Vacation Has Begun

 Finals and Driving

Chris had two finals, one on Monday and the other on Tuesday. He did really well on them while I worked on getting the house ready for us to leave and packing for our trip. We were able to start our vacation on Wednesday and drove all day to get to Grandma and Grandpa Bell's before bedtime. Although the drive was long, we were glad to be done with it in one day and the girls stayed entertained with movies we downloaded on the iPad. We've had some very fun days since because there is a treehouse with slides here and we were able to borrow some kid snow cloths for the girls. But more on those in the rest of the sections

Claire

She was very excited to see snow and has already learned how to through snowballs and eat some too. It was cold without proper snow cloths the first time we went out but now they get so bundled up we can stay out and play in the backyard for an hour at a time. She's been able to see most of her cousins already and loves all the toys that she remembers from when we were here in July. It is cute when she yells "nana ganpa" when either of them come home and there some crazy sounds that come when she sees new people and can't hold in her excitement. I regret not teaching her to sit and eat at the table during meal times now because it really shows now that we have people to sit at the table with. 

Shay

Another very excited girl to see snow and everything at the house that I'm not totally sure she remembers from 6 months ago. She seems to understand things but I'm not sure it is her remembering anything from before but she definitely handles the stairs much better. She also enjoys the backyard playground that they have with slides and swings and the trampoline that was covered with ice and snow but still bounced a little. She looks like a little marshmallow in her snow cloths and I burst into laughter every once in a while watching how she waddles around. It is harder for me to stop her eating the snow and even when she started she went to the dirt instead to see how well they mixed....silly girl. She is always worried about the dogs because one likes to come right up to her face and smell or lick her, so she is blocked from going some places.

Party

We already had a small Christmas party with family and the girls loved so much about going to another new house with toys and cousins. It was hard to keep up with all the places they wanted to go and all the things they wanted to do. They played with stuffed animals, dolls, blocks, Christmas decorations, and even some of the other kids. They were among the younger ones and it was hard to play the big kid games downstairs in the dark (I think it was ghosts in the graveyard...), but they never once complained! It is so easy for kids to not be bored, especially in new houses.

Model

I helped out my sister-in-law by modeling some of the cloths that are from her business and even though it was cold, I had fun. We haven't gotten to know each other as much as I would have liked in the past and getting some one on one time was really nice. She is lucky enough to live close to family and I'm glad we are able to see her while we are in town, but it makes me miss the rest of the families I won't be able to see while we are here. Family is so important and I hope we can live closer after we are done with school in California!