Monday, December 28, 2009
Chillin' at the Holiday Inn
We still had one more night to use up before they expired, so we decided to have a hotel party on Saturday night at the Holiday Inn Express in Grand Blanc. Aunt Julie, Uncle Jason, Anna, Joel, and Jonah all came up to join us! We spent some time swimming in the pool and then ordered some Rocco's pizza to eat in the hotel room. We all had a lot of fun - the kids had an absolute blast!!
Merry Christmas!!
We hope everyone had a wonderfully blessed Christmas and are getting ready for a fantastic New Year!! We know we have and are! We had such a great time, seeing all of our relatives, having some good laughs, and just fully enjoying our time spent together. We all received so many great gifts! Everyone was so extremely generous!!
We celebrated with Sara's immediate family and Grandma Jackie on the afternoon of Christmas Eve. Nana, Papa, and Grandma Jackie came over to our house to open gifts and spend some time playing. Carson was SO excited to get his train table and wooden train tracks, trains, and accessories! He also received a travel-size Doodle Pro, a wooden puzzle, an orange Shake 'n Go race car, a savings bond, a police cruiser that lights up and makes sounds, and some books.
We then headed to Aunt Sharon's house to celebrate Christmas Eve with Sara's extended family. We had a delicious ham dinner with lots of sides and desserts and enjoyed some good laughs and stories with the family. Carson got so many awesome gifts at that party, too.... a Lightning McQueen Shake 'n Go racecar, some books, some clothes and PJs, a Snake Bite monster truck that drives and makes sounds, a Grave Digger monster truck with ramp to jump through a ring of fire, Little People fire house and helicopter.
Carson had this thing with trying to hide the card up his shirt during our white elephant gift exchange... I think he thought he was putting it in his pocket or something... it was hilarious!
Carson and Mackenzey had fun playing together!
We celebrated Christmas morning together as a family of three. We had a nice breakfast and read some of Carson's books about the Christmas Story. We opened more gifts and Carson was so excited by the gifts and stocking full of fun things from Santa.... a Little People Spin 'n Crash Race Track and his stocking was filled with plastic dinosaurs, some wooden ABC blocks, and a drum. And from Mama and Daddy... a wooden puzzle, a Melissa & Doug Cutting Food set, a set of instruments (maracas, triangle, shakers, tamborine, clappers, sticks, cymbals, and another drum), a rolling suitcase, some books, a Play-Doh play set, games (Alphablocks, Chutes N Ladders, Candyland, and Memory), Mr. Potato Head, an MSU football, and a light-up moon for his room.
We headed over to Aunt Julie's house in the afternoon to celebrate Christmas with Kevin's extended family. We had another delicious ham dinner with lots of great sides and desserts. We had fun catching up with the relatives from the west side of the state that we don't get to see too often. And Carson had tons of fun playing with his cousins!
We celebrated Christmas with Kevin's immediate family on Saturday morning over at Grandpa and Grandma's house. We had a fantastic brunch with lots of tasty dishes and then opened more gifts. Carson was spoiled again... he received such awesome gifts from everyone!! A Mickey Mouse Clubhouse play tent, a wooden puzzle, a wooden learning clock set, Discovery Toys build a vehicle set with a racecar, motorcycle, and airplane, Home Depot tool set and truck, Playmobil 1-2-3 motorcycle, racecar, and airplane playsets, Little People dump truck, paint with water book, some clothes, and some books. After gifts, the kids got a little more playtime in together and we were able to get the first pictures of the 5 cousins together!
We celebrated with Sara's immediate family and Grandma Jackie on the afternoon of Christmas Eve. Nana, Papa, and Grandma Jackie came over to our house to open gifts and spend some time playing. Carson was SO excited to get his train table and wooden train tracks, trains, and accessories! He also received a travel-size Doodle Pro, a wooden puzzle, an orange Shake 'n Go race car, a savings bond, a police cruiser that lights up and makes sounds, and some books.
We then headed to Aunt Sharon's house to celebrate Christmas Eve with Sara's extended family. We had a delicious ham dinner with lots of sides and desserts and enjoyed some good laughs and stories with the family. Carson got so many awesome gifts at that party, too.... a Lightning McQueen Shake 'n Go racecar, some books, some clothes and PJs, a Snake Bite monster truck that drives and makes sounds, a Grave Digger monster truck with ramp to jump through a ring of fire, Little People fire house and helicopter.
