New Year's Eve drive home & reflection/summary of trip

On New Year's eve morning, we left Taesen's and began the arduous drive back home, with our traditional stop at Krispy Kreme donuts.

To pass a few minute's time, Alice took some Selfies with my phone.

For most of the drive home, the kids were fine, but the last hour or so when it's dark and they're bored out of their minds is the hardest. I can't wait until we can hook them up to iPads or play audio books or something to make the time go faster.

To summarize this trip: Alice behaved pretty well, especially given her tummy trouble at the beginning. By the end, Simon had poop problems too. Simon was really clingy a lot of the time.

But the biggest ordeal on this trip was that Simon had trouble going to sleep for every single and nap and night time. He would cry and scream and panic and said that he was scared. It was pretty awful.

On these trips, we also seem to always notice a development in our kids--probably from the constant interaction and personal attention, plus new environments and situations to stimulate them. Simon is starting to be a little more conversational, and Alice seems to be developing a bit more self awareness and self control, but still requires lots of verbal reminders.

All in all, a good trip!

Sleepover with the cousins

We spend the last day of the trip at my sister's house, with Alice and Simon's sole cousins. The kids basically played with toys and did a lot of art. There was a cute bit where Simon decided he was a pickle and Kaelyn and Braeden chased him around and tickled him. Unfortunately, this was right when I was trying to get Simon to lay down for a diaper change.

Alice was disappointed the dolls didn't have dresses on, so I just told her they had their gymnastics clothes on. Alice ran with the idea, and set the girls up in different exercise poses.

I read the kids four bedtime stories in hopes they would be worn out and ready for the sleeping part of their sleepover, but it didn't work. They were still rambunctious for a while, and I eventually went back up and sat with them. Kaelyn and Braeden pretended to be asleep so long that they actually fell asleep. Still, in the middle of the night, Alice woke up and everyone was gone--her cousins had crept into their parent's room in the middle of the night. Needless to say, Alice was quite scared to wake up from a nightmare and find herself alone in a strange place, so I went in and rescued her and she slept the rest of the night in our room.

Goodbye, Mansfield

On our final morning in Mansfield, it finally stopped raining so the kids could do a little bike riding out on the road. Then, at naptime, we drove to Grove City to visit my sister.

Winter swim

On Tuesday, we hung around the house in the morning, then went to an indoor pool at the YMCA in the afternoon.  The pool was a lot of fun, but just way too cold for our string-bean kids.

Simon called this "relaxing on the floor with grandpa"

One of Alice's symmetrical creations using the doll house furniture and people

Fun with family

On the second day in Mansfield, we hung around the house playing, building, and visiting with uncle Tener.  For the first time ever, Alice watched an entire movie in one day (Ice Age) although it was broken up by a nap in the middle.

Hello, Mansfield

We arrived in Mansfield around noon, and the kids played, opened presents and had a pizza lunch, all before naps and then the arrival of the extended family for supper.

Goodbye, Ashville

On Sunday morning, we packed up and headed for Mansfield, stop two of our Ohio trip. We left behind a few broken ornaments...

COSI, pretzel naps, and a dance

On the day after Christmas, we went to COSI.  The kids had a great time exploring and playing.

On the way back to Cam's, Simon fell asleep mid-pretzel snack. Even when he was fast asleep and I tried to take the bag away, he still clutched it, as if to say, "From my cold dead hands."

When he woke up, without missing a beat, he went right back to eating pretzels, as if he hadn't just been asleep for an hour (I stayed in the van and read a book while he napped).

As always, the kids had a lot of fun playing on the steps. This year, Alice added some dance moves.