Family Christmas!

   A week before Christmas my mom's side of the family got together for our annual Christmas party. We of course eat way too much. All the cousins' kids run around and play together. And this year we added bingo... yes, you read correctly B-I-N-G-O!

Petting Keller with my cousins!

   Harrison was in love with watching the big kids play. He took a turn at air hockey - thank god we didn't get any fingers smooshed. 

Thank goodness for Cousin Rachel!

   His true love was the shuffleboard. Between the sand and the sliding discs it was love at first sight. Thankfully Cousin Rachel helped lift him (each of the one thousand times) and she was an extra set of eyes on him.  

Yep she lifted me each time. I avoided the step stool. 

   After stuffing our faces, we busted out the bingo boards. Normally we do a white elephant exchange, but this year we switched it up. To play bingo you brought a $10 prize and paid $1 per bingo board. 

It was very intense!

   I started out with two bingo boards but had to step it up to four. Adam left early to take Harrison home for bed. I'm pretty sure bingo went on for at least 2 hours. After much frustration I won twice! My prizes included a football for Harrison and a $10 Target gift card! Whoot whoot!!

Read it and weep! BINGO!!

   Once all of the prizes were accounted for we played for a blackout. The winner got the whopping $82 collected from the players!! Needless to say with that many bingo boards in use we ran out of chips. We started using whatever we could find to cover our numbers - money, pretzels, trail mix..

You have to admit, it's hilarious.

   Finally a winner was found and we were free from the grip of Family Christmas Bingo 2011!

Until next year... I have got to find those bingo dotters between now and then.

~Emily

Holiday fun!

   This holiday season we've had a lot of fun things going on. To kick off December our church had its annual Children's Christmas Party. I was there, but unfortunately Harrison sat this one out. He was fighting his first cough. 

   Next on tap was our friend Calen's 5th birthday party! The party was at a local indoor pool. Harrison and I made it to the party but decided cough + swimming maybe wasn't the best thing. Harrison loved running around with the big kids though! He even let us put on a pirate eye patch.

Really mom.... Arg.

   The day after Calen's pirate birthday we went on a holiday lights tour. It was amazing! About 33 of us from my mom's group at church loaded up on a party bus (complete with strobe lights and.. ahem... poles... ). 

Sitting like a big boy on the party bus!

   We headed out around 5pm. We all had dinner and snacks on the bus, listened to Christmas music and all the kiddos enjoyed playing with each other. Our destination was Longview Lake. They have a big drive thru light display. When we got to the display Harrison was glued to the window!

Look at all these lights momma!!

   We had a blast! Riding the bus was definitely the way to do it. Harrison loved watching the other kids on the bus and looking at all of the lights. We had space to spread out and didn't have to worry about driving there ourselves. 

Almost every display had some kind of movement. Awesome!

Until our next adventure!

~Emily

The big visit!

   Last year we saw Santa on Thanksgiving. It was awesome! We went to Bass Pro Shop and there were no lines! This year, it just didn't work out on Thanksgiving. We were off to a late start and I didn't have any Christmas clothes for Harrison. Seriously, boy clothes can be so tricky! So we went to Bass Pro Shop the first weekend in December. Adam was off that Sunday so we made sure to get there right when Santa arrived!

So where is this Santa Claus?

   We were lucky to get there so early - we only waited 5-10 minutes. My parents met us up there as well. 

Daddy did you see these cars over here?

   Harrison was fine during the wait. He scoped out the other kids. Watched the toy cars on the track. As soon as it was our turn, he was ready!

Um hi there strange guy with a beard...

   Adam said Harrison kinda waved and smiled at Santa when he first sat down. Then he caught himself and wasn't so sure. However, there were no tears so we're totally counting this as a success!

Sorry Mom. This is as good as it gets!

   Santa was amazing as usual! I LOVE that all the Santas now sport real beards! He was very patient with Harrison and other than Harrison's tummy sticking out, he did a great job! After our Santa adventure, we headed to Mimi's Cafe for a nice breakfast together!

Look who's sitting in a booster seat!

All in all, it was a great day! I just love this family stuff!!

~Emily

First gift

   Yes, I know December is almost over. But have I ever mentioned how busy December can be? Oh well. I'm here now! Right after Thanksgiving Harrison got to open his first gift of the season.

I think I know how this goes!

   GJ and Pop sent Harrison his first Nativity - Little People of course! He had quite the time just trying to open the wrapping paper.

I feel like it should be open by now!

   Once we got all the pieces out Harrison had a lot of fun playing with the animals and people. He kept carrying Baby Jesus around and "kissing" him. (Harrison's kissing looked like he was eating Jesus' head...)

I love setting up my Nativity!

