(there might be a few posts here, so you might need to scroll down a little!)
Instead of staying at our house for Christmas, we drove (that's right- drove!) to Mimi and Papi's house... Veda and all! The kids were actually a dream on the drive. MUCH better than I had anticipated (but everyone who knows me, knows that I anticipate the worst case scenario every time!!) Kaitlyn was SO excited to see Mimi and Papi- she had been talking about Mimi's spaghetti and meatballs for at least a week (yum!)
We had a long talk with Santa AND Red Sparkle before we left to make sure Santa knew that we would be at Mimi and Papi's house in Boston and not at our house so to please bring any presents we might be getting there. Can you believe it-- Red Sparkle must be the best listener because she came straight to Mimi's house from the North Pole! Kaitlyn saw her right away!!
Christmas Eve Day was not the most fun we've ever had. Mikey had been feeling a little under the weather and he woke up with a pretty high fever and cough that day so we called our pediatrician and she recommended we to take him to a clinic to get checked out. VERY long story short, 3 pharmacy clinics, 1 emergency room and 1 urgent care center later, we were diagnosed with a virus and pink eye. He had a fever at that time of 102.5 and it had been a long day. I was just sad that he was missing out on Christmas Eve fun and hoping that he would feel better Christmas day.
Christmas Eve we had fun with baby Kelsie, Auntie Kelli, Uncle Dennis and Uncle Kevin (and of course Mimi and Papi). Kaitlyn left our cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer. Best Christmas Eve surprise was that it started snowing!!!
Christmas morning the kids woke up to a bundle of goodies and a light covering of snow on the ground! Mikey was feeling good enough to browse around the gifts a little- he loved seeing lots of trucks. Kaitlyn was in heaven- She saw right off exactly what she had asked Santa for- a purple bike (actually 2 bikes-- '1 for me and 1 for Bikey') Mikey's was green and he was pretty excited about it and then went back to bed. Kaitlyn stayed up and enjoyed going through princess gift after princess gift. She LOVED the clothes she got from Mimi and Auntie Kelli (such a girl). She even got a new baby that walks all by herself! Both kids were SUPER spoiled by everyone.
Later that day, Auntie Kelli, Uncle Dennis and Kelsie and Uncle Matt, Auntie Dina and Ryan and John came over for dinner and more gifts and fun! I don't know who Kaitlyn loved playing with more- Kelsie or Johnny. She loved playing 'baby' with Kelsie and holding her and feeding her a bottle, while with John and Ryan it was all rough-housing!
By the end of the afternoon, Mikey's temp was back up to 103.5. I was pretty nervous and just keeping a close eye on him. Poor thing was just miserable and not his happy self. He pretty much just slept most of the next day and a half. but was definitely not himself for the rest of the trip (made it a Christmas to remember for sure!!)
The rest of the visit was spent hanging out with the family and having fun. We had a memorable trip to have pictures made of all of the cousins (can you say TORTURE?!) Poor Mikey was still feeling pretty lousy so he decided the experience would be miserable for all of us (and it shows in the pictures!). One day we'll look back on this and laugh...... one day. At least we got one not SO horrible one that we could frame for Mimi. The rest I can post for you all to enjoy!
The drive home was longer than the drive up (isn't it always?), but we stopped at a hotel halfway and had a fun family night swim at the indoor pool. That was fun. And there is nothing like pulling into the driveway after a drive like that- Home, Sweet, Home!
All in all, an awesome trip and we hate leaving family. We always have so much fun. Can't wait for our next visit!
 |
| Lunch with Kelsie |
 |
| Cousins |
 |
| Does she look happy to be feeding Kelsie?! |
 |
| Sharing her 'White Blanket' with Kelsie. Those of you who know Katie, know this is a VERY BIG deal. |
 |
| Take a look at the girls in the background! Ha! |
 |
| Excited for Christmas or something? |
 |
| BFF's |
 |
| P.S.- Love that Kelsie is wearing the same PJ's that Kaitlyn wore a couple of Christmas's ago! |
 |
| 'Santa Came!!!!' |
 |
| Cookies and Carrots for Santa and the Reindeer |
 |
| My Fav! |
 |
| The reindeer chewed up the carrots and left a mess on Grandpa's deck! |
 |
| Family pic on Christmas Day-- Poor Mikey! |
 |
| Look who stopped by: Frosty! |
 |
| Frosty and Rudolf came to say hello!! |
 |
| 'Look at my new jewels!' |
 |
| 'Orange Cheese!' |
 |
| My girls- WIPED |
 |
THE WINNER!
|
.......... The suffering we went through to get there:
And some gems of the girls (no, really- they were cute!):
