(Thanksgiving and) Christmas (and New Year's) in July

No, we're not actually celebrating Christmas in July... I'm just finally posting about last holiday season this July! 

Nonna and Pa (my parents) came to spend Thanksgiving with us last year.

Family photos!  Missing Grant and Lindsey, though...

While they were here, we had some family photos taken, went to the movies -- to see Frozen on the day it opened, before it became THE (kids') movie of the year -- made a trip to the Museum of Science, and ate lots of wonderful Thanksgiving food, of course.  I'm sure we did more than that, but that's all I can remember.  Just one more reason why I really ought to post more regularly on here...

The girls had SO much fun with Nonna and Pa during Thanksgiving break!

Thanksgiving dinner, including the highlights, turkey and pumpkin pie

Nonna and Pa's visit also coincided with the Great Haircutting of 2013.  The what, you ask?

Well, Ramona, who had never had her hair cut at all, EVER, decided that she wanted to cut off pretty much all of her hair, so that she could donate it to Locks of Love.  Hair donation was something that had been mentioned to her offhand, probably six months prior.  Someone had commented on its length and said that it was almost long enough to donate (most places require 10-12 inches minimum).  Ramona of course wanted to know what that meant, and why people donate their hair, so we explained that you can cut your hair and send it away to be made into wigs for kids who don't have any hair because they're sick.  Well, Ramona was sold.  She wanted to donate her hair.  And so began her at-least-once-a-week inquiry as to whether her hair was long enough to donate yet.  By Thanksgiving, it definitely was.

Before, during, and after.  Such a difference!  Oh, and Amelia got a haircut, too.

Now, I'm not normally very sentimental about hair, and have been known to make fun of people who get emotional about getting their hair cut...  (I mean, it's just hair!  It grows back, geez.)  I was a little sad, though, to see Ramona's gorgeous golden spirals go.  After all, those baby curls will not grow back!  But any lingering doubt I may have had about chopping off all that beautiful hair was far outweighed by how proud I was of my sweet three-year-old, adamant about doing what she could to help another child in need.   

The four weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas always seems to fly by, and last year was no exception.  What did we do?  Well...

...Louisa had her half-birthday...

18 months old!

...We took the girls to Stone Zoo for Zoolights...

At Zoolights, the girls met a reindeer and admired the lights...



...and visited with Santa, of course!

...We picked out a tree from the local Boys and Girls Club and decorated it...

It was Louisa's year to put the star on the tree

...Ramona went to a barnyard babies event at our neighborhood library...

Oh, this child loves animals... Just as enamored with the rooster and pig as she was with the puppies and kittens!

...The girls performed in their respective school concerts...

Poor Amelia, doomed to a lifetime of being relegated to the back row... and Ramona got to hold her class stuffed animal during their performance

...We enjoyed the first snowfall(s) of the season...

*S*N*O*W*

...We celebrated with friends at various holiday parties...

Holiday party animals

...And otherwise got into the Christmas spirit! 

December = lots of Christmas prep!

We were supposed to travel to Nashville to spend Christmas at Chad's sister's house with his side of the family, but between me being out of work and them prepping to put their house on the market, we decided the trip just wasn't in the cards for us, and so we prepared to spend Christmas in Boston for the first time since 2007, and for the first time EVER with just our little family.

Luckily, we didn't celebrate the holiday entirely alone, as Grandma and Grandpa (Chad's parents) very graciously changed their travel plans so that they could spend a few days with us before Christmas, before continuing on to Nashville on Christmas Eve. 

Aquarium fun with Grandma and Grandpa... The stingray touch tank was everyone's favorite part.

Top: Baking cookies and opening presents with Grandma and Grandpa
Bottom: Amelia and Ramona got scooters.  Louisa was upset she did not... But she was happy to borrow Ramona's until her newly-ordered scooter arrived a few days later!

And while we missed the extra catching-up with our extended family that we usually get at Christmastime, it was kind of nice to be in town for the holiday, seeing our neighbors at church on Christmas Eve and waking up in our own house on Christmas morning... I'm not saying that we'll skip the big family holiday again anytime soon, but it's nice to realize that Christmas is just as meaningful when the celebration is smaller and quieter. 

Christmas Eve: before church and after Santa's visit

 

Christmas morning!!!



Just the cutest little Christmas diaper and leg warmer set ever!

We wrapped up the holiday season -- and the year! -- with a little New Year's celebration at home.  We dressed up, ate cupcakes, and let the girls stay up late watching movies, waiting to see the ball drop midnight. 

New Year's Eve and naps on New Year's Day

Ramona was the only one who actually made it.  (Louisa was down for the count around 10, and poor Amelia just couldn't keep her eyes open after 11:30... so close!)

Happy New Year, more than half a year late!  But hey, at least I'll be posting pictures taken this year from here on out.

How Did It Get So Late So Soon? (The Rest of June)

The above poem by the good doctor captures exactly how I feel about this summer so far.  I can't believe that it's already August!  That means birthdays are around the corner, the days are getting shorter, and Amelia and Ramona will be back in school in just over a month...  I really wish time would slow down just a little bit.  I also wish that I could catch this poor blog back up to the present!  In order to do so, I am going to have to include a couple of miscellany posts.

