Atlanta...2: children's museum!

Atlanta has tons to do for kids! Today we went to the Imagine It! Children's Museum and spent the morning playing.  It wasn't too crowded, which was great, and a number of the kids were from UVA.  The museum was pretty good size, and had tons of fun corners and stations to play in.  There was a massive train table, an intricately engineered ball transporter thing that went over the floor, walls, and ceiling, a painting wall, sand/clay table, water feature for fishing, grocery store and truck, farm corner with a milkable cow, baby play area, and many other little corners filled with fun stuff to explore.  Every hour or so there was also an interactive story time of some sort.  This month's theme was "Fairy Tales," so the kids participated as a group in a fill-in-the-blanks sort of story, watched a fairy tale play, and got to make princess or king crowns. And because we were in Atlanta, home of Chik-Fil-A, there was a truck that brought hot fresh sandwiches every hour or so for purchase.  How could we resist?  

Evan had a blast and made new friends along the way.  He especially loved "working" in the grocery store, fishing in the water feature, and listening to the stories.  Drew thought the baby play area was awesome, with new toys and textures, a whole host of drums and guitars (bolted to the wall but fun to play), and a big mirror perfect for making faces in.  One of these days he'll figure out that the cute boy in the mirror is himself! 

It was a good thing we brought the stroller along for Drew, because I didn't think it was possible that Evan would make it walking (uphill) back to the hotel, and I was right.  He crashed in the stroller shortly after leaving the museum, and we all took a massive nap back at the hotel.  It was definitely another great day on vacation!

Atlanta...1: getting there is half the fun

Today we embarked on our holiday trip to Atlanta!  The UVA football team was invited to the Chik-Fil-A bowl to play Auburn on New Year's Eve, and we decided to tag along.  Well, Mike had to work, but the rest of us tagged along. 

We didn't tell Evan about the trip until just a couple days beforehand, knowing he'd talk of nothing else until we were on our way, and we were right.  "Mommy, are we in Georgia yet?  Mommy, when do we go to Georgia?  Mommy, what will we do in Georgia?"  He was so excited!  We packed Christmas Day and got on the plane first thing the morning of the 26th.

Both boys did absolutely excellent on the flight - we couldn't have asked for better behavior.  It helped that we took the team charter... it's the way to fly, for sure!  We took buses from Grounds to the airport, got dropped off on the tarmac, were handed snacks and drinks, and hopped right up the stairs to our seats.  Perfection.  There was plenty of room and the boys loved the UVA-branded "flags" on the seats - Evan took his with him "to wave at the game" and Drew was thoroughly entertained trying to tear the one off of Kelsey's seat in front of him.  Good thing she didn't mind.  :) As soon as we were in the air, Drew zonked out and napped the whole hour flight, and Evan popped on his headphones (and sunglasses since it was so bright) and watched movies on the laptop. 

Our hotels were gorgeous - the two hotels the team was staying at were connected via skybridge, so it was almost like being in one.  Both had soaring atriums, with rooms and balconies and glass elevators overlooking the massive center.  Totally artistic and dizzingly amazing, and my photo doesn't do it justice at all (Hyatt's photo 1, and photo 2 are way better, and Marriott's photo 1 and photo 2 still don't convey the awesomeness).  Our Hyatt Regency had something like 44 floors, and the Marriott Marquis had 67.  That was quite a ride up in the glass elevators!  We got two rooms - one for us, one for the boys - which was just perfect.  Everyone had their own bed/crib, there was plenty of room to play, and the boys could nap in peace.  We brought plenty of toys along for both boys, but it turned out we were so busy the whole time we didn't need them!

The hotel was right in the heart of downtown Georgia on Peachtree Street, with restaurants and entertainment galore.  The first night we had dinner with Hunts at the Hard Rock Cafe.  My family has been to (and chronicled) many of the HRC's in North America, so we had to take photos of both boys at their first HRC visits.  Evan the gourmet decided he didn't like the chicken fingers there... "too spicy."  That child is gearing up for his own TV show chronicling the best and worst chicken fingers in the country, I tell you. 

 

On the block in between Hard Rock and our hotel was a Christmas display.  Beautiful trees and lights and statues of drummer boys, horses, angels, nutcrackers... Evan loved the three huge bells and insisted on multiple photo opps with them throughout the week.  While it was freezing that night (35 degrees and windy) we just had to stop for some good holiday fun with Shelby, Kelsey, and Kate.  Merry Christmas, everyone! 

Merry Christmas 2011!

"Mommy, did Santa come?"

Of course he did!  And he ate our cookies and left us wonderful presents.  We spent the better part of the day unwrapping and enjoying all our new toys and clothes and games and books.  Drew was most intrigued with the wrapping paper and tested out every piece he could in his mouth. Evan was more than happy to help Drew unwrap his gifts and show him how they worked.  Evan got the Chuggington trains he requested from Santa, and as promised, Santa brought a special present: a huge fire station house.  He also scored a personalized superhero cape, drums, two guitars, a complete dinosaur set, a scarf, and much, much more.  Drew got a fun dino ball popper from Santa, a nativity scene to share with his brother, and loads of toys and books, and joined in on Evan's drum and guitar concert with a turn on the microphone.  We had an amazing morning and were all thoroughly and happily wiped out come nap time.  Here are photos both from Christmas morning and from celebrations with all grandparents.  Merry Christmas! 

