One More Christmas Post

 Ok....one more Christmas post...

So on the 23rd of December, we took the kids uptown for a tradition we have been doing for a while.  In one of the uptown buildings they have some animatronic bears that sing Christmas carols.  It's a good reason to get out of the house and get a lunch uptown before they kids drive us crazy during Christmas season and has been a fun tradition that Avery loves.

 

 This time we took the train uptown!

As you might expect a lot of people have the same idea, so the place was crawling with kids and parents.  Usually, when I walk thru this area is is crawling with kids, but less parents as one of them is usually working.

An upclose view of the fun.

 It of course didn't hold Carter's attention very long, so here he is taking in the scene from a distance.  He kept getting away from Laura and hopping on an escalator to a different level.

Here he is helping to operate the escalator and ingesting every possible germ he could.

This picture summarizes a lot of pictures we don't end up taking.  Avery looking slightly away from the camera and Carter pouting not wanting to take a picture.  Merry Christmas!!

Christmas #6

Christmas #6 and #7 were in Vass at the Gibson house and Heisenger house on New Year's eve and the last in our Christmas series. We took a lot of pictures, but for some reason most of them are blurry so here are the best ones we have.

Presents were exchanged.

Couches were sat upon.

 Avery got this thing.  Now that Carter isn't a baby anymore, she needed someone to take care of.  Well, Carter may need supervision until he is at least 23.

Carter got a minion hat and Avery got plenty of books to read.  

 This picture is hilarious.  Carter was obviously frustrated that the box that he had just unwrapped was taped up.  We was even more disappointed that it was a Christmas tree skirt thingy rather than a big truck for him once he got it open.

Attacking the pile!

 Avery is getting better at this picture taking thing.

Christmas #5

Christmas #5 was in Greensboro with my parents.

The girls being cooperative for a group picture.  Carter being Carter.

However, Uncle David got him warmed up and helping to pass out presents.

  New Hats from Gigi!

 A new broom and mop kit for Carter!  The stand for his cleaning supplies is frequently turned into a guitar, but he does a great job "helping" to clean up around the house.

 Batman jammies with a cape!

 A box!!!!!!

 Gigi made the kids custom comfy couch blanket that they can snuggle in.  The 4 kids actually sat there for a moment for a quick picture.

However, the situation quickly devolved into silliness.

The kids of course were spoiled by Uncle David....  Their box of toys from him were as big as from Santa.  Carter got a garbage truck!

 Avery got some Minion headphones that Carter has since claimed.

Big hugs for Uncle David!

We got the Rotman girls a make at home ice cream kit where basically you have to push a ball back and forth for an hour to make icecream.  It was a great way to keep them occupied while the rest of us watched football and napped.  The kids of course loved the eating of the ice cream the most.

Our Family Christmas

Here are the pictures of our family Christmas.  Finally?  It will make sense why it took so long to post these later on.  

So Laura got the kids matching Minion jammies to sleep in.  They were pretty excited to go to bed and wait on Santa.  

We told Avery not to come downstairs the next morning when she woke up, but to read a book.  However, when we woke up at 8am or so and the kids weren't up, we decided that maybe we should wake them up.  Avery was reading a book, but Carter was still sleeping.  Avery was pretty excited as you can see from the picture, but Carter was adament that Santa was still at the North Pole and hadn't come to visit us as you can also see from his picture.

Avery wasted no time digging into her presents and reading any book that she opened.

 Carter eventually warmed up and dug into his presents.  He was pretty excited about the M&M chapstick as he is always stealing Laura's chapsticks.

"A FIDGET SPINNER!"  Santa may regret this one.

 Avery got some sort of pillow lacing type thing that she quickly knocked out over the Christmas break.  She is soooo good at following directions on those sort of things.

 Carter opening his Hey Duggee toys.

 He was pretty excited about it.  He was on (and still from time to time) watching a lot of Hey Duggee.

 Goodnight Construction site.  I think pretty much all we read to him is this book and a couple others about Bulldozers, Dump Trucks, and Diggers.

 Avery got a tablet from her parents!  You can send her emails and text messages now!  She may only reply in funny pictures, but her family loves getting to hear from her more.

 And the big present!  We are going to Disney!!!!  Well we actually already went by the time this post is up, but we went to Disney!!!  I have over 1800 pictures to go thru, but the kids were excited.  Obviously Avery more than Carter, but I can't wait to share all the pics.

Two happy, spoiled kids....

Christmas #2 and #3

Christmas #2 was with the Tarlton family that Aunt Sara hosted at her house on Christmas Eve and Christmas #3 was with the Marshall family Christmas night. 


Apparently it was red dress attire for the event. 

 Even sassy Madison had on a red dress.

 Avery couldn't help starting to read the books that Nanny gave her.

Carter reading?  What?  No, he does enjoy being read books by his sister.

However, the snacks were a great hit.  With Daddy.  Thanks for sharing Carter!

 As usual, we don't end up taking a lot of pictures at Marshall family Christmas, but wanted to share a picture of what Aver decided to wear.  Once again, how did she get so old.

 Avery was a great big cousin and read her little cousin books as the night winded down.