For the past 10 days our family has been on vacation. Izzy keeps on correcting me when I say this, "It's Winter Break, mom, not vacation." Mmmkay. Either way, we've been away from home and in my book that's called a vacation.
We spent 4 days with my dad and step mom in Michigan at their new house. This is the first year in many years that we've all been able to sleep under the same roof as their new place has more than enough room for my sister and her family along with my family. Let me tell you it was glorious to wake up there all together and stay up late laughing all together. No one had to leave for the hotel. Glorious. Michigan got lots and lots of snow while we were there (even an ice storm that left most of the state without power and took down huge trees in the neighborhood). Was just a beautiful time to be at dad's.
We did little swimming
And exchanging presents
Mikey got some pretty sweet bar glasses with our last name on them...brewing since 2011
It was a very Amer.ican Girl xmas for the girls
The snow, even the ice, were beautiful looking out dad's back deck
So of course we had to go sledding
The golf course had some wicked hills for us and Izzy braved even the steepest on her own
Dad lives near a deer farm (for lack of better words) and we visited them to feed them carrots. As you can see, we were able to get very close to them.
As we were leaving I overheard Izzy talking to one of the deer, "Hey, do you know Santa?" Ha! We had to explain to her that these were not reindeer, just plain deer.
One of the traditions we've had at Dad's house for many years is singing and dancing to Christmas Carols. We'd have choreography (aka Carla) and print outs of songs and parts we were responsible for. This year we forgot to do this with our large group and instead had an intimate performance of the Twelve Days of Christmas a la the Muppets. Anna grabbed 5 golden rings for the girls and we frantically tried to memorize parts. We usually only have 1 part to this song but since it was split among 4 adults...it got harried. But we had fun regardless. Next year? The choreography comes back!
My aunt Celeste, Uncle Jeff, cousins Lisa & Rex and their kids were all able to make the drive (in the ice storm, no less!) to dad's and we had yet another special gathering of the Keels with my 93 year old Grandfather.
Christmas Eve we left dad's house to venture on to Bob & Laura's. Our xmas Eve tradition is to go to church service then get in our new jammies for the night. I'll have it be known I was in my jammies for a solid 24 hours. No shame.
Christmas morning Santa woke us with the jingle of his bells. The girls were giddy with excitement!
Laney had been asking for Doc M.cStuffins and her pals for quite some time. Happy girl.
While Izzy had been begging for a make-up kit ("Mommy, all my friends have one!"). Dreams do come true.
Santa brought the girls mermaid tails made out of swimsuit material - how amazing is that?! After the Littles opened their gifts they dove into the tub for some mermaid swimming. Let's just say they kept these tail on even under their jammies the rest of the day (after they dried, obvi).
And of course homemade pizzas were kneaded, rolled, dressed and eaten well into the night.
Naps were had by all
Laura gave us a special treat; while she was organizing this year she found many of Mike's old VHS tapes from his high school years. We watched hours of swimming and Prom videos. Izzy kept saying I looked pretty. We had to explain to her that was not me, but rather daddy's date. She was slightly confused. I was definitely amused. Buggy fell asleep in all the excitement.
The weeks leading up to Christmas were jam-packed for us. Here are some pictures of what we've been up to, in no particular order.
Daddy and Izzy made a snowman using fruit and veggies from the fridge as accessories.
Mike took Bob to a Colts game where they had stellar seats. And a nice view of celebrities.
We watched our buddy Maggie play an amazing shepherd in a live nativity performance.
I had my 6th and final CF competition of the year. It was another team competition, same team as BracketBuster. We did very well, finishing 6th or 7th in all 4 wods. Very happy with our consistency. All of us PR'd some lifts and we missed the finals by 1 single point. Happy, nonetheless.
Triple digit full squat snatch, baby!
I attended a Pacers game with my division at work. First after-work function I've attended maybe ever! Since I started at TFL I have had small babies or have been pregnant. With my new job I'll have to do more traveling and entertaining...so why not start now?
Meggie hosted a fancy girls night at her gorgeous home and the Perfect Strangers reunited (and it felt so good!). Love these women with all my heart. I'm so fortunate to have such amazing women to call friends.
I was able to attend Izzy's holiday party at school. She's been begging me to come to one of their classroom events but the timing has never worked out. I walked in and she just beamed with excitement. She was so proud to have me there and I was thrilled to watch her in her kindergarten environment (and socialize with my girlfriends as well). I learned which boy every girl had a crush on, who was the class clown, and all the inside secrets kindergartners keep. Too cute.
We're getting ready for a laid back NYE party at home. Five couples will be joining us to ring in the New Year!