So here's the rest of our June!

A couple of weeks after school let out for the summer, the girls' swim classes ended, as well.  (The Y actually runs a summer session now, which it didn't in previous years, but we find it better not to commit to -- and pay for -- things like that on summer weekends.)  I got quite a few pictures of our little fish during one of the last classes.

Loving swim class at the Y!

Amelia hit a major milestone during this session: She can REALLY swim!  All on her own, without any flotation devices.  SO proud of her. 

Louisa's first session of swim lessons started out a little on the shaky side, but ended in success! 

Another fun thing we did in June was spend a day at Six Flags New England, courtesy of my office.  You'd think that we would have been theme-parked-out after four days at Disney and one at Universal just a week earlier, but we were game for one more day of long lines and kiddie rides.  Turns out, we didn't really have to contend with the former!  Lines were extremely short to non-existent, which was a welcome change.  The girls had a blast.

Amelia and Ramona rode on the skyway, in a "hot air balloon," in cars, in teacups, in a boat... and Louisa rode in the stroller!

In addition to the rides, we also got to meet a few characters.  That part was a little anti-climactic for the girls, especially compared to Disney, since they had NO idea who the Looney Tunes characters were.  But they wanted to see them, anyway!  No fear of people in mascot-type costumes for our kids.

Meeting Tweety, Sylvester, and Bugs (after I explained who they were... )

The middle of the month brought one of my favorite days of the year: Bunker Hill Day.

Not every town gets to celebrate its own personal holiday, but Charlestown does!  To commemorate the Battle of Bunker Hill (which, yes, actually took place on Breed's Hill), the town runs a road race in the morning of the Sunday following June 17 (which is actual Bunker Hill Day), and then holds a parade in afternoon. 

We typically watch the parade down on Bunker Hill Street, and then walk a block up and watch the whole thing again as it turns onto Bartlett.  When you live a stone's throw away, why not, right?  My favorites are always the fife and drum corps and the bagpipers.  So very Boston/Charlestown!

Does YOUR hometown have its own holiday and parade?  So grateful that ours does!

June also included a couple of birthday parties for Amelia's buddies: One at a local park with a soccer class and another at Jump On In, a nearby "inflatable playground."  The girls had a great time at both!


Birthday party fun was had by all!

Chad took the girls strawberry-picking at the end of the month.  I was sad to miss it this year, but we just couldn't squeeze it in on the weekend, so it was either have Chad and the girls go without me or skip strawberry season altogether!  I still got to enjoy multiple servings of strawberry shortcake, so I'd say it was the right decision.  

Did they eat more than they brought home?  Maybe...

 Throw in a rainbow and a bathtub photo shoot, and that was our June!

Gorgeous rainbow over the Monument and a cute little belly

Next up: July!

ONE.

Now that she's approaching fourteen months old, here are a few of the twelve-month/one-year photos that I took of our baby girl when we got back from Florida, along with some commentary on what our one-year-old has been up to of late.

You want to take my picture?  Too bad!

About two weeks after her first birthday, Louisa took her first intentional steps.  (She had taken a couple of "accidental" steps here and there before that, in the course of letting go of whatever she was holding onto and falling down.)  She's now walking all over the place, if not quite all the time.  And she is SOOOOO proud of her newfound form of mobility!

Big, goofy grin

Louisa has been adding words to her vocabulary lately, too.  Or at least sounds, if not quite words.  New favorites include "ouch" and "wow".  She also will spontaneously say "thanks" if you give her something, and something that sounds like "I love you," occasionally!

Here you go, now you can see how big she's gotten!

She is the SWEETEST baby, and still loves to give hugs and kisses, often unprompted, to us, to her sisters, to the cats, to inanimate objects...  When she wants a kiss, she'll press her lips together, lean toward you, and say "mmmm." 

Silly girl, the bow goes in your hair, not your mouth!

On the other hand, she definitely has a temper when she doesn't get her way, and will squeal and pinch at you when she's mad.  (Seriously!  And I'll give you one guess where she learned that...)  One of the things that makes her angry?  When Amelia or Ramona sits in my lap!  She thinks that she's the only one who gets to do that.

Bear got knocked out of the basket... Louisa barely fits in it anymore!

Nevertheless, Louisa loves her big sisters and wants to be just like them.  For example, she's not happy eating her food with her fingers like a normal baby.  Instead, she wants to use a fork like Amelia and Ramona do.  (Most of the time we have to get the food on the fork for her, but sometimes she actually gets it herself.) 

Chatting with Mr. Bear

And we've given away more than half of our baby toy collection at this point, because Louisa would much rather play with whatever toys Amelia and Ramona have than her own.  (This means that we're often fishing doll shoes and other small items out of Louisa's mouth.  The hazards of being the third child!)

Captured the two seconds she had the bow in her hair on camera!

I really can't believe that it has been a year (and six odd weeks) since we brought our littlest home...


Escaping

To illustrate just how much of a difference a year makes, here are a couple of collages of Louisa's monthly photo shoots:

12 months in the basket with the bear...

...and 12 months on her quilt with her monkey!

