Fun with cousins

In early December, we enjoyed a week-long visit with my brother's family and my Dad. The kids had so much fun together!

Horsey ride from Uncle Sean!

He made it all the way across and was so proud of himself!  Mom was proud too. :)

Cutie Patootie.

Super silly cousins!

More silliness

Can you guess how many attempts it took to get this photo? 

Strolling Old Town with Poppa

Pulling Rohan on the Tessa Express

Trying out Aunt Courtney's shoes

Poppa and two of the littles

Watching Rudolph

Santa 2012

In early December, we went to a holiday celebration at a local nursery. Santa was there! Although he wasn't the best Santa, it was nice that there weren't a ton of people there, so no long lines.

Tessa was very chatty with Mr. Claus!

Alyse was very interested in the candy canes, but not so interested in getting close to Santa!

We went to see the 'real' Santa and Mrs. Claus the following weekend.  You weren't supposed to take your own pictures, but I managed to snap a few.  I only have a have a physical copy of the 'official' photo, and I haven't scanned it in yet.  Alyse still wasn't a fan!

Snow Bunny

Thanksgiving 2012

We had a great Thanksgiving at Dave's brother's new home. The cousins had so much fun together!

Alyse and Olivia

The big kids playing iPad games.

Aunt Maria with Olivia, Alyse & Tessa

Zaidy and Alyse

The only turkey that Alyse ate that day!

Baby blue eyes

Alyse loved Riley...until he got too close. :)  She still talks about him!

Bedtime smiles!

ICE!

Back in November, I found discount tickets to ICE through Living Social, so we decided to check it out.  We figured it was the best time to go since our tickets were half off and Alyse and Tessa would both be free.  Well, folks, there's a reason that it's free for ages 3 and under.  (Although, I would argue that they should actually charge double for the 3 and under crowd!)  Between the long lines and the freezing temps, it was just too much for the little ones.  To top it off, they did not have a coat that fit Tessa -- the best-fitting one had sleeves that were 5 inches too long, and she FREAKED out about it.  So, we decided to just take her in with her own winter coat, which just wasn't warm enough for her.  Calder really really enjoyed it though!  This year's theme was Shrek, and despite the drama, it was really cute. 

Fun slides!

Getting cold...

Ready to slide!

The nativity scene at the end was Calder's favorite!

Baby loves necklaces

She was not satisfied until she had every single one around her neck. Then she wore them all afternoon. :)

Goodbye, Fall

The chilly weather has set in, and we are already missing the wonderful, warm fall days of October and all of the fun outside playtime that came with it!  We still have many a leaf in our yard (does it ever end?), but the kids are not as wild about playing in them when it is cold outside.  But we definitely took advantage of the fall fun while it lasted!

So much fun with neighbors!

 

 Tessa poses with her leaf "3" and Alyse walks right on by her "1".

This little one is just not a fan of playing in the leaves.

  She'd rather try to escape and take off through the neighborhood. 

Good thing she has a big brother and big sister who made a fun game of corralling her back in (and it gave Mommy a break too!)

Alyse thought it was pretty funny too. 

 She was finally convinced to play for a few minutes. :)

 And oh how we love to swing!  We are so lucky to have a little playground right behind our house. 

So insanely in love with those ringlets.

 

Yes, yes...I have a smart baby girl.