Confused

Charlie moved in with Oma and Papa on December 7, when they headed home with her after "the flood."  The poor pup had to be so confused the subsequent several months.  We'd show up at Oma and Papa's house, but then leave for Jamaica.  We came back from Jamaica, but left her at the beach when we came home.  They'd bring her to the hotel for a night.  We'd stop by the house, but it was all torn up and full of workers making noise.  She seemed to find solace in the one constant through it all, and we'd find her curled up on her bed wherever we dropped it.  

 

Laundry love

Another one of the perks of hotel life?  Dropping off a week's worth of dirty laundry in the morning and returning in the afternoon to pick it up.  Clean, folded to perfection, and wrapped in these neat little saran wrap bundles.  I'd never be able to rationalize this expense without the insurance reimbursement, but I'm loving it right now!

 

Service with a smile

There were a few perks to living at the Residence Inn...but not enough that any of us really enjoyed the experience.  Thankfully, the weather wasn't too terrible most of the time we were there, so we only had to scrape off the windows a few mornings.  It was enough to convince us that we really like having a garage!

Bouncin' Around

As soon as Brady heard that there was a trampoline gym in town, he knew exactly where he wanted to have his birthday party!  It was a little nerve wracking because the rules were still pretty loose at this gym but we happened to book at a relatively uncrowded time, which was nice.  It was also great that it was a gender-neutral party with enough kids included in the basic package that some of his girl buddies also got to attend. The kids got 90 minutes to bounce and we had about 30 minutes in the party room for pizza, cupcakes, and gifts.  Easy-peasy and no mess to clean up!

Heather, Blake, and Skylar joined us too!

Best buds

Joel,  Bella, Jake, Kate, Rudy, Gabriel, and Brady take a break from dodgeball:

Dirty jobs

ServiceMaster did a great job cleaning up the basement from all of the water damage.  Even so, it was a long way to go to get it ready to put the house on the market.  I spent many days vacuuming, dusting, and sweeping to get rid of all of the sawdust, cobwebs, and general filth.   Hopefully, it'll all be worth it...

Hotel perks

One of the perks of living in a hotel?  Your cats are allowed to snuggle with you on the couch.  (Jingle and Bell are only allowed on one piece of family room furniture at home.)

Another perk = sleeping spread eagle in a queen size bed!

Mt. Vernon

Mt. Vernon had a special discounted rate to visit this winter.  Given Cooper's interest in the presidents and our past very-rainy visit, we decided this would be a fun day trip.  It was a cold, but at least clear, day for our visit.  The house tour wasn't much changed, except that the parlor was completely finished and furnished this time.  We enjoyed getting to explore more of the outdoors including the fields and the pioneer village. 

Lego Time

Any time these two get together, they'd be happy to spend hours on end building and playing with Legos!

Christmas Day 2014

As usual, I was up bright and early on Christmas morning, anxiously awaiting when I could actually rouse the rest of the household.  For the first time ever, though, the kids were ALSO up early.  In year's past, we've always had to wake them up on Christmas morning.  This year, we heard them whispering; then the light went on, and they stayed in bed reading until they were allowed to get up.  Finally, they match my Christmas morning enthusiasm!

Everyone got to open a few presents before breakfast, and then the opening continued after.  Every year, I think Santa is going to cut down on the number of gifts.  He tries; he really does...but then he finds such great bargains on fun little stocking stuffers that he simply can't help himself!

Santa loves bringing books!

 

Nana and Popsie even got a little spoiled by Santa this year:  seasonings and kitchen utensils, new Christmas Vacation glasses, candy, and more!

New ski hats and gloves for both kids and a hard-to-miss neon keeper jersey for Brady:

Keva planks were a new twist on the building toy.  James and Brady spent a long time building this long ramp; these planks have been a big hit!

The weather was nice enough to get outside and try Rudy's koosh toy and to run off some energy.  Oma and Papa joined us in the afternoon for an amazing feast:  prime rib roast, mashed potatoes, candied apples, fruit salad, green salad, yorkshire pudding, asparagus.

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 After dinner, we tried out some of our new Christmas games.  Brady and Rudy stayed with Nana and Popsie, while Oma and Papa headed back to the Residence in with James and me.

Christmas Eve 2014

We decided that the Residence Inn was not where we wanted to spend Christmas Eve, so we relocated to Kathy and Tony's for a few nights.  

We were out of Christmas cookies and took advantage of a real kitchen to whip up a few more batches of sugar cookies and toffee.  We had to have something to leave for Santa!!

We debated hiking into town to attend mass at our regular parish, but decided to go to the closer church instead.  It was much less stressful than hustling everyone out the door for a longer drive to a later service, and allowed us to enjoy the evening more. 

 

These pictures where the timer goes off and no one is ready...always make me laugh!

Everyone was allowed to open one gift after church.  Rudy wound up with Legos to play with and Brady snooped enough to be fairly confident that he was opening his Marvel Comics Encyclopedia.  This enormous book has been a go-to read for him whenever he has a few minutes to spare!

The traditional reading of Twas the Night Before Christmas (on the not so traditional Kindle; what can I say...all of our Christmas books were packed away rather early this year!)

Cookies and milk for Santa, with his reindeer helpers ready to head back to the North Pole after their pre-Christmas shenanigans.