It's been a great year, and we're looking forward to so many more with you, Louisa!

Farewell to Disney



On Friday, we headed back to Magic Kingdom for one last day... 

 

Ready for one last day of park rides and character spotting.  Let the memories begin, indeed! 

Good morning, Magic Kingdom!

After spending the better part of the week there, we finally had a system worked out.  Arrive right before the park opens, and go immediately to a ride that issues a FASTPASS.  Then, during the hour or so before your FASTPASS time comes up, pick a different ride or character line to wait in.  By the time that ride/character meeting has finished, it's time to go back to your FASTPASS ride.  After the FASTPASS ride is over, find another and repeat!

Riding in elephants and in teacups, on trains and on boats

I loved these windmills in "Holland" on the Small World ride

Oh, and for figuring out when and where to find your favorite characters?  There's an app for that!  I'm not kidding.  The one we used was called My Disney Experience.  It had several features, but we only really used it to help us find particular princesses. 

Even with this technology at our fingertips, serendipity still had a role to play in our visit.  For example, Alice (in Wonderland) just happened to be on the teacup ride at the same time that we were, and Amelia didn't even have to wait in line to meet her afterward!  I just love these pictures of her with Alice: a sweet hug, making grumpy faces (Amelia had very kindly asked Alice to sign her sister's book because Ramona was being a grump), and giggling together.  So cute.       

Some quality time with Alice in Wonderland

We actually got very lucky on Friday.  The only character we had really planned to meet was Tiana -- who was so nice, and the only character who offered to hold Louisa for pictures! -- but, in addition to Alice, we also happened to run into Wendy and Peter Pan, and Cinderella's evil stepmother and stepsisters (who were a riot, and very in character).  Not a bad day.   

Meeting more characters!

Another fun location?  Rapunzel's little corner of Fantasyland.  The princess herself wasn't there, but the girls had a great time admiring the banners and lanterns decorating the square, picking out pictures of characters from Tangled, and hunting for little Pascals (Rapunzel's chameleon) everywhere.  Disney did a great job incorporating Tangled into the park!

Tangled come to life in Fantasyland

A few attempts at a family picture... Ramona was NOT into it.

 

By late afternoon, the girls had just about had enough, which was good timing, as Chad's parents needed to head to the airport.  We hopped on the train in Frontierland and rode it two-thirds of the way around the park back to the main entrance, returning to the hotel for dinner and BED. 



Riding the Magic Kingdom train with my sweet littlest

My big girl.  She walked EVERYWHERE all week and never complained once.  So glad that we took her!

 

The girls each got to pick out ONE toy on our last day at the park.  Even though we already have each of these princesses (in not just one size, but two or three sizes for most), Ramona had to have these.  Pretty much just because of Belle.  Because her dress is yellow, and yellow is Ramona's favorite.  She certainly knows what she wants! 

While Friday marked our last day at Disney, it was not our last day in Florida.  I had originally hoped to make it to the beach on Saturday for some low-key sandcastle-building and seashell-hunting, but even the closest beaches are about an hour away from Orlando (and the one I wanted to go to was closer to two hours away), and Louisa spiked a mild fever on Friday night.  Needless to say, we decided that spending several hours in the car and then out in the sun might not be the best thing for her.  So we ended up staying at the hotel. 

 

Luckily, there were plenty of things to do there!  So we took turns relaxing with Louisa indoors while the others entertained Amelia and Ramona: swimming in the pool, playing on the playground, going on a surrey bicycle ride around the property...

 

So much to do in Florida!

 

 Louisa seemed to be back to normal by the evening, so we ventured out to dinner at the T-Rex Café in Downtown Disney.  I can't say that I would do it again... When I put our name in, I was told that we would have about a 40-minute wait.  Okay, not so bad.  There was quite a bit to look at outside, including people in elaborate costumes posing as statutes and giant Lego displays.  I assumed that, when our name was called about 45 minutes later, that our table was ready.  Nope.  Instead, it was our turn to stand in this OTHER line, along the entrance of the restaurant.  After roughly 45 MORE minutes, our table was finally ready.  At this point, it was after 7:00, and more than an hour later than the girls usually eat dinner.  Amazingly, they held it together relatively well. 

 

Dinner at the T-Rex Café in Downtown Disney

 

And the inside WAS pretty cool.  There were several different areas of the restaurant -- including an aquarium part, an "ice cave" part, and the jungle part where we were seated -- and there were big animatronic dinosaurs around every corner.  Then, every 20 minutes or so, the lights would dim and there would be an "meteor shower," during which all of the dinosaurs would move and roar.  It was awfully loud the whole time, but the food was actually pretty good and the girls had fun, which was what the whole trip was all about, anyway!

 

Thus ended our visit to Disney/Orlando... On Sunday morning, we got up, said goodbye to my parents as they left for the airport, finished packing, and headed to the airport ourselves.  We all had a great time, but it was one of those vacations where you get home and feel like you need another vacation, you know?  We'll definitely go back, but probably not for a few more years... Like, when everyone can walk on their own.  J

 

And now I'm only about a month and a half (and at least five posts) behind... Hope to catch up more soon!