 

 

 

'Twas the Night Before Christmas...

We were baking and stirring,
Making cookies for Mr. Claus! 

As Evan promised Santa last week, we made Santa cookies to leave out tonight.  And we added some Frosty cookies too, just for fun.  After church and some of the Polar Express movie, Evan dictated the note he wanted to leave for Santa, and we left the cookies on a special plate.  We didn't leave them on the hearth, as Evan was afraid Santa wouldn't see the plate when he came in and might step on the cookies, so instead we left them on a side table.  Then, off to bed we went, with visions of sugarplums dancing in our heads! 

Drew took a little photoshoot today in his Santa outfit.  Remember Evan's first Christmas photoshoot in the same outfit? The outfit was a little big for him, but it fit Drew perfectly.  He didn't want to keep the hat on his head for long and wanted instead to eat the pompom.  Silly, adorable little Santa baby!

Santa Visit 2011

'Tis the season! We took Drew for his first visit to Santa, and we decided to live on the wild side and take Evan too.  His history of a desperate fear of mascots includes Santa... last year we couldn't enter the mall from the side where Santa sits, and forget shopping at a store within sight range of his throne.  But Evan mustered all his courage and agreed that he would "help his little brother" because he's so little.  Aww.  We went on a random weeknight, hoping the lines wouldn't be bad, and we were rewarded with only a 20 minute wait.  (We laughed at the other family who said the line was too long and they'd come back Saturday... because THAT's sure to be a shorter line the last weekend before Christmas - ha!)  Anyway, Evan was ready... until he saw Santa. Then he changed his tune to "no way!"  But the waiting in line did have it's advantage, as by the end of the wait, Evan was ready to see Santa, no problem. 

While we were waiting, we asked Evan to practice what he wanted to say to Santa, and his first comment wasn't what he (Evan) wanted, but what he'd tell Santa that Drew wanted.  Even in school, when Evan wrote a letter to Santa, he included Drew's "wishes" too.  What a fantastic big brother!  We're constantly impressed with his desire to look out for Drew, help him, and love absolutely everything about having Drew in our family. 

When it was our turn, Evan walked right up to Santa without hesitation, and launched into his story.  "I want a Chugger and Drew wants a baby with a pacifier..."  After a short chat, and Santa complimenting him on looking out for his little brother, Evan climbed right up on Santa's lap for some photos and even gave him a hug goodbye.  Santa told him to be sure and sleep on Christmas Eve so he could visit (Evan said he'd make sure mommy and daddy were sleeping too), and as we walked away, Evan rushed back to ask Santa what kind of cookies he'd like us to leave out (then told him we'd leave him Santa cookies). 

The visit was a total success!  When we came home, Evan couldn't stop talking about Santa.  He put on his winter boots (just like Santa), and had us all sit on his lap and repeat the entire encounter, nearly word for word.  Christmas is thrilling through a 3 year old's eyes, and it can't come soon enough!

Tree Decorating

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!  Our house has been glittered and lighted and decorated top to bottom, except for the tree.  So tonight we set it up and Evan wanted to do all the decorating.  It's the first time that he really gets the season and all the traditions - it's so magical to watch through his little 3 year old eyes!  We spent a glorious evening letting him put up (almost) all of the ornaments, while Drew happily chewed on a couple very baby-safe ornaments and toys, watching his big brother's every move.  He had a very interesting decorating scheme - he picked out a couple places on the tree and put as many ornaments on that one branch as possible before moving on!  He did spread his "spots" throughout the tree though, even sneaking around back to make sure that part was covered as well.  Evan had a blast, and the tree looked great!  (Though I did add just a few more ornaments, the breakables ones, after he went to bed and filled in the holes.) 

Cookies with Grandma Barb

Grandma Barb was here for an early Christmas celebration.  She and Evan took a few minutes to make delicious Rollo Cookies...  Everyone had their doubts that they'd work, but they were delicious! 

Rolo M&M Sugar Cookies:


Buy:
Refrigerated break-n-bake sugar cookie dough
Bag of Rolos
Bag of M&Ms

Place one little square of dough in each space in a mini-muffin tin, and bake according to directions. 
While they're baking, unwrap a bag full of Rolo's (many people use Reese's, but with a peanut allergy, we substituted!). 
Also separate by color a bag of M&Ms.  When we make these cookies for UVA football games, we pull out the blue and orange.  For a Packer party, the green and yellow were used.  For these Christmas cookies, of course, it was the red & green. 
When the cookies come out, immediately put one Rolo on each cookie, pressing gently.  The Rolo will melt down into the cookie, creating a little pocket of carmel-chocolate goodness.  Working quickly, put 3-4 M&Ms on each melting Rolo - they'll stick as the Rolo melts! 
When cool, pop them out of the tin and enjoy!  Easy-peasy, and yummy to boot!