   We also put up our tree the first weekend of December. We have two trees and chose to do the one in our living room first just to see what Harrison would do. Oh did he love it! He helped us put up the sparkly ornaments and he kept pointing at all of the lights.

Tree!

   Now every time we walk in the living room Harrison points at the tree, says tree and fusses until we plug the lights in. Thankfully he hasn't messed with any of the gifts we have under the tree. And he's only managed to knock of (and break) one ornament.

Someone else is captivated by the lights as well. That would be Eddie.

I'll be back soon with our Santa update and more fun Harrison happenings!

~Emily

Thanksgiving - YUM!

   I know - it's December and here I am with my Thanksgiving post. I've been busy, I swear. Anyway, we had a great Thanksgiving... Until Adam got sick.

The calm before Daddy's tummy got upset!

   Our Thanksgiving tradition has always been early dinner at my parents' house. My aunt, uncle, cousins and all of their kids were there.

Hanging with Cousin Rachel. Watching some football.

   It was a lot of fun - Harrison ran around with the big kids and even tried to play some football. We lucked out. It was 65 degrees outside.

The big kids were playing football so I got the volleyball!

   We ate way too much as usual and were ready for bed by 8pm. (Thank you turkey.) This was the first year in a few years that we didn't venture down to the Plaza to see the lights. Adam and I normally try to drive down after the crowds have dispersed. But this year, we ran into Harrison bed time. I was a little sad we couldn't go down, but then again I fell asleep in the car on the way home. Oops. 

My tummy is so full. I must lay here.

   As soon as we got home, Adam's stomach bug hit. I meanwhile kept the Lysol bottle in hand and sprayed everything twice, then one more time for good luck. Thank god Harrison and I didn't get it. All in all, it was a very successful Thanksgiving with LOTS of yummy food and plenty of leftovers (fist pump!).

I'll leave you with a video of Harrison playing outside. It's super short, but oh so sweet!

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving too!

~Emily

Our first trip

   Sunday, November 6th Adam and I did it. We went on our first trip together without our sweet boy. It was weird. My best friend from college was going to Vegas for a conference. Ann and I had joked about meeting up there. (She went with me last year as part of my birthday gift from Adam.) Well, the more I thought about it, the more fun I thought it would be. We found some great non-stop flights. We found an awesome deal on a hotel, which included free buffets. It was too great to pass up. 

Just us parents chilling on the Vegas strip.

   So Sunday at 5am we loaded up the car while our sweet boy was sleeping snug in his bed. My mom came over to step in as our babysitter. We handed her our "if anything should happen" letter and insurance card and we were off. Our flight went smoothly. We got to the Vegas airport around 8:30am. Got to love flying west!! I love getting more time. Vegas is a two hour time difference plus it was daylight savings that Sunday.

Our temporary Vegas home. The last day I still couldn't find the stupid elevators. 

   Sunday Ann and her husband drove to the Hoover Dam and by Red Rock Canyon. Adam and I walked the strip. Literally. We walked almost the entire way. Of course there were plenty of photo ops.

Posing by the MGM lion. We stayed at the MGM. 

   It had been almost 11 years since Adam was last in Vegas so I kinda felt like a tour guide... And over here is another sketchy person most likely gambling their life away... But they sure look happy, don't they?

I know what you're thinking, "I thought they were in Vegas!"

   I even got to play tour guide as we walked through the Bellagio and Caesar's Palace. And over here is another really, really expensive store that we should probably not walk into...

Seriously has anyone not taken a picture in the Bellagio gardens?

   The best part on Sunday came at 6pm when I went to look at my watch because I swore it was at least 10pm. Yes, there's the 3 hour difference catching up to me. We ate with Ann and Leo Sunday night and then we all practically ran back to our rooms to sleep. Oh but we did stop once to watch the infamous Bellagio fountains!

This is the look of two tired parents trying so hard to stay up past 9pm.

   And then we had some fun outside Aria. Well, Adam had fun. I couldn't figure out what the heck he was doing.

We found this water wall and some bird chairs... Weird.

   Monday while Ann went to her conference (yes, she really did go), Adam, Leo and I hiked down to the Venetian. We met up with Ann for lunch and then just kinda took it easy.

My favorite thing we saw in Vegas. It's the crazy chandelier in The Cosmopolitan.

   We tried to get tickets to a cirque de sole show but apparently Monday is an off night. Arg. We choose to do a fancy, fancy dinner instead. We ate at Il Mulino at Caesar's. It was ridiculous. I mean the head waiter was called Captain. They finished all the meals in the dining area. We were given like two courses of appetizers before ordering. AND we were served grapa or Italian moonshine as the Captain told us after dinner. It was amazing! On our walk back to the MGM we went "shopping" at the Crystals (yep, high end shopping).

The Crystals shopping area. We didn't spend much there...