Carson had this thing with trying to hide the card up his shirt during our white elephant gift exchange... I think he thought he was putting it in his pocket or something... it was hilarious!
Carson and Mackenzey had fun playing together!
We celebrated Christmas morning together as a family of three. We had a nice breakfast and read some of Carson's books about the Christmas Story. We opened more gifts and Carson was so excited by the gifts and stocking full of fun things from Santa.... a Little People Spin 'n Crash Race Track and his stocking was filled with plastic dinosaurs, some wooden ABC blocks, and a drum. And from Mama and Daddy... a wooden puzzle, a Melissa & Doug Cutting Food set, a set of instruments (maracas, triangle, shakers, tamborine, clappers, sticks, cymbals, and another drum), a rolling suitcase, some books, a Play-Doh play set, games (Alphablocks, Chutes N Ladders, Candyland, and Memory), Mr. Potato Head, an MSU football, and a light-up moon for his room.
We headed over to Aunt Julie's house in the afternoon to celebrate Christmas with Kevin's extended family. We had another delicious ham dinner with lots of great sides and desserts. We had fun catching up with the relatives from the west side of the state that we don't get to see too often. And Carson had tons of fun playing with his cousins!
We celebrated Christmas with Kevin's immediate family on Saturday morning over at Grandpa and Grandma's house. We had a fantastic brunch with lots of tasty dishes and then opened more gifts. Carson was spoiled again... he received such awesome gifts from everyone!! A Mickey Mouse Clubhouse play tent, a wooden puzzle, a wooden learning clock set, Discovery Toys build a vehicle set with a racecar, motorcycle, and airplane, Home Depot tool set and truck, Playmobil 1-2-3 motorcycle, racecar, and airplane playsets, Little People dump truck, paint with water book, some clothes, and some books. After gifts, the kids got a little more playtime in together and we were able to get the first pictures of the 5 cousins together!
Overnight Getaway to Grand Rapids
We made a quick trip to Grand Rapids last Wednesday for an overnight getaway. We had some hotel nights to use up - they expired on the 26th. And I had plans to meet up with my Phike sisters, Katie and Michelle, for dinner on the 23rd at Carlos O'Kelly's in GR. So we decided to stay at a hotel in GR with a big indoor water slide, pool, hot tub, and kiddie pool and splash pad. We all had a blast!! Kevin and Carson had a great visit with Great Grandpa and Great Grandma Van while I was at dinner with my friends, too. It was a great little getaway!!
Carson LOVES the water!!
Me: "Do you want to go back to the room and warm up?" (Notice he has purple lips?) Carson shakes his head and says "no-no, more swim!"... he would not give up!
Trying to stomp on the spraying water...
The pool area was AWESOME!!
Carson LOVES the water!!
Here comes Kevin!
Me: "Do you want to go back to the room and warm up?" (Notice he has purple lips?) Carson shakes his head and says "no-no, more swim!"... he would not give up!
Trying to stomp on the spraying water...
Saturday, December 19, 2009
22 months old!
I'm running a little behind with this.... but Carson is now 22 months old and he continues to learn and absorb so many new things each and every day. We are having so much fun with him! He is growing more and more independent all the time. He refuses to let you help him eat cold cereal anymore - he actually does very well with it on his own and makes very little mess. He is starting to get to the phase where he doesn't want us cutting up his food for him if it can be eaten whole, either. He wants his toast cut in fourths, his cheese left as a whole slice, and his pizza left as a whole slice so he can just pick it up. 
We made a trip to the mall to see Santa the other day. Afterwards, we just went up to the food court to eat lunch - Carson, of course, wanted pizza. So we got a slice of Sbarro pizza - their slices are enormous and Carson did not want the slice cut at all. He had his arms fully extended, one on each side of the slice, and ate it all on his own... it was hilarious to watch... and he ate about 3/4 of the slice!! Guess he was hungry!
