Over the Ferry & Through the Woods ...

C: Snow, in the summer, we're gonna have to call you Puddle.

.... and I'm sure there were more, but I didn't write anything down this weekend.


(12/26) It's over the ferry and through the woods to Grandmother's house we gooooooo! Today was the first time seeing the grands' new home, and I just love it! They had the attic finished for the kids, and it is the perfect play/sleep space for the herd.  We had an old TV we weren't using, so I took that and my old Nintendo 64 over and got it all hooked up in the play room too.  C chose Thai chicken and vegetable curry for dinner tonight.  He and Grandma made it up, and we all were fans.


(12/27) After a wonderful breakfast of coffeecake (from which the twins mined all the chocolate chips), we packed up and got ready to head on back. C decided to stay and help make a zillion meatballs for the upcoming kids' dinner and baby shower.  It took us something like two and half hours to get home due to the wait for the ferry.  The teenager wanted to go hang with a friend once we finally got home, so I dropped her, and then came home to put Christmas away.  It always looks so plain in here when the decorations come down.


(12/28) Everybody was off today.  Sarah invited the twins over, so Dad and I had an impromptu sushi date for lunch.  It was delicious as always!  I collected the boys after we got back.  We spent the rest of the day playing with toys and lazing about.


(12/29) Sarah and I hit the gym this morning, and then drove to Sbux.  Hey, it was raining! Dad was off, so I was able to leave the kiddos at home. He and the twinsies made muffins this morning, and the twins wore their aprons. He made us a turkey dinner tonight with all the fixins.  Yum!


(12/30) My dear, darling husband.  I agreed to watch Sarah's younger kiddo today, and as soon as he was dropped off, my husband disappeared.  He was gone for hours.  When he finally did come home, it was with a new car.  We now have a hybrid.  He did let me drive it up to kids' dinner tonight.  Grandma and Granddad host a dinner every Christmas for the whole gang of kids (now plus their significant others/families) that used to appear for Saturday night dinners.  Such a cool tradition!  This year, with their house just being completed, it was held at a "kid's" house - Granddad said it was so odd welcoming everyone to someone else's house. We all had a blast, and all of the littler kids ran around in a huge pack.


(12/31) The boys and I hopped a ferry to go to the grands' for another Christmas/NYE celebration with all my siblings.  It was so lovely to see everyone - I'm just thrilled for my folks!  Their new house is perfect! The teenager stayed behind to attend a New Year's celebration with her friends, and Dad has to work early-squirrelly tomorrow so couldn't join us this time either.


(1/1) Happy New Year!  We joined the parents for a delicious breakfast, and bummed around while my siblings got packed up.  We walked on the ferry, so the parents kept all our stuff for me to pick up this coming weekend. We had such a fun time - it sure is tough to get us all together, but when it happens, it's pretty awesome.  Just wish the hubs could've been there.


(1/2) Back to work & school for all of us today. Nobody wanted to get up, and there was much complaining from the small ones. Nanan picked up the kiddos after school this evening, and we finally had a chance to do Christmas with her.  She gave all of us RC cars, so we can race against each other.  We discovered they're all on the same frequency though, so you never really know which car you are racing!


(1/3) Work day for Dad & day off for me. I volunteered in both the boys' classes today.  In D's class, she had me work 1:1 on reading with the kids, in which D *really* wanted to participate, but then refused to actually read. I also helped get all the kindergartners logged into their Chromebooks. That was a process. In J's class, we played at the dramatic play center.  The boys built space ships that carried all the people away.


(1/4) Work day for me, and Dad had the kiddos. Dad had some errands to run today, and stopped by to have lunch with me. Traffic was horrible this evening, but I managed to get home and get the whole herd to Zumba only a few minutes late.  Such a nice way to cap off a hectic day.


(1/5) Work day for me, and Dad had the kiddos. The boys were SO excited to receive a bath bomb for Christmas, and they finally got a chance to use it after I was done experimenting with the color tabs.  Their bath was VERY colorful tonight.


(1/6) I hopped on a ferry this morning to head over to Grandma & Granddad's again today for my sister's baby shower.  So happy for them!  D was really mad that he didn't get to come and play Nintendo, but I told him that it was going to be an adult party.  Plus, I was able to return all of Grandma's plants we've been watching while they were waiting for their house to be built.  C was supposed to have a hockey game today, but brilliantly forgot his pants.  Dude, they were *right there* where your other stuff was drying.  /facepalm   He's off at a friend's party this evening.