Cool Blue

Ben got right to work putting up Annabel's new lights after Christmas. They are seriously awesome lights! Annabel LOVES them and so far uses them ALL the time! What an upgrade for her room- thank you, Daddy, for all your hard work!

 

Christmas at the Museum

During our Winter Break, we headed to the Museum of Science & Industry to take advantage of the chance to see the Christmas trees (my favorite) and the limited-run Lego art exhibit that was almost ending. This was our first time back since before the pandemic and it was so nice to be back again! We had a great time visiting old favorites and checking out new exhibits, too. 

The Lego exhibit had a lot of cool sculptures and art displays. Lots of fun to check that out!

 

 I loved this stained glass window!

 

This wave art print is everywhere and I'm drawn to it. The Lego form of it was really neat to see.

Fun sculptures!

 

 

These animals were very cool. And then they were mixed into photos for a different effect, which you can see in the whale photo below.

That's the Lego whale in the photo. This whole exhibit was like that, objects/animals placed in actual photos. Interesting.

And one last touch especially for Christmas- the 12 days of Christmas figures, totaling over 250,000 Lego bricks. That's a lot of Lego!

So glad we went and spent a day at the museum!!

Christmas at the Zoo!

We made plans to go to the zoo about a week before Christmas to see the Christmas lights and trees there. My entire family was going to go- my sister's family, my brother's family, my parents- everyone. We were really looking forward to seeing everyone there and doing something all of us together- this just doesn't happen very often. We had pre-purchased tickets to guarantee our parking as well. And then the dominoes fell- my sister was sick, my brother didn't feel great, AND it was FREEZING the night we had planned to go, like negative degrees.

We debated all day about going anyway, just us 4, after all, we didn't particularly want to freeze. But in the end, I really needed the tradition of it, the Christmas spirit, and the pep it would bring. So we went! And freeze we did! We walked FAST, literally hopping from building to building and freezing in between as we went because it was that cold. We survived though! Honestly, once we got moving, we were okay. There were a couple really long stretches between buildings, but we managed. And I gotta say- it sure wasn't crowded even a little (like, the parking lot we reserved tickets for was virtually EMPTY!). So that made it more enjoyable, too. The community trees are always so fun- we found two Stitch-themed trees! And we went into buildings we almost never go in, which added to the fun as well. We were there nearly two hours- I'd said if we lasted an hour I'd be happy and we lasted double that! It was a trip we'll always remember, that's for sure!

I'm looking forward to going back when it's much warmer!!

A Very Merry Christmas 2022

Merry Christmas, Everyone!!

It was a busy day of celebrating here at our house. Lots of fun presents! And of course we dove right into said presents as soon as were done opening them! Daniel's Legos were big hits of course, as were his adorable collectible plush Mickeys. Daniel started building Legos immediately. Annabel loves having her own collection of the Gilmore Girls DVDs but her most exciting present was the LED rope lighting we got for her bedroom. She could not wait to plug them in and check them out! The lights even work via an app (as well as Alexa), so she had a ton of fun with that. I was perfectly happy with my own Lego sets and piles of books. A couple new games and other fun little gifts rounded out our Christmas day at home.

The silliest hit of the day? The Disney "Mini-brands" balls I got for the kids. Oh my goodness, who knew these would be such a hit?! Each ball opens like an orange with a teeny-tiny mini-Disney toy, complete in its packaging and all, in each of 5 slices. These things really are too cute. Why are tiny things so cute? I'm not sure, but we're a little obsessed with these now. The kids want more of them! Go figure. I know what to get for Easter baskets now! Anyway- runaway hit! So fun.

We spent the afternoon at my parents' house, celebrating with family, in the whirlwind of more present opening that happens there with so many people. There were snacks and treats to be had there, too. And then it was back home to more fun.

 Enjoy our many many pictures!

 The obligatory Christmas morning stairway picture! Man these kids are getting taller!

 

First peek at presents!!

Up first- stockings!

These are the Disney Mini-brands balls I was talking about- this was definitely a runaway hit this year! Go figure! The teeny toys are so cute! Annabel has Thor's hammer and Daniel has a Baby Yoda "suitcase."

I found a bunch of whale-themed things and had fun stuffing those in Annabel's stocking in memory of our awesome whale watching excursion in Alaska.

Annabel is really into fidget things this year. This is one such "wiggle worm" fidget. She loves the thing. 

I found this fun Gilmore Girls keychain that looks like a Dragonfly Inn key ring. So cute!!

 

Time to dive into presents now!!

Annabel got Daniel the newest Baby Blues comic book. He was surprised because he didn't even know there was a new one out! Love a good surprise!

Annabel has been wanting to re-watch Gilmore Girls again...she's been asking and asking. I said in January we could (we just watched the entire series in a matter of weeks back in the spring). Guess what we're doing January 1st now? Watching Gilmore Girls. Such a great show! Annabel is so glad to have a set of the DVDs of her own now.

Annabel and I found this Stitch Christmas wrapping paper at the Dollar Store of all places one day. I sure snatched up a roll. I have looked for literal YEARS for Stitch wrapping paper and never found any. Go figure I'd find one at the Dollar Store. I had a lot of fun using it to wrap Annabel's presents.

I wonder what's in here? New posters Annabel wanted for her room. She's quite delighted to have these!

Annabel and I spotted this Target truck Hot Wheel car and knew we had to have it! Daniel got a big kick out of this one!

A Gilmore Girls cookbook!! What?! Annabel was super excited about this one. Especially fun are the stories and pictures from the series. A fun collectible for her.

That hug- so cute. This set of Stitch plush dolls was from Daniel- he saw it and immediately said, "There, that's what I want to get Annabel!" She loves it.

Daniel really wanted this new Lego car- the Chevrolet Camaro! Top of his list. So fun to gift this one.

Annabel was SO excited to get these new LED rope lights- SO EXCITED!!

YAY- another one of Daniel's most wanted items- the Lego Batwing!

Tiki-room Mickey!! He's too cute!

Haunted Mansion Mickey!!

Ooooooohhhh- fancy new LED rope lighting for Annabel! She CANNOT wait to get it hung in her room!!

The lights even have an app so you can customize them. Very cool!

After presents were unwrapped, Daniel had already started building his new Lego Batwing!

On to Grandma Cheryl and Grandpa Gary's house!!

Ooooh- the newest illustrated Harry Potter! We can't wait to read it!! It's beautiful. Thank you, Aunt Christina!

Josie made this clever Lego head ornament for Daniel! So cute and sweet!

A new Hamilton Funko Pop for Annabel's collection!

I love when kids dive right into a new book...Daniel was already enjoying this new book- Stuff You Should Know.

Annabel has a new daily calendar for 2023- she's delighted and can't wait to read history facts every day!

Daniel and I picked out this fun camper Lego set for Josie and it just so happened to be a set she really wanted, too! So fun!

Flip-a-mallows for Annabel- thanks to Aunt Christina! Annabel really wanted some of these! They're pretty cute.

This collectible Mickey & Minnie set is darling. Daniel LOVES these!

Hannah LOVES the Cars and Trucks and Things That Go book we got her- so sweet! This was Daniel's favorite book when he was little. We pored over this book for ages and ages!!! I knew right away I wanted to get this for Hannah when Christina mentioned how much she loves trucks. It's fun to keep the tradition going.

A few cute Christmas highlights thanks to Google Photos!

 And that's a wrap on Christmas! Or should I say, it's all been unwrapped?! Here's hoping you had a wonderful Christmas, too!