    This momma was in bed by 10pm and slept like a rock until 7:30am the next day. It was amazing. Tuesday we pretty much packed it all up, hit the buffet, lost our last $5 at the airport slots and headed home to our central time zone. Seriously, the pacific time zone is not my favorite. And of course, when we got home, we got to see our sweet little monkey...or turkey!

Hey guys! What's up?!

I'd love to say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas but really, this momma just got some sleep, a spa pedicure and ate like there's no tomorrow.

~Emily

LEAVES!

   I love how the cheapest toys are the best toys. We spend all this time and energy picking out the most colorful, educational, age appropriate toys and my kid loves empty butter/sour cream containers, my shoes and leaves. I guess it's a good thing it's fall.

Grandma was throwing the leaves up in the air!

   We went over to my parents' house last weekend and the leaves were a huge attraction for Harrison. My mom would pick up a pile and throw them in the air. Harrison would just screech! He'd try to grab them on their way down. 

I'm trying to throw the leaves.

   Then he'd pick up a pile and try to throw the leaves. Yeah, we haven't quite mastered that but still it was super cute! 

This is the greatest play time EVER!

   Needless to say our property has no trees on it. So our leaf count is really low. I know. We're the mean parents that just have toys for our kid to play with. How dare we do that... On the bright, less fall yard work, right? Harrison might be disappointed but Adam's not. (Can't make them all happy.)

Throwing leaves is really hard!

   Here's a short video of Harrison playing with my mom in the leaves. (Sorry mom - I kinda got your backside.) Be sure to listen for the manly screeching!

Hope you're enjoying the fall weather and falling leaves too!
~Emily

Our 2nd Halloween

   Halloween is a totally different experience when your kid can walk, run, talk, and grab candy! Harrison was an adorable monkey! (A big shout out to Sarah from our mom's group for letting us borrow the costume!!)

Why is everyone laughing? Leave my banana out of it!

   You have to admit, Harrison was the cutest monkey ever! The costume had a belly and a sewn on banana. The first time we put him in it I fell over laughing. Fine, that makes me a mean mom... Whatever... Anyway, we had two rounds of Halloween. On October 22nd my mom's group at church put on a kid's Halloween party. Harrison loved playing games! His favorites were bowling and kiddie corn hole.

I'm not really bowling - just playing with the pins.

   There was also a haunted house - okay just a play house that looked like a haunted house. Harrison wasn't real sure what to make of that. 

Um, hello?

   We had snacks, made crafts and of course, went trick or treating (YUMMY!).

Like my bag? Mom and Dad made it.

   Harrison didn't quite get trick or treating but he did love wandering around and picking out his own candy. The wrappers were very captivating. We even saw our best buddies there!! (See something familiar? The kangaroo is back!)

Well, Stacy and I look good. The boys weren't having it.

   On actual Halloween (which was on a Monday.. dumb...), Adam and I took Harrison around to a few houses mainly just to show off his super cute monkey costume. We saw Grandma and Grandpa M. 

Grandma took me trick or treating on her street.

  We saw a couple of my parent's neighbors. Then we stopped by my aunt's, Harrison's babysitter's and a good friend's house. I think he had fun, but he was really worn out by the time we got home. 

Great Aunt Serean is pretty cool. She let me sit in my cousin's old rocking chair. 

   

   All in all, Halloween #2 was a success. Just wish we didn't give away all of our good candy... 

From the monkey's momma!

~Emily

Happy October!!

   So I love the fall. I especially love the fall when it follows a really hot July and August. Plus my birthday is in the fall. And I like candy... a lot. Fall just rocks my socks! Our fall weather has finally started to set in for good. Windows open during the day, blankets needed at night. I am so happy!! Fall also means we get to pull out our Halloween decor, plan Harrison's costume and take a trip to the pumpkin patch.

OMG!!! There are so many little pumpkins and gourds!

   We were so lucky that Adam was off a Saturday this month and we hauled it out to a local pumpkin patch. I totally thought it wouldn't be all that. It was $8 for each of us (Harrison was free). There were tons of things to do, but I thought Harrison would be too young. However, I was wrong-o!

My first train ride. I look so mature. Daddy walked beside me so I wouldn't escape.

   Harrison rode in a train, struck a couple of poses, played on a wooden train, petted goats (of course), played with pumpkins, went through the corn maze, went down a huge slide, and helped us pick out the perfect little pumpkin.

Mom and dad think this is hilarious. Me? Not so much.

   It was a great time! We met up with some friends from church and had tons of fun just walking around seeing what all the other kids were up to.

This was a scary slide!!

   I'm so glad we took the trip! We will definitely go back again and an amazing nap followed our fun afternoon!

I'll take this one!!

Happy October!

~Emily