christmas vacation

dave was off work for 8 whole days leading up to (and including) christmas and it was heavenly! when it was finally time for him to go back to work the day after christmas, i went through some major withdrawal. so during those 8 days we tried to soak in all the fun we could, including:

a date for logan to lunch with his dad at work (logan felt so special that he got to go)

dave visited the teacher he student taught for 5 years ago (and hadn't seen since)

family christmas movie nights

visiting santa

a double date with dave's parents to see "the hobbit" (amazing!)

a visit from grandma and grandpa gg

a trip to the aquarium

making christmas goodies with dave's extended family

zoo lights

a visit to see great grandma lorrie

driving around and looking at christmas lights (we found the coolest house, decorated by the nicest people who came to our car and gave us candy canes and wished us a merry christmas!) 

 

logan was so excited to visit santa and had a perma grin on his face the entire time. from the moment he saw santa he was waving to him, trying to get his attention (while the people in front of us wrapped up their visit). and i can't say enough good about this santa and mrs. claus. they were amazing!! it was such a fun and magical experience for both dave and i and the kids (at least logan)!

 

 

ringing the reindeer's sleigh bells. logan thought this was so cool since "the polar express" has been one of his favorite christmas books this year.

emma still wasn't quite herself at this time, but managed to give santa a big hug before we left

grandma and grandpa gg came and delivered christmas cards the week before christmas. we loved having them visit. and somehow i think emma knew that "paper" inside her card was something special! she's no fool!

  

logan took this picture of emma! 

the aquarium is a special place for dave and i (and now for our family) and the last time we went was a couple of weeks before emma was born. we were excited to go back with both kids, and as expected, it was a hit with them!

we headed to zoo lights the weekend before christmas and even though it was packed (thank goodness we bought our tickets in advance) it was a lot of fun (except for me being a bad mom and not having gloves for my kids, which lead to icicle hands). logan couldn't wait to drive the tuk tuk! sadly i barely took any pictures (no free hands since emma wanted to be held the whole time), but it was beautiful! i love christmas lights and they do such a great job at the zoo.

a couple of days before christmas we went to visit great grandma lorrie. she gave the kids some special gifts, including giving emma one of her very own necklaces. she and logan also played a little solitaire on the computer and she read logan one of his new books. it was fun to be able to see her!

 

  

the saturday before christmas we got together with dave's extended family to make christmas goodies. gammy helped the kids roll out their dough, cut it into shapes, roll it back into a ball and start all over! they had a great time!

little did we know that this day would go down in infamy. the next night one by one people began to get the flu and within a day almost everyone that was there (and members of their families) had gotten the flu. sadly it meant that all family christmas eve and christmas festivities were canceled.