Home again home again jigitty jig!

I have been meaning to write this post for awhile but lately it has been non-stop running and I have barely had time to sit down!  Last week was our trip back to visit family for Christmas and this week I jumped feet first into the zoo's very first winter break camps.  Then with the kids and myself being sick and Frog Face teething, it has been crazy!

The trip back home to visit family was definitely interesting!  The kids both traveled well and for that I am grateful.  We arrived Friday night and then that next day there was a major ice and snow storm.  Both of the kids were tired and so that means poor mommy spent the entire night going from one child to the other before I ended up on the couch holding Frog Face while Goober slept curled up next to me.  It really didn't get any better since then and now almost two weeks later I have yet to get a good night's sleep.

The snow was fun though and Goober got to go sledding for the first time.  Honestly, I think I enjoyed it more than she did though.  I have fond memories of sledding down the hill next to our house as a child.  Although I swear that hill used to be a lot bigger.  I think it shrunk in the last 20 years...

It was really important to me that Goober go sledding since there are NO hills where we live in Kansas so sledding isn't really a possibility here.

Among other things, we visited my grandfather (the kid's great-grandfather) who is currently in an assisted living facility.  We actually stayed at his house while we were visiting family and it was nice to have the place to ourselves, although it felt very empty without my grandfather's presence there.  It was sad that he didn't remember us when we visited but I was glad he got to meet Frog Face for the first time.  One of my favorite memories from the trip was the look of dumbfounded awe on Goober's face when great-grandpa took out his teeth.  She just stared and stared at him in open-mouthed wonder!  I am especially close to this particular grandfather so it broke my heart to see what alzheimer's has done to him.  I was glad that we got to see him though.

The trip was further saddened when we received the news on Christmas Eve morning that the Weatherman's Grandmother had passed away.  She was 96 years old and while her mind was as sharp as a tack, her body was failing.  We were sad that she was never able to meet Frog Face before she passed but at peace with her death at the same time.  The funeral was lovely and while it was a sad occasion, it was nice to see family and have everyone together for a bit.

  

The kids received so many toys from loving relatives that we were actually seriously considering renting a U-Haul trailer to get everything back home.  Somehow we were able to cram it all the car and use a top carrier to get everything back.  It is amazing all the stuff we fit in there!  Although, there was one stupid noise-making toy that talked to us the entire way back home.  We didn't know which toy it was so we couldn't turn it off.  It was rather annoying.

All the stuff we crammed in our Pontiac Vibe, including two kids, two car seats, and two adults

Then of course there was the milk fiasco at the rest stop.  We paused for lunch on the turn pike and we finally get our food and sit down.  I pull Frog Face out of his infant carrier (which the chunkers is almost to big for) and hold him next to me so he can stretch a bit.  But that speedy baby turned and grabbed his sister's milk and spilled the entire thing all over Goober and myself.  I jump up and sit Frog Face back in ther carrier (that promptly flips over...oops!  Don't worry, I caught him in time).  Thankfully I was a prepared momma and had a change of clothing for Goober in the easily accessible diaper bag (the rest of our clothing was packed in the top carrier of the car).  I was not as lucky.  I had to do the old wash it off in the bathroom and then pelvic thrust under the hand dryer routine.  I couldn't help laughing at myself as I danced under the hand dryer thinking I looked a lot like an episode I had seen of Mr. Bean (if you have not seen Mr. Bean, you need to go watch it.  Now.  Stop reading this and go watch Mr. Bean.  He is fantastic!  I think he is on Netflix.  You are welcome).  

All in all, it was good to be home.   We arrived home on Sunday (the cats and fish were still alive thank goodness!) and I had to wake up bright and early to work at the winter camps that I designed for the zoo on Monday.  I had hoped to have Sunday to recoup and that we would drive back Saturday, but the funeral was Saturday so we had to drive back Sunday instead and there was no time to rest.  We finally finished unpacking on Tuesday and I was grateful for Wednesday off.  I was sad that I crashed before I could ring in the new year. I really did try to stay awake, but I had caught the fun RSV bug that the kids had (did I mention the kids were sick the entire trip and didn't sleep hardly at all?) and with everything else I just couldn't last until midnight.

So that is our trip in a nut shell.  I used the last of my vacation days so we probably won't be back to see family for a while.  It was good to see them and the kids loved being spoiled by their family.  Now back to the grind!  But first, some more pictures.

I love this picture because it seems like the Weatherman is floating in mid air

adorable princesses

Chillin' in great-grandpa's chair

One happy grandpa!  Nothing like a babe in each arm

Goober didn't want to cooperate for her picture with Grandma

But she loved posing with this big sucker!

She struck a pose when I asked to take her picture

Cousins!

The obligatory children-in-front-of-the-tree picture

Goober was done with pictures at this point

Tired kiddo's

First tractor ride!

I would often see people post pictures of their child sleeping in weird positions and wonder "how do they do that?  My kids usually sleep in their beds" but then I got my kids tired enough and threw off their schedule and didn't give the Goober a nap and this is what we get.  She fell asleep while coloring with the marker still in her hand.

Trying solids for the first time.  He was not a fan.