Christmas Celebrations

We had an awesome Christmas holiday. We took our first long car trip with the kids, and they did great. Our first stop was Cincinnati to visit Grandma Urso. Isabel ran right in and gave Grandma a big hug and wanted to play with her right away. Oliver was a little bit more timid, this was the first time he had met Grandma Urso, but warmed up to her quickly when she let him feed the squirrels. We had a great time hanging out with Grandma and of course spending Christmas morning opening gifts with her! After several days in Cincinnati we headed down to Lexington to visit the Carter clan. We got to see my whole family, including meeting our new niece Elizabeth, who is such a cutie. Isabel ended up being rather sick for the whole visit with the Carter's, but had a wonderful time anyway. After our trip we came home to a house filled with two big gifts from Santa Clause.

Watching squirrels eat the peanuts on Grandma's deck.
On Christmas morning the kids discovered that Santa had left them small presents at Grandma's house and a note saying he left something else at our house. Isabel got a toy elephant, Oliver a horse.

Oliver LOVED opening presents. He may have had more fun opening than playing with his new toys...maybe...
New books are always welcomed by Isabel.
Isabel had a great time with Grandma Urso and Miss Peaceful.
Oliver and Grandaddy had a interesting conversation about the lamp.
We had family craft time at Grandma and Grandaddy's.
Oliver wasn't sure what to think about sharing Mommy with Elizabeth.

Pony Rides

Isabel took her first ever pony ride, and she loved it. she rode Spice around the ring three times and loved every minute. She held on with one hand and used the other to pet the horse and talk to him during the whole ride. Now she wants to know when she can take horse riding lessons.

Natural History Museum

One cold dreary day I packed up the kids and took a short road trip with them to Washington DC. We spent most of our day at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. Oliver was intrigued by all of the dinosaur bones, but both kids really liked the mammal's exhibit best. We only managed to see one floor, so we'll have plenty of new things to see next time we go. We also spent some time outside on the mall getting some excess energy out. While the kids were running around I got to observe the Occupy DC folks. My impression was that there were lots of tents, good organization and good security, but not too many people.

St. Mary's Lake

We had a warm weekend before Christmas and enjoyed some hiking at St. Mary's Lake. We probably made it an entire half mile! Lots of good exploring and wandering time for the kids!

Breakfast with Santa

The Sunday before Christmas our church had a breakfast with Santa. This was the first year that Isabel willingly sat on Santa's lap, and she asked for a toy elephant for Christmas (much to our surprise). As expected Oliver wanted nothing to do with the strange man in the red suit, but he did really like the candy cane he got enough to take a picture while firmly held in mommy's arms. :o)