Weekend: DeYoung Christmas

On Friday Isaac had to go to school.  :(  With all the snow we had been hoping to go outside, but it was rather cold out...often in the single digits or low teens, without the wind factored in.  So we went to an indoor playground instead.

Once Isaac got home we opened presents.

Joshua was super excited for a Lego Firetruck set.  We read the book over and over and over.  He made the first car with Dad, and as they were putting the first person together Joshua said, "That is Ben.  He goes down the pole with his teddy bear," which is just what the story told.

Saturday we tried out Square Play Cafe, a new play area/coffee shop.  It was perfect.  The kids had a great time and we met Aunt C there for a few hours.

After rest time the eldest kids went to the workshop at Hope College.  Isaac tried out his new drill.

It worked best when I steadied it for him, but that could be due to poor setup...he could have used a taller step stool.

He also used the drill press to make a pencil holder.

And of course, he and Evelyn got to run up and down the halls a few times.  As Nathan put it, "A rite of passage" as we did it many, many times.

The ipad was out when we got home and all the kids gravitated towards it.

We played many games...there were four new ones for Christmas, along with some other ones to try out.  Outfoxed was a hit with Evelyn.

 

Three of the cousins had a sleepover every night in Isaac's room.  (Jameson really wanted to join.  Probably soon, poor guy.)  There was a lot of bouncing on the beds (before bedtime) and only a few tears.

Sunday morning Joshua fed everyone tons of food.  He just made a circuit, giving us more and more food.  (And then we had a delicious french toast bake that Pat brought over.  I think he was anticipating it.)

As always, it was very nice to see everyone again!  Joshua and Evelyn felt closer in age this trip than they have in the past.  We weren't sure if the six months that separates them is becoming not as important or if it is because Isaac seems so much older.  JJ had changed a ton too since I saw him last!  He'll be out of the toddler and into the small kid before we know it.  It's fun to watch the cousins interact and enjoy each other's company.

Thursday: family's here

Nathan and his family showed up today!  Yay!

Hmm, I had a picture of some shenanigans, but Blogger won't let me upload it.  The cousins were rather loud and full of energy after dinner.

Wednesday: work and snow

Isaac was back to school today, so Joshua and I also went to work and school.  It was a very productive day for me...I had scheduled myself to work tomorrow too but decided that I don't need to.  (I need to clean the house instead.)

It has been steadily snowing here.  Here is the deck, shown at about Joshua's height...

We need to get the bird feeder out, but that would mean interrupting the nice snow.

Monday: New Year's Day

Today was fine.  Joshua is still having a hard time understanding that he's not on vacation.

The boys did sleep in/watch TV/occupy themselves well this morning.  I got a bit of work done.  Joshua curled up on my lap for a nap...I wasn't in the best spot for this, but at the same time, a sleeping child on your lap is nice.  We went outside for a bit.  Joshua didn't really want to go and then his snow pants were just a bit too short...but that inch makes a big difference in the snow.  Needless to say, he and Ben went back inside promptly.  Isaac and I stayed out for a bit longer until he also got snow in his boots.  (And then I promptly ordered new snow pants for Joshua and new mittens for Isaac!)

Sunday: New Year's Eve

Today had its ups and downs.

Joshua was in a mood.  The cruise spoiled him, and he is not enjoying coming back to reality.  We won't talk about how long it took him to get ready for church (or how long it took him to get ready to come home from church).

This evening we went to a friends' house.  We played some games.  One was a game where there are different roles and you need to find the bad guys but if you're the bad guy you try to hide.  Well, one role is the tanner and he hates life and wants to be killed.  He's not a bad guy or a good guy, just on his own team.  Well, I managed to get killed twice in a row when I was the tanner.  I feel as though I succeeded at the game, even if I'm not really sure I was all that good.  (I had the tanner a third time in a row and tried to just tell people I was the tanner so they would think I was the bad guy, but circumstances were such that no one really doubted me at all.)

The boys lasted until about 11pm.  We're not really sure what they did...watch a lot of Wii playing I think, but they were content.

Vacation: getting on the boat

The children woke up at 6am.  We kept them in bed for a little bit longer, but it is hard when your brother is awake too.  I finally got up with them and had breakfast.  Then they did their exercises...running up and down the ramp.

We got to the boat late morning.  As with all Disney things, I'm always impressed by their logistics handling.  Lines were moving, people were available for questions, and there was minimal confusion.  As we got on the boat they announced our name, "Welcome to the Hilldore Family!!"  and a bunch of cast members greeted us with clapping and smiles.  I'll admit that it seems like a super boring job, but was still pretty cool.

We couldn't get to our rooms right away, so we made our way to the top deck.  We went around the back way, which included some windows viewing.

We had been planning on swimming first, but decided that ice cream first was a better option.  Priorities.

We eventually put on our suits.  Isaac was big enough for the big water slide, so he said that he would go down it once each day with Ben and me.  So Ben and I each went down it once.  Joshua was too small, but there was a lovely small pool that was on the edge of the boat and had some windows looking down.  It was just right for Joshua.

Right before dinner there was a leaving port party.

Joshua ended up being most excited to see Chip and Dale.

 (Isaac is in orange in the middle.)  He didn't really love the dance party and declined to go to any others during the trip. :)

At dinner I had sea bass - and it was delicious!  Joshua saw a painting during a bathroom break and apparently decided that it looked like Mickey was trapped.  He went around to each person at the table, made them look him in the eye and solemnly announced that Mickey was trapped.

After dinner we all went to the kids area for a bit.  There were some cool "hyperspace" simulators (i.e. Star Wars)

We went to the start of the welcome show, but the kids weren't very into it so we left half way through.  It was going to be a week of late nights, so a only slightly late night for the first one wasn't a bad idea.

Saturday: travel

Well, we're back home.  With so much snow that we couldn't get the car in the driveway - I needed to snow blow over most places twice to get it clear.

Travel went fine.  It was a long day, but there were no problems.

It was Isaac's birthday today.  It was a rather sad birthday, as birthdays go, but we usually celebrate in the summer anyway.  There were a few small special things for him and lots of people said 'happy birthday'.

More posts will be coming about the vacation.  I wasn't ready to be done, but it's also nice to be home.