Christmas Vacation

We have really had a nice two weeks at home as a family. Alex worked a lot but when we were able we got out of the house and did some really fun things, both as a family and with Lori and Noah too.

We went to Monkey Bizness. This is an giant indoor playground with nets, slides, tunnels, and bounce houses. It's fun to see Matthew's brave side come out as he has been jumping and bouncing and going down big slides. The most fun thing is just to watch him or him and Noah completely entertain themselves as they go from one spot to another, using such imagination in their little minds. We also went to a similar place for a birthday party for our 2 year old friend Jack. This was at a place called My Gym, and included a ball pit, slides, swings, and Matthew's favorite- a trampoline!

We also went to the Aquarium, a first for Noah, Lori and Dave. The place was PACKED, because there was also snow for the kids and some other festive things going on. The kids got to play in the snow for about 5 minutes, but the highlight was the sand box! The splash park was obviously not on, but we had a fun time out there just watching them with shovels and sand. We walked the aquarium and the boys looked at all the fishes. Their favorite part really is just getting to walk, and now RUN around. We met up with Sean, Michelle, and little Savannah Rollo too.

Our next outing was to Lettuce Lake Park. We played on the playground a bit and did the swings, but we really wanted to get the boys out exploring the boardwalk. They were acting fussy like they didn't want to walk, but once we goth them on the boardwalk they were off. They enjoyed racing up and down the boardwalk and looking at trees and birds, and calling out to them. I enjoyed seeing them climb the watch tower and remembered back to when we were kids and climbed that tower so many times, that tower seeming so much higher back then.

Daddy worked over night on New Year's Eve and New Years Day so Aunt Lori and Noah had a slumber party with us. The boys slept well on NYE but Lori and I were not too much in the New Year spirit and we barely made it to midnight. The next day was as beautiful as I've seen in a long time. It was warm but not hot and not a cloud in the sky. So we were off to the beach for a streamlined trip. Small cooler, few toys, a blanket, an umbrella, and a frisbee. We had a blast just watching the boys play in the sand. It was fun to see them entertain themselves with nothing more than a shovel. They found all sorts of ways to scoop the sand and dump it elsewhere or in a bucket. We spent a good number of hours there before dragging Aunt Lori away. We found a small playground near where we parked that the boys headed off to play at. They were so work on out swings nearly put them to sleep.

I love this last picture. It's like, "Good-bye 2012, the year we were babies. Hello 2013, the year we are big boy buddies."

Matthew's first Big Boy Christmas

It was fun to see Matthew get excited about some of the Christmas traditions. He helped Daddy put lights, ornaments, and candy canes on the Christmas tree. Every morning when we came downstairs the first thing Matthew did was run to the Christmas tree and point at the lights to turn them on. When we went on walks in the evening Matthew had some favorite decorations in neighbors yards that he liked to check out, namely a cute little Rudolph he liked to pet.

Alex had to work on the 25th and 26th so we celebrated on Christmas Eve. Alex's parents came to town and so we had the Tyus family, the Morans, and Granna and Jackie. We had to wait until later in the week for Marc and Amber to come home. We had a nice Christmas dinner and then opened presents. The boys were having a great time. They got trucks from Neno, pretty cool super hero action figures from Alex, and Matthew got a tricycle from Adina. Matthew has come to be very engaged with Disney and Mickey Mouse Club. His favorite is Goofy, whom he calls, "Goooof!". Daddy got Matthew a big Goofy, and Tio Mike got Matthew a dancing Mickey who does Matthew favorite, The Hot Dog Dance! The hardest thing about this vacation was sharing toys for the boys. We have PLENTY of toys but somehow they always seem to want whatever toy the other has at the time. They progressed as the vacation went on and did better by the end. We spent Christmas morning at home with the Grands. We played outside mostly and Matthew rode his tricycle, which he loves!

Marc and Amber came to visit at the end of Christmas week. They bought cool toys as always. Matthew got some wood blocks and a bench with a little mallet to bang on. In keeping with the "banging" theme, Matthew also was given a drum set by Granna. He likes it, especially playing the drum and blowing on the trumpet.

Christmas Cards

I was so late getting Christmas Cards out this year. In part because it was so dang hot and I wanted us to look nice in Christmas sweaters. When Aunt Lori came to town we finally had a photographer to help out. Lori, Noah and Granna came over and helped take some nice pictures of our family in front of a nearby pond. We had nice evening lighting and I loved taking pictures of Matthew and Alex playing together in the grass, Matthew climbing on Alex and cuddling with him.

Matthew Learns to jump

We went to a Christmas Party that one of my favorite McKitrick families hosts each year. We had good food and enjoyed time chatting with the Dugans. Matthew was a little fussy when we got there so we went outside and found a football to entertain Matthew with. That made him feel better but then we found the trampoline. There were some older kids jumping so Matthew wanted no part of that, but he watched as he always does, from the side. When the kids were done playing Matthew tried it himself. It was so cute to see him try with all his might to jump. He really couldn't get his feet off the ground but he would squat then reach for the sky. He liked bouncing and flopping all over the place.

It was fun to watch him enjoy himself... until Santa made his appearance. Matthew was content to be a blob on Santa's lap last year but this year he was more aware of things that aren't normal and he did not like Santa one bit. In the days after this and after Christmas Matthew came around. He recognized Santa pictures and figurines and even said "San-ta" in a precious little voice.

Thanksgiving

All the Morans gathered in Boca for another Thanksgiving. It's nice to get everyone together for this holiday and then when Christmas comes everyone stays with their other half of the family. We all took turns doing some of the cooking. Rachel made her stuffing and potatoes, Adina made her meat stuffing and fish, I made my corn casserole, Suzy made the drinks, and Neno brought home a well done turkey. We spent most of the time sitting out back on the lawn chairs that were set up. Matthew had a fun time running all around the back yard with the dogs and tossing balls back and forth. When we did come inside we were well equipped with toys, especially a gigantic remote control firetruck with lights, sirens, and a water hose!

Halloween

Alex's parents came to visit for the weekend. We picked out some pumpkins and Daddy carved a Gator jack-o-lantern.

Matthew caught his first sickness right before Halloween. Poor guy had a runny nose, a cough, minimal appetite, and his face looked splotchy. But that didn't deter us from making sure he enjoyed his first Halloween. He was the cutest little Charlie Brown. He had a football and a Snoopy to carry with him too. He was a little hesitant about the whole trick or treating thing at first. After enjoying a few dogs at the first two houses he was excited to go to more houses. After realizing his goal was to put candy in his bucket he was glad to do that, even though he didn't realize it was candy he was getting. He never really liked any of it, not even chocolate so we just ate it all for him.

Sport boy

Matthew went to his first Bucs game a few weeks ago. He loved all the people and the cheering and the cannons. He watched so quizzically and it was so fun to see him do something for the first time that I know he will do a thousand times in his life.

Today we went to our first Rays game. We had great seats and the game was low scoring so it moved pretty quickly Matthew danced to the crowd music and cheered when everyone else did next season he will be able to enjoy all the fun things they have there to entertain the kids, including running the bases after the game.