Christmas Holidays - Week 1

Yes, it is going to be that kind of a post - a LOOOONNNG one - we have been out of commission because we have had the Zbaraschuk Christmas down at our house this year, and so we wanted to just entirely focus on the fun with the family and thus did not post anything, so now we have lots to catch up on!

We left off with the last post with Aunt Ev and Uncle Ken's visit.  We had a lovely time, but what we didn't include in that week's post (as we were still in the throes of really figuring out how bad it was...) was the fact that Addison at the end of their visit reached up onto the kitchen counter and grabbed a corning ware 9x13 dish off oft he counter and pulled it down onto her foot.  We heard the loud crash, so Amy ran into the kitchen and thought 1) thank goodness the dish didn't break, throwing glass everywhere!!! (especially as it wasn't our dish) and 2) why is Addison holding her foot up in the air while she's standing there?  Well, the dish didn't break because Addison's foot broke its fall.  It was immediately (and we do mean immediately) black and blue and swollen.  After finishing up our visit, Amy decided that we had better be safe than sorry, so she took her to the Nite Lite Pediatric urgent care (new location right by our house!! Yeah!) for an x-ray.  The doctor thought after looking at the x-ray that two of her toes were broken.  Boo - especially in light of 3 weeks of a full-house, constantly carrying a child with 2 broken toes was going to be a nightmare.  They told us to follow up with an ortho doctor that Monday.  The next day, Addison insisted on being carried in the morning, and then started to hobble around later on it....and by that afternoon was running around like no big deal.  Tough as nails that kid!  On Monday, we found out the GREAT news from the Ortho surgeon that she did not see any evidence of a break on the X-rays, and that there was nothing to worry about other than severe tissue damage, which healed without mishap.  Whew! :)

That Sunday, we opened presents with Grandma B, and headed out to enjoy the Christmas lights over at the Johnson subdivision where their neighbor puts on a live nativity scene every year!  The family continued opening presents on Monday night from Mommy and Daddy (what good fortune, these kids ended up having "gift openings" at least 5 times over the next 2 weeks!)

Getting ready for the action to begin!

Waiting for the actors to get in place, as if they were watching a play!

Addison adoring her doll (and giving it fish kisses) sitting on her "new" chair, just her size! 

 It is so funny, Addison can already do fish lips, but our two boys cannot!  We did a series of "training" sessions trying to get the boys to do it, and we FINALLY got Kaleb to where he could do it, but Zachary's lips just cannot seem to be molded into fish lips!  Ha ha. Addison was so funny with her doll, she would give it all kinds of kisses, but no kisses for any live person - no way!

Zachary sporting his soccer outfit from Real Madrid.

Kent, Lorie, Emily, Connor and Kaylie arrived on the 24th, and the fun began!  Connor and Zachary were perfect for each other, loving to play sports, watch sports, talk about sports....you get the picture.  Kaylie and Kaleb continued on from their prior visit with no delay....two peas in a pod.  They played CONSTANTLY together with their imaginative games without ever any fighting.  Kaleb is so easy-going, and would sit and play Polly Pockets ("She's so pretty!....much to Karis' dismay) and crafts, and whatever else they came up with!  Addison fell in love with Auntie Lorie, and was quickly racing to grab her legs shouting "UP!"

Auntie Lorie showing us how to do pig-tails with her hair! 

We headed out to Legoland on Christmas Day.  Unconventional right?  But it was AWESOME, literally maybe the longest line was 5-10 minutes and most of them you could get off and immediately ride it again. The weather was a perfect mid-70 degree, and we just had a wonderful time.  Addison was indignant however about being left behind with Grandma B, but we didn't think that the long day would be a good idea for such a little person!  Cochrans joined us for the majority of the day (sans Heather and Devin), so it was a nice group that we had.

Too precious - Kieran, Kaleb and Kaylie holding hands!

The first Z-family picture moment!

Ready to roll!

Kent, Karis, and Emily & Kaylie - all set!

Amy and Kaleb, with him telling her to cycle faster, so they could higher!

Two brothers and their kiddos!

Super fun ride, with the whole point to send sprays of water on unsuspecting other passengers and onlookers!  Do you see the delight on their faces!

Poor Kaylie - although she got them good just before this with a water sprayer of her own!

That weekend, we headed off to the beach, where the weather did not cooperate as much as we would have liked - it was a bit cool and overcast but we did enjoy ourselves.  The kids did get into the water for a while (although the Floridian boys quickly got cold and decided that the sand was better!)  We went to Daytona Beach, thinking that it would be the closest and empty, but there were lots of people so it was not ideal as of course there were people driving on the beach and with small people, it was a worry.

Huddling together to warm up!

These two were officially done with the water at this point!

Emily hanging out with Addison in making a mess!

Kaylie - full of life, full of vigor!

Loving the beach, and look at those curls!

The Zbaraschuk cousins!

The two peas...in a pod! :)

 A few other "smaller" activities that we did in the first week (small, but yet still so fun) included heading over to Rebounderz to watch the kids bounce themselves silly, bowling, and Wonderworks (such an undiscovered gem for us, we'll definitely be back!).  On the 31st, Connor and Zachary had a real treat when Deiningers offered us 4 extra tickets to a Magic game, so Karis, Kent, Connor and Zachary headed off to enjoy themselves, complete with all-you-can-eat food!

Zachary in the green shirt, Kaleb in red helmet by Zachary, and Connor in the blue outfit by Kaleb

What more could you ask for - a game, good and personal TVs!

 We will work on the Christmas Holidays - Week 2 for next week's post!  We hope you're not exhausted after this long post! :)