Noon Year's Eve

 This morning we went to a favorite place for a little something special.  The Discovery Lab had a Noon Year's Eve party!

 They had a hat-making contest and both of the kids worked hard on their creations.

 The finished products!

 They also had a noisemaker competition.  It was really loud in there.  I think I'm still on sensory overload.

 At noon there was a big balloon drop!

 It was pretty chaotic!

 The kids all thought it was great, though!

 This is what I would do if there were a lot of balloons: See how many I could gather up.  But it turns out that lots of kids like to pop them.  They should have given out Excedrin to the parents!

 We had a really fun time!

Now we are almost ready for our annual New Year's Eve bag party.  I got up at 5:00 this morning, so I'm hoping I can make it to midnight!

The Rest of Christmas

 After I opened my new camera we took a few more shots at home.

 Then it was time to head to my mom and dad's!

 The kids were very happy with their gifts--including this cooking set for Alice that was from us, but somehow ended up at Grandma and Grandpa's in the rush of transporting gifts.

 After dinner we headed to Jay's mom and dad's, where Jack found the snack tray and kicked back.

 The kids loved playing with their new cousin, Olivia.  She was determined to get Jack's hat!

 After she climbed all over him, Jack said he felt bad from Grandpa for the way they always climb on him.

 

 Photobomb!

 When Jack photobombs a picture he just tries to fit right in.

All of the grandkids!

Now it's time to get ready for New Year's fun!

Christmas at Home

 We went to our annual Christmas Eve party Tuesday night and then came home and got ready for Santa!

 Checking to see what he left them...

 TMNT earbuds!

 Hello Kitty earmuffs!

 After the stockings they were ready to see what Mom and Dad had planned.

 They got Jay Land of the Lost on DVD.

 Alice got Jack some TMNT toys.

 Jack got Alice some Frozen toys.

 Jack has gotten into G.I. Joe recently so he was excited to get some of the people.

 Alice got a sewing basket and...

 ...her very own little sewing machine!  She kept asking for one her size and I didn't think they made them, but a couple of months ago I saw these at WalMart for only $20.  Hopefully she will be able to do some things with it because she is excited!

 Someone hit the Infinity jackpot!

 Jay always tells Jack that he's getting too old for toys and he's going to be getting clothes, so he surprised him with this suit.  (Yes, we kept the receipt!)  Jack said his favorite clothes item (and the only other one he got) was his Dipper hat.

 The kids got their own cameras, which was a big hit!

 Alice spent the morning ironing her baby's clothes.

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

I also got a new camera for Christmas, so I started using it and this is where my pictures on the old camera stop.  As soon as I figure out how to download the stuff of my new camera I will share about the rest of our day!  I hope you had a very merry Christmas!

It's Almost Here!

 My kids are so excited that tomorrow is Christmas!  Saturday we braved the icy rain and went to Pizza with Santa at the community center.

 It's hard to pass up free pizza!

 They had coloring sheets and Christmas shows, too.

 Sunday we had Jay's office party.  This year they rented a skating rink and the kids thought it was great!

 Chatting with Santa!

Since we were already there, we went back to see the lights again.  It's kind of hard to see, but the bridge was covered in icicles--a big change from a few days before!

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas!

The Last Road Trip of the Year!

 I'm still not ready for Christmas and my house is a complete wreck and there was an ice storm warning for tonight, so clearly it was time to take one more road trip.

 When we left the house it was 42* and by the time we arrived, things were getting colder.

 We got to make another trip to the Water Zoo!

 We were excited that this time Alice was just tall enough to do the big slides!

 The basketball pool is the warmest one, so we spent a lot of time in there.

 Checking out the wave pool.  I still have that rocking sensation now!

 If you can't tell from the expression on Alice's face, she doesn't like the "lazy" part of the Lazy River.  She was determined to come in first.

 I'm not sure what happened here.

 We stayed for about five and a half hours.

It took us an extra hour to get home.  Our wipers and mirrors were completely iced over but at least we made it home before the roads closed!