Carson's imagination is getting stronger all the time. He is so fun to play with. He gets in his car or van and tells us he's in a spaceship and is going to Mars to rescue Goofy... he is basically re-enacting one of his favorite Mickey Mouse Clubhouse episodes. He is creative when he plays with his castle and pirate ship guys in making the king, queen, and pirates talk to one another, eat dinner together, take turns sleeping in the bed and riding the horse, climbing the stairs to the castle turrets, etc. And he has started liking to build houses with his blocks now instead of just towers.
Carson continues to love playing sports. His latest thing is football. He LOVES to toss the football back and forth, hike it, and be tackled. He still loves to play basketball and soccer (he has a really great kick, actually!). He is pretty good with his golf clubs, too... although we have to put them away quite often and have Carson sit in time out for trying to hit the dog or us with them at times. He really wants to learn tennis. He carries his tennis racket around with him quite often asking us to teach him... we'll save that one for summer time and being outside, though. :)
Carson continues to be fascinated with the moon and space. We've been giving Carson one of his gifts from us each day for the last week or more so that he isn't quite so overwhelmed with new toys all at once for Christmas. One of his favorite gifts so far is a moon that we've hung in his room. It lights up and goes through all the lunar phases. Carson just loves it! He also loves learning about all of the planets and space. He knows most of the planets' names in our solar system now.
Carson still loves learning his numbers and letters. He counts up to 14 on his own quite often and will sometimes go up to 20, but 14 is pretty normal. He still loves picking out letters on shirts, in magazines, and in books, as well as shapes and colors. His favorite color continues to be yellow... unless we're talking which socks to wear, for which he still prefers red. :)
We made a trip to the mall to see Santa the other day. Afterwards, we just went up to the food court to eat lunch - Carson, of course, wanted pizza. So we got a slice of Sbarro pizza - their slices are enormous and Carson did not want the slice cut at all. He had his arms fully extended, one on each side of the slice, and ate it all on his own... it was hilarious to watch... and he ate about 3/4 of the slice!! Guess he was hungry!Carson's imagination is getting stronger all the time. He is so fun to play with. He gets in his car or van and tells us he's in a spaceship and is going to Mars to rescue Goofy... he is basically re-enacting one of his favorite Mickey Mouse Clubhouse episodes. He is creative when he plays with his castle and pirate ship guys in making the king, queen, and pirates talk to one another, eat dinner together, take turns sleeping in the bed and riding the horse, climbing the stairs to the castle turrets, etc. And he has started liking to build houses with his blocks now instead of just towers.
Carson continues to love playing sports. His latest thing is football. He LOVES to toss the football back and forth, hike it, and be tackled. He still loves to play basketball and soccer (he has a really great kick, actually!). He is pretty good with his golf clubs, too... although we have to put them away quite often and have Carson sit in time out for trying to hit the dog or us with them at times. He really wants to learn tennis. He carries his tennis racket around with him quite often asking us to teach him... we'll save that one for summer time and being outside, though. :)
Carson continues to be fascinated with the moon and space. We've been giving Carson one of his gifts from us each day for the last week or more so that he isn't quite so overwhelmed with new toys all at once for Christmas. One of his favorite gifts so far is a moon that we've hung in his room. It lights up and goes through all the lunar phases. Carson just loves it! He also loves learning about all of the planets and space. He knows most of the planets' names in our solar system now.
Carson still loves learning his numbers and letters. He counts up to 14 on his own quite often and will sometimes go up to 20, but 14 is pretty normal. He still loves picking out letters on shirts, in magazines, and in books, as well as shapes and colors. His favorite color continues to be yellow... unless we're talking which socks to wear, for which he still prefers red. :)
Monday, December 7, 2009
Weekend Fun!
We started out our weekend fun on Friday morning. We went over to our friend Melissa's house in the morning and Carson got to play with her daughters, Adalin and Kira. He had lots of fun cooking pizza in their play oven and playing with all their fun toys! And Sara learned first-hand how awesome a grain mill can be! Melissa grinds her own wheat and makes her own bread every week. And the bread is absolutely delicious! So much better with the freshly ground whole wheat flour! Hopefully, one day, we'll be grinding our own flour and making our own bread every week! I think a grain mill will probably be my next large kitchen investment.
