Christmas Festivities

Now that the holidays are winding down, here is a look back 

at our Christmas celebrations this year:

 Getting ready for Grandma Mary's and Papa Ron's

  Eli enjoyed pushing Betty around.

 Liam, Seamus, Elijah, Betty

He loved his new four-wheeler!

 Christmas Eve

 We celebrated at Aunt Connie's.

 Liam, Seamus, Elijah, Layla

 Checking out the new stacking blocks from Connie

 Last year on Christmas Day:

This year, Christmas Day:

 Opening presents from Santa

 All ready to go to Grandma and Grandpa's

 (He wouldn't sit in front of the tree by himself, so I had to sit with him.)

 He loved to sit on top of all the big boxes.

Now he even has his very own Harley!

 "Blondie" the horse!

 Despite the expression on his face, he really did like his new horse.

 Aunt Laurie stopped by for a visit.

 He also got a lot of new books with flaps, his favorite.

 Some of my cousins also stopped over.

New Year's Eve, our final celebration:

 Sitting on Uncle Mike's lap

 Learning how to take pictures.  He loved to see the flash go off.

 Playing with his new car carrier from Samuel

Santa

Last year, Eli was oblivious to sitting on Santa's lap.

This year, he is still not quite ready yet to make friends with Santa.

Maybe next year...

Ronald McDonald

Today, the McDonald's in Maquoketa celebrated its grand re-opening, which even included a visit from Ronald McDonald.  We thought this might be good practice for when Eli sees Santa next weekend.  We got there early to eat lunch first, which was a good thing since it filled up with people fast.  Then, at 11:30 on the dot (Ronald is quite a punctual clown), he showed up by announcing, "Hello everybodeeeee!"  He was quite obnoxious but also clever with his jokes.  

He made his way from one table to the next to greet all the kids and pass out an autographed picture.  Eli didn't seem to mind him coming close and talking to him.  

Watching from a distance

Passing out an autographed picture

Apparently, he had enough of Ronald.

As a side note, I still remember the very first time I met Ian and I had asked him what his last name was; his friend who was with us then mentioned that Ian's dad's name was Ron.  It took a minute for it to sink in, but that was the first time I realized that my father-in-law also shares the same name, Ronald McDonald:)

Another Play Date

On Saturday, two of my friends from college, Beth and Randi, came with their families over to our house for supper.  It was fun to get all 4 of the kids together.  Eli was a little outnumbered with the 3 other girls, but they seemed to all have fun nonetheless.  

Lauren was all smiles all night long:)

Eli became very interested in what was in her diaper bag.

Eli showed the girls his new discovery, a hiding spot.  He actually fits his entire body inside, closes the door, and then will usually wait for you to ask where he is before popping back out.

Holli and Lilli enjoyed the activity table.

They also enjoyed throwing the ball into the tub, with Eli cheering them on by clapping.

Lilli's underwater work of art

Play Date

Today, we went to Cedar Rapids to meet up with my friend Jesse and her son Carter for lunch and a play date.  After lunch, the boys enjoyed the play center that was in the mall.  The carousel captured our attention first, so Eli took a ride on that.  He was a little unsure when it started moving, but then he really liked the ride (so much so Ian thought he needed 2 more rides on it by the end of the day...lol).  

If there was a certain capacity for this play area, I'm pretty sure it exceeded the limit.  Maybe it was just super busy and full of kids since it was Sunday afternoon.  Around the perimeter of the play area sat parents who looked exhausted while all the kids ran around with endless energy.  

Both Carter and Eli enjoyed themselves, and there were lots of activities for different ages.  Eli especially liked the super fast slide and the hands-on activities that were built right into the walls.  

It was nice to catch up with Jesse, and she is also expecting a baby girl in about 2 weeks!

Of course, a trip to Cedar Rapids wouldn't be complete without a stop to visit auntie.  Megan was out of town, but we did swing by Jamie's house for a quick surprise visit before we left to go back home.