Sunday, December 25, 2011
Friday, December 23, 2011
Christmas 2011
We will be traveling for the holidays... and I didn't want Christmas to be hurried into the few moments between the end of Todd's 24-hour shift at the hospital and our departure, so....
We decided to have Christmas a week early. In other words, we cheated and opened presents last Sunday night! It has actually been really nice because now this week has been very relaxing. The kids have had time to enjoy their new toys. I've been able to put away all the holiday decorations & such without a rush - AND pass our Christmas tree along to a nice family who will be able to use it this year (and years to come!).
Now as I take a break from packing, I wanted to share some pics from our 'Christmas morning':
Anndra was first to open her present. Lincoln is peering inside as well - just as eager to see what's inside as she is. :)
She received a little plastic tea set.
Want a cookie?
Look on her shoulders (above) for her second present - a Dora backpack.
Lincoln received a new Dinosaur Train character. Check out that adorable little grin!
Learning how the buttons work.
"Don't bother me [to take a picture], I'm playing."
Lincoln's second gift was a set of little cars with a race track, which Parker picked out for him. I think P was more excited to play with it than L was!
Parker received a Smart Globe.
He has been busy learning all sorts of interesting facts about far away lands, comparing populations of countries, and looking up flight times to different places around the world.
The kids have had a lot of fun with their new gifts this week. Lincoln's new dinosaur has been riding on the back of his big wheel tricycle every time we go for a spin around the neighborhood (which is nearly every day). Parker has discovered the setting that plays the national anthem of each country and likes to groove to the tune from Bolivia. Anndra has been feeding her dolls (and all of us!) several times a day:
But I don't think anything can beat last year's gift. It is still the favorite activity, day after day, year-round. We love our trampoline!
We decided to have Christmas a week early. In other words, we cheated and opened presents last Sunday night! It has actually been really nice because now this week has been very relaxing. The kids have had time to enjoy their new toys. I've been able to put away all the holiday decorations & such without a rush - AND pass our Christmas tree along to a nice family who will be able to use it this year (and years to come!).
Now as I take a break from packing, I wanted to share some pics from our 'Christmas morning':
Anndra was first to open her present. Lincoln is peering inside as well - just as eager to see what's inside as she is. :)
She received a little plastic tea set.
Want a cookie?
Look on her shoulders (above) for her second present - a Dora backpack.
Lincoln received a new Dinosaur Train character. Check out that adorable little grin!
Learning how the buttons work.
"Don't bother me [to take a picture], I'm playing."
Lincoln's second gift was a set of little cars with a race track, which Parker picked out for him. I think P was more excited to play with it than L was!
Parker received a Smart Globe.
He has been busy learning all sorts of interesting facts about far away lands, comparing populations of countries, and looking up flight times to different places around the world.
The kids have had a lot of fun with their new gifts this week. Lincoln's new dinosaur has been riding on the back of his big wheel tricycle every time we go for a spin around the neighborhood (which is nearly every day). Parker has discovered the setting that plays the national anthem of each country and likes to groove to the tune from Bolivia. Anndra has been feeding her dolls (and all of us!) several times a day:
But I don't think anything can beat last year's gift. It is still the favorite activity, day after day, year-round. We love our trampoline!
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Thomas Center field trip
Last week, Parker's class went to the Thomas Center (a restored turn-of-the-century hotel) and visited the surrounding historic district. I found the entire experience so enjoyable - it made me want to go back to school and take a bunch of history classes! So, I'm mostly including this post for my own future remembering... and recognize that it might not be too fascinating to my blog readers. :)
However, there is also a good sprinkling of Parker pictures among all the boring ones, so you can skim through to find those, if you like.
An old original fireplace in nearly every room:
Doors had little windows above them to let out the hot air... I still don't know how ANYONE lived in Florida before air conditioning was invented!
There was a huge room with a glass ceiling that used to be a courtyard with a garden. The Christmas tree they had in there was AMAZING!
These eagles were above each pillar all around the courtyard room:
After touring the Thomas Center, we walked through the neighborhood around it and our guide told us about each historic home (but we didn't go inside them).
I didn't know that the streets used to have actual names. I'm glad they kept them on the bottom of the signs:
The kids liked these steps that were at the end of each front walk, which used to be for climbing into and out of horse-drawn carriages. Some (like the one in this pic) went up and some went down - depending on which side of the hill the house was on:
Porches galore:
(Bear with me - we're almost back to more kid pictures)
We headed back to the Thomas Center for lunch, but also got to do a little dress-up before we ate. The boys were given stiff white collars & bow-ties and the girls wore beads, purses, and fans. Our guide helped Parker with his:
Parker said his favorite part of the field trip was lunch (which we ate by the fountain near the front lawn). Go figure! You try to give kids a fun educational experience and all they really want to do is run around with their friends.
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