Dec 29 - visit to the Children's Museum

She sure was happy when she woke up this morning!  I think I'm seeing a change for the better in her mental well-being since we've been home with her.  There is something to be said for time off with the family...for ALL of us!

On this particular day we decided to go to The Children's Museum.  Earlier in the year, I had found a deal on The Savvy Source to purchase a membership for 1/2 price....but I needed to redeem it by December 31 so we HAD to go. 

She l-o-v-e-d the penguin slide.  I think we easily could've spent the rest of the day here.

I think she liked the penguin slide MUCH more than the yule slide (even though we waited in line over 45 minute for it :)



They have a beautiful Chihuly glass exhibit there, and you can take pictures underneath.  Personally, this was the best part of the trip for me.

But I think the best part for Izzy (besides the Yule slide) was the train exhibit.  She was FASCINATED.

 

LOVE the museum...we only stayed a couple of hours just due to the volume of other visitors. 

We never made it to the playscape area, but we're hoping to take a day off during the week to take her there where she can play more freely.

Dec 28 - visit to Trader's Point

It seems as though we're making this an annual event!  For the past 3 years we've gone to Trader's Point Creamery between Christmas and New Year's.  The first year, Izzy was only 6 months old, and Joacim's parents were visiting.  Last year and this year it's just the 3 of us, but we have a great time.  And there's nothing better after hanging out in the cold with the cows than a bowl of their organic chili in The Loft restaurant.  AHHHHmazing.  

But, before we could go to Trader's Point, we had to get ready. Izzy got a hair-styling set for Christmas and this was her first time to use it.

And then I was treated to a little jam session from my budding rock star

I LOVE taking photos of these cows...

These are the brand new babies..lying in the manger.

I don't think she had any idea how CLOSE this calf was to her head!

Look at the crazy horns on this one

When I said babies...I truly meant BABIES...I mean (and not be graphic or anything) but this mamma cow still had the afterbirth attached!

Ohhhhh....that yummy bowl of chili, and some coloring while we waited :)

Dec 26 - Sleepover

My little sister, niece and nephew stayed the night the evening after Christmas.   What's great about the ages that they are now is that they pretty much entertain themselves AND Izzy :)  And when they weren't entertaining Izzy, she was doing a find job entertaining herself.

I got a new Wii Ski game...it's a lot harder than it looks!

I'm not exactly sure why everyone decided to give me such funny faces, but it works!

The boys spent a LOT of time in these spots

Yes, a hurricane officially hit inside my home.  The mattress was turned over because they were building a "fort" under it.

And then they started using Izzy as their toy.....dressing her up in all kinds of different outfits from her Dora present.  What's funny about this one (besides Taylor's silly face) is that Izzy's pretending to be asleep....standing up.

You can't see this as well, but THIS particular outfit cracked me up because her little skirt was mesh, and her diaper looked a little strange with the outfit...

Here's the kiddos ready for bed...

And breakfast the next morning.  She looks like such a big girl when she's eating her breakfast now...normal bowl...normal spoon.........time is flying........................

Dec 25 & 26 - Family Christmas

My parents, little sister and their dog came down on Christmas night for some family time.  We knew that Izzy would have a ball (and I'm pretty sure that Gamaw and Gampaw enjoyed it too!).  We were also hosting my family's Christmas the next day, so I had some food prep to do.  I was making an Apple Cider-Brined Turkey with Savory Herb Gravy, so I needed to make the brine for the turkey.  This is an absolutely FANTASTIC recipe (although I omit the ginger because, as anyone that really knows me knows I DETEST ginger - hell I don't even like to touch the pieces of sushi rolls that touch that pickled ginger that they always give you!).

Champ is like a little dog in his brain but a BIG dog in his body (quite the opposite of Rosie).  We had to let him out back to run off some of his energy, but it was really wet and snowy, and since Champ is so big, it took 3 people to dry him off!

My parents adore Izzy...Gampaw clearly cannot get enough of her

Here's Bri opening her Fushigi ball...(WARNING...turn down your volume before you click on the link!)

Here's a video of Izzy opening her Dora Dress-up present

Since we planned on turning the spare bedroom into a man-cave, we no longer have a bed, so it's back to air mattresses for anyone that stays the night.  I'll always laugh when I think back to this part of the evening, because my dad was really tired, and Izzy wanted to go to bed with Gampaw, but she took her cash register in there and kept opening the drawer to it, hitting him in the head!  And I think he slept through the whole thing!

I think my dad was up before dawn, which is pretty typical for him.  We got up around 8:30am so I could get the turkey cooking.

Izzy and Pappa had a tea party

 

I'm not bragging or anything, but this is a damn pretty looking bird.  And TASTY too.  The biggest compliment I received was my Grandma saying that it didn't taste like turkey.  Little did I know that Grandma doesn't like turkey, so the fact that  cooked it in a way that took the gamey turkey taste out was a HUGE compliment, because I still think Grandma is one of the best cooks!

There was a LOT of food.

This looks like a very deep conversation, doesn't it?

My cousin, Jennifer, and her boyfriend

And then it was time for more presents...

Izzy got a castle tent from Aunt Andrea and family, which she LOVED.  And I'm glad she got it, because she and I tried to fit in her old tent last week and it just wasn't happening anymore :)

One word...CHAOS

I wish I had a picture of the doll that came out of this bag for Izzy from Grandma, but it's about 4 ft tall, and looks like a raggedy-anne doll.  And she was TERRIFIED of it!  Haaaa!

Dec 25 - Christmas

We had an absolutely awesome Christmas.  Santa was VERY good to Izzy, as you can tell by this photo.

The day started pretty late for us.  We slept in until around 10:30...we actually had to wake Izzyboo up!  I'm fairly certain that this will be the last year for this luxury :)  After breakfast and a walk for the dogs, we dug in to the presents.  Izzy's first gift was an electric guitar...so she can ROCK N ROLL!!!!  Now, this is a cute present, but since there's no volume control, it may also be one of the worst idea's that Santa has ever had.

Izzy got a tea party set for Christmas, which she is loving!

Izzy got a box!!!

The look of surprise on her face in this video is something I've anxiously waited for

Let's not forget about one of the two cutest dogs in the world....

I think she got a little bored after awhile

Izzy's getting all dolled up with her play lipstick

A kaleidescope...she still hasn't quite figured out the whole eye thing (she keeps closing the eye that's supposed to be looking through the viewfinder)...freakin' hilarious to watch!

One thing I did notice, already, is that clothes are never a winner :)

Here's our very first tea party

Lemmy was in complete stealth mode because he heard a bunch of birds in the neighbor's yard.

It was a long day of opening gifts, and Pappa needed a little rest and a snuggle...how cute are these two?