause them to be fully unable to look up from their plate. Otherwise, perfect! See this image larger.
Nina tries to get in the spirit of the holidays by borrowing a Minnie Mouse hat. But whose hat is it? 😉 See this image larger.
NOW she’s in the spirit of Christmas! That or into the eggnog, not sure which! See this image larger.
Nina enjoys sharing with her brother. In this case she’s sharing her gift… wrap. See this image larger.
Mommy spots Nina’s new gift while Ian tears into one of his.
Nina got Abby Cadabbie! She loves her! (Of note – a day later, while on the road — she woke up, squeezed Abby to hear her talk, and fell back asleep immediately.)
“Hi! I’m Abby!”
Nina’s up for an outfit change, donning her cool Santa diaper, while Grandma makes Abby say hello! See this image larger.
Are you, by chance, thinking “Wow the little one is beating up the big one, that can’t happen too often?” Wrong. See this image larger.
Ian got a great big Lego set, he was very happy! This picture shows him struggling with the size of it, but that’s a smile, trust me! See this image larger.
These were very cool books, with the voices of Gramma Marcia, Grampa Dave, and Great Grandma Betty all recorded into them! Here Gramma Marcia reads a Peanuts book to Nina! See this image larger.
I lean in for a group shot. Note that Grampa Dave pads the table whenever we show up. Pretty much whenever we come over, I end up being very happy that he did so as a real “bonk” ends up as more of a “spoomf.” See this image larger.
Go crazy! Go crazy!
The kids always have fun here.
What a gorgeous shot. Please look at this one larger — Nina’s smile is perfect, to me. It says *Shhh, yes I love you but Grampa is reading me a story.* Grampa’s smile is great too! See this image larger.
Nina was cracking us all up, either with how she was handling Ian’s intrusions, or her wonderful babble. See this image larger.
Ian’s Christmas party was the same day that we were to head to Grampa Dave and Gramma Marcia’s house… it was short and sweet. Mommy was there too, but I didn’t get any pictures… :-\
Ian got a book from Charlie in the gift exchange!
Ian enjoyed the Christmas party. I know that was a pretty short entry, but this is kind of the way these parties go folks, let’s not forget. I did learn that Ian sings a “days of the week” song to the tune of the “Adams Family” theme song, and another song that half-explained why “tooty” is a common word in our home.
A Middle-of-the-Gulf-Side-of-Florida Christmas
An East Michigan Christmas, 2011
An excellent time was had by all, thank you so much for your generosity and hospitality! We had a great time!
A Daycare Christmas, 2011