A White Christmas Indeed

We just returned from a Christmas trip to Minnesota. Callum had a million new experiences, learned what feels like a hundred new words, and acquired a whole slew of new toys. Lucky guy. He got time with his auntie and uncle and grandma and grandpas and even great-grandmas. His Great Grandma Irene Scharmer has him perplexed with her touch-your-nose-and-out-pops-your-tongue routine. He is still working on it.

We started in Duluth at Grandma's house...
The little green train and yellow car he is holding have become an all-time favorite that can't ever be left behind.

We also travelled to Grandpa's house in Lakeland for all kinds of fun adventures.

And, even got to St. Cloud for the whole Quaal family get-together. Here I am (can you find me?) with my great-grandma and all of the other great-grandchildren in the Quaal family (and a few grown-ups). I didn't really understand the need for all the photo-taking but eventually lined up with this squirrely bunch for a monumental moment. If you and chaos have never met, this is the place to make that happen.
Merry Christmas all!!

This is fun, why?

We got our first (real) snow today and so spent a good 20 minutes bundling in the multiple required layers. As soon as we got outside I got this curious face.

Despite my attempts at demonstrating how fun snow is...snowballs hitting trees, etc. all Callum could muster was complaints about his mittens. So, after about 15 whiny minutes I gave in and we came back inside. He then spent the next 45 minutes watching the salad spinner spin, I'm not kidding. Who knew?

Holiday Extravaganza

Our same "breakfast crew" got together for a holiday extravaganza weekend this saturday and sunday. It started with a cookie baking and cookie exchange on Saturday. The hostess had cooked sugar cookies for everyone to decorate and I brought a "gingerbread" house (made of graham crackers) and candies for the little ones to decorate. In the end, parents did most of the decorating while the kids played and ran all over the place. We also got to exchange cookie recipes and taste test a czech holiday cookie and Pennsylvania oatmeal special. It was great fun.

Here are Callum and I working on the gingerbread house. Anyone who knows me knows that I got way too into this little activity. Cal mostly ate Vanilla wafers and watched me toil away.
The next morning we enjoyed a holiday brunch at a different house. Again, the little munchkins mostly ran and played; sang and yelled. Good fun. I'm pretty sure, however, that despite our elaborate efforts at different activities it all seems pretty much the same to the little tikes. Running, playing, eating, and practicing motor skills.

Sunday Mornings at Bagel Dish

For the past few months, we've had a standing date with two other daycare families. We are all up so early due to our handy-dandy live toddler alarm clocks that we decided to meet up at the local diner for breakfast. It's a popular place so we arrive before the crowd. After breakfast, we let the kids loose for play time at one of our houses on a rotating basis. It's been described by observers as "controlled chaos". It's great fun for the little and big people alike.

There was a time...

There was a time when my kitchen was just a kitchen and not a raceway or a dog kennel. And, my living room was just a living room; it had never been a train station, a truck-filled construction zone, a jungle gym, a kitchen, a dance floor, or an animal-filled farm. But, I don't really remember that time and it sounds pretty dull to be honest.

Getting Ready for Christmas

Over the weekend we got an itty-bitty Christmas Tree, put on some Elvis Presley Christmas music, and decorated the tree. Callum loves the tree and is working really hard on saying "Christmas Tree" though I doubt anyone but Kieran and I understand what is being said. Though, at 19 months old he is full of language...most of which is incomprehensible.