This was our year to spend Christmas in the D.C. area with the Schaefers, and we had a great time from start to finish. There was the mild concern about the Pandemic that seemed to sweep through the guest house we stayed at, but other than that, a lovely time was had by all!! :)
The kids were all SO excited this year. They couldn't wait to fly on a plane again, and they were beyond thrilled to go visit their cousins too. I can't tell you how many little cards and presents Finn made ahead of time for Landon, and sweet Layla kept wrapping things we own...mostly used books...to give to her cousins.
At the Minneapolis airport:
This year we had very sane flight times. It was SO NICE.
On the way out to Virginia Layla got a seat with no window...she was very sad. She had first dibs on a window seat on the way home. Both of our planes were so small this year...sheesh.
The number one hit toy of the travel experience, by FAR, was the slinky I got for each of them at Target the day before we left. $3. So worth it!
Puffy stickers and water coloring...
If Finn sees me taking a picture he for SURE will pose for it in some random way...
We landed and had a lovely, whirlwind dinner at Scooter and Laura's house with all of the family who were in town at the moment, then headed off to church to watch Landon be a sheep in the church play.
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| This is Layla's happy place. |
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| Cousins |
After lunch we headed out to our rental home in Luray, VA. It was a gorgeous old home that was owned by an inn, and decorated to the 9's for Christmas, so that was an extra benefit for sure.
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| A picture of the MASSIVE present pile in front of the tree and fireplace... |
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| This is a pretty typical photo: a mass of kids and adults hanging out in the living room. |
REST TIME:
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| Aunt Patricia reading to Scooter and Laura's kids in their adorable matching PJs. |
Finn wanted someone to play Ping Pong with him (one of his Christmas gifts). Opa agreed, but he brought the Life School of Hard Knocks with him...he wasn't gonna let Finn get one point, haha. :)
After Finn gave up Uncle Ben played Opa, and then things go REAL. Action and excitement!
Cora liked to chase the twins around and around the circle, pretending to almost catch them. It was great for her to be the "older" person around for a change!
All 3 kids in the bunk beds for rest time. Layla and Finn were lucky enough to have their OWN room at this house, complete with bunk beds just like at home. It was very nice.
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| This was almost always where you would find Layla...hanging out wherever Ellie was. |
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| Layla said that her biggest sadness is that Ellie will not longer be a baby when she sees her next. Haha! So sweet, eh? :) |
Cousins on a couch, watching a Christmas day parade:
Grammy gave Layla a lovely tea set for Christmas, and Aunt Ruth provided some things for the set as well, I believe? Layla had a great time setting up many tea parties and inviting everyone to participate. Thank you to Uncle Toby for humoring her this time. :)
On the way back home, at the Dulles Airport. We had to take an underground train to get to our gate, and boy did the kids love being at the front of the train. They are CHEAP DATES, let me tell you...
The only person in our family to get the disease spreading through the guest house was Finn, who woke up the morning we were leaving and threw up. Then he threw up in the car on the way home (in a bag, no worries Scooter and Laura), and then he ALSO threw up as we were landing on the plane. I'm just so thankful, honestly, was it wasn't me or Jonas. I don't know how we could have done that travel day while also puking. Sheesh.
When we got home we worked very hard to just CHILL OUT and tried to not change out of our Pajamas as much as humanly possible.
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| Finn and Cora playing Hi Ho Cherry-O together. Love. |
You can see in this photo below, on the dining room table, our luggage sits. It took me FOREVER to unpack it all. I had absolutely no cares or motivation for it. On the first day (Jonas had to work that day) I did mange to get all the dirty laundry washed, but that was it. It took me until New Years day to make it all go away. Sigh. I blame BABY for sure.
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| Finn has a unique ability to wear holes in his socks. Here he pulled one up over his leg and insisted I capture this moment with a picture. My poor, shy boy... |
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| And awful picture, YES, but this documents that our family movie night film this past Friday was The Sound of Music. It's THREE HOURS LONG, guys, and I wasn't sure they were old enough to stick with it, but the older two really did enjoy it. Cora wasn't as into this was as all the other ones, but the older two were right there. They watched it again the next day, and now we've been listening to the sound track on Amazon a LOT. Layla sings all the songs now. :) . |
Saturday night we had Berube family Christmas and fondu with my family, and I took no pictures...sorry. But Renee did so I'll post those when she gets around to it. That evening we had to get one last croup ER run in for 2017, so I ended up taking Cora around 10:00 p.m. We weren't even seen until 12:30 a.m. (I have never SEEN the ER so busy! All the crazies were out with their awful illnesses...), so by then it was New Years Eve day. Sigh.
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| I made a little bed for her out of chairs and my blanket, and I'm so thankful she slept for a good 1.5 hours in the waiting room, in spite of all the crazy noise going on around us. |
Legos were the toy of the year for the older two kids from my family, and for TWO solid days after the remained in PJs and built on the dining room table. Two solid days of quiet, happy building. I can't tell you how amazing older children are!!! :) . Jonas and I are so delighted to be in the age of legos with kids, haha!
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| Layla built two BIG sets over break: a ranch and a hospital. |
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| This picture is a bit misleading, because while they both did need help ever now and then, they did these projects almost entirely on their own. What an awesome stage of life! |
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| Finn built a robot and a speed boat. |
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| Cora still was not feeling great for a day or so after our ER visit, so she spent a good amount of time in bed like this...huddling under pillows and blankets. |
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| Our New Years Eve fire. I was asleep by 9:00 that night and slept until 8:00 the next morning, so I started off the new year with 11 hours of sleep. Any sucker who stayed up to watch 2018 come in has my pity, man. Sleep WINS over everything else, always and forever. Amen. :) |
