Even though we had the last two weeks "off" from school, things have still seemed quite busy around here. After Christmas Uncle Billy and Patti drove out here from California. It seems that this is becoming a new tradition. The past two years they have stayed and celebrated New Year's Eve with us. We sure are lucky that they are entertained by sitting around the house with us eating, drinking, playing games, lighting fireworks and then heading to bed by 12:20 am! Actually, I think we all have had a wonderful time. However, before the big New Year's Eve pizza party we headed off to the Phoenix Children's Museum. If you have not been there, I HIGHLY recommend it! The boys had a fabulous time, we could have spent the whole day there. In fact, the next time we go I am going to pack lunches so we can eat and then resume playing before we have to leave. They started out in the Art room and were allowed to paint this castle. They had fun until...
...oops, sorry Travis. I guess that is what little brothers are for! Thank goodness it is washable.
Another popular area was the Pit Stop. I had to drag Connor out kicking and screaming. (Luckily for me that didn't last too long because right around the corner was the fort building room. Immediately he found a new room to love and cherish! He left that room kicking and screaming too. Do you see the pattern?) Back to the pit stop. Here is Travis with some cars to race on the race track.
Connor found an old motorcycle with an old fashioned gas pump. He takes his gas filling duties quite seriously. As he said, "I do gas like Mommy does!" I just hope he keeps that enthusiasm when I need him to fill up the car for me when he is 16 or so!
They loved each and every room. However, I must say that the highlight of the day was the grocery store. I think they were in here for over an hour. The place was packed that day and my two little guys were so patient with everybody. In fact, all of the kids in there were having so much fun there was no time to "misbehave" at all. Here is Travis stocking up the shelves. Doesn't he look like a professional??
Connor wore himself out pushing this little cart around. He would fill it up, take it to the check out counter, fill it back up, empty it at the recycling place and then resume shopping again. It didn't take him too long to figure out not to take your hands off of your cart or it will be snatched up quick!
Travis was absolutely dying to work at the checkout counter. He waited so patiently. FINALLY he got his chance and boy did he have a great time. It was so much fun just watching my boys and all of the other kids interact and have so much fun acting like grown ups.
Now, on to New Year's Eve. We had to let Travis take a "shot" of ... yes.... black cherry soda! He likes drinking from a shot glass on New Year's Eve.. silly kid!
Since Travis and Uncle Billy like to cook together we decided it would be fun to make pizza. This ended up being the main activity of the night. We got some delicious pizza dough from Trader Joe's, loaded up on toppings, and away we cooked. Here are the two chefs making pizza #1. (They (Uncle Billy) ended up making 4 total.)
Travis had the great idea to make the smiley face on the pizza with the pepperoni. We thought that was a super suggestion! Here it is before the oven....
... and here it is all cooked and ready to eat. Not one drop of this was left over! YUM!
Here is part of the crew getting ready to go outside and make some NOISE!
We did light off some fireworks, but there weren't really any good shots of that. A few of us banged some pots and pans together. We were quite the sight! Here are the kids with Uncle Billy and Patti the next morning. They had to head back home to California. We sure do enjoy their visits!
Now that our company is gone, the holidays are over, and the house is cleaned up we have time to play outdoors. Santa brought Travis a basketball hoop. (I won't even go into the details of putting that thing together last week. Why does Santa always leave us such big projects???) So, we have been spending a lot of time doing this...
Travis has also started back with soccer and has his first game on Saturday. The next two months we will be busy with soccer practice and games. It feels good to be getting back to normal after the holidays. So far 2011 is looking pretty good. No complaints from me!
...oops, sorry Travis. I guess that is what little brothers are for! Thank goodness it is washable.
Another popular area was the Pit Stop. I had to drag Connor out kicking and screaming. (Luckily for me that didn't last too long because right around the corner was the fort building room. Immediately he found a new room to love and cherish! He left that room kicking and screaming too. Do you see the pattern?) Back to the pit stop. Here is Travis with some cars to race on the race track.
Connor found an old motorcycle with an old fashioned gas pump. He takes his gas filling duties quite seriously. As he said, "I do gas like Mommy does!" I just hope he keeps that enthusiasm when I need him to fill up the car for me when he is 16 or so!
They loved each and every room. However, I must say that the highlight of the day was the grocery store. I think they were in here for over an hour. The place was packed that day and my two little guys were so patient with everybody. In fact, all of the kids in there were having so much fun there was no time to "misbehave" at all. Here is Travis stocking up the shelves. Doesn't he look like a professional??
Connor wore himself out pushing this little cart around. He would fill it up, take it to the check out counter, fill it back up, empty it at the recycling place and then resume shopping again. It didn't take him too long to figure out not to take your hands off of your cart or it will be snatched up quick!
Travis was absolutely dying to work at the checkout counter. He waited so patiently. FINALLY he got his chance and boy did he have a great time. It was so much fun just watching my boys and all of the other kids interact and have so much fun acting like grown ups.
Now, on to New Year's Eve. We had to let Travis take a "shot" of ... yes.... black cherry soda! He likes drinking from a shot glass on New Year's Eve.. silly kid!
Since Travis and Uncle Billy like to cook together we decided it would be fun to make pizza. This ended up being the main activity of the night. We got some delicious pizza dough from Trader Joe's, loaded up on toppings, and away we cooked. Here are the two chefs making pizza #1. (They (Uncle Billy) ended up making 4 total.)
Travis had the great idea to make the smiley face on the pizza with the pepperoni. We thought that was a super suggestion! Here it is before the oven....
... and here it is all cooked and ready to eat. Not one drop of this was left over! YUM!
Here is part of the crew getting ready to go outside and make some NOISE!
We did light off some fireworks, but there weren't really any good shots of that. A few of us banged some pots and pans together. We were quite the sight! Here are the kids with Uncle Billy and Patti the next morning. They had to head back home to California. We sure do enjoy their visits!
Now that our company is gone, the holidays are over, and the house is cleaned up we have time to play outdoors. Santa brought Travis a basketball hoop. (I won't even go into the details of putting that thing together last week. Why does Santa always leave us such big projects???) So, we have been spending a lot of time doing this...
Travis has also started back with soccer and has his first game on Saturday. The next two months we will be busy with soccer practice and games. It feels good to be getting back to normal after the holidays. So far 2011 is looking pretty good. No complaints from me!
1 comment:
We've only been to that museum once, but I LOVED it. Oh, Clara did too. :) She's been asking to go back. My only reservation is that her favorite thing was that climbing area and you can't carry babies in there.
Happy New Year!
Post a Comment