On Saturday, we met our friends Lina, Sean, and Vayla in Ann Arbor at the Hands On! Museum. We had another great time together! Carson gets so excited when he hears we'll get to see Vayla. We told him on Friday night that we'd be going to the museum and seeing Vayla the next morning and he got very upset when he was told we couldn't go right then. :)
The Ann Arbor museum was really nice. Its a pretty big place with lots to explore and discover. It's aimed more towards older kids, though. And we were kind of disappointed by their preschool room. But we still had lots of fun! We just probably won't be going back there until Carson is quite a few years older.
After the museum, we took a walk through downtown Ann Arbor to find a place for lunch. Zingerman's Deli was so busy, we decided to go some place else. We ended up at a thai restaurant called "No Thai!". Carson got to eat his first thai food - and he loved it! He really chowed down on the drunken noodles with chicken! We're so glad he enjoys all the different ethnic foods!
After lunch, we took a walk back to our parked cars. Carson and Vayla didn't want to hug goodbye this time, as they usually do... instead they wanted to kiss! Carson had his first kiss from a non-related gal!! :) It was so cute! We are really enjoying our tour of all the kids' museums on the Impressions 5 reciprocal list! Next month, we may head west to Grand Rapids to check out their childrens' museum.
We then headed home for naps, some shopping, and dinner with Papa, Nana, and Aunt Lindsay at the Olive Garden to celebrate Aunt Lindsay's 19th birthday.
After dinner, we headed into Swartz Creek for the 25th annual Christmas parade. It was soooo cold! But it could have been worse! We bundled up Carson in the stroller and braved the cold, and we're glad we did! Carson loved seeing all the fire trucks and vehicles decorated with Christmas lights! He also loved the floats - he pointed out Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus on one of the floats and then he got to see Santa and his reindeer on top of the last fire truck in the parade! It was a great parade!
Then, on Sunday, we took Carson to his first live production. We went to the Wharton Center in East Lansing to see Click, Clack, Moo! He was mesmerized by all the singing and dancing. He laughed at the funny parts and clapped when he was supposed to - he loved it! We'll be looking for some more live productions to take him to in the future.
So that was our weekend, in a nutshell. Quite busy and going non-stop, but we had a ton of fun and made some great memories, which is the important thing! We've got another busy weekend coming up again next weekend. We'll be going to Grand Rapids on Thursday night and using our two free hotel nights at a hotel with a big, indoor waterslide! We'll get to see family while we're out there and we'll be checking out the Dutch Winterfest in Holland and Fred Meijer Gardens! Can't wait!
On Saturday, we met our friends Lina, Sean, and Vayla in Ann Arbor at the Hands On! Museum. We had another great time together! Carson gets so excited when he hears we'll get to see Vayla. We told him on Friday night that we'd be going to the museum and seeing Vayla the next morning and he got very upset when he was told we couldn't go right then. :)The Ann Arbor museum was really nice. Its a pretty big place with lots to explore and discover. It's aimed more towards older kids, though. And we were kind of disappointed by their preschool room. But we still had lots of fun! We just probably won't be going back there until Carson is quite a few years older.
After the museum, we took a walk through downtown Ann Arbor to find a place for lunch. Zingerman's Deli was so busy, we decided to go some place else. We ended up at a thai restaurant called "No Thai!". Carson got to eat his first thai food - and he loved it! He really chowed down on the drunken noodles with chicken! We're so glad he enjoys all the different ethnic foods!
After lunch, we took a walk back to our parked cars. Carson and Vayla didn't want to hug goodbye this time, as they usually do... instead they wanted to kiss! Carson had his first kiss from a non-related gal!! :) It was so cute! We are really enjoying our tour of all the kids' museums on the Impressions 5 reciprocal list! Next month, we may head west to Grand Rapids to check out their childrens' museum.
We then headed home for naps, some shopping, and dinner with Papa, Nana, and Aunt Lindsay at the Olive Garden to celebrate Aunt Lindsay's 19th birthday.
After dinner, we headed into Swartz Creek for the 25th annual Christmas parade. It was soooo cold! But it could have been worse! We bundled up Carson in the stroller and braved the cold, and we're glad we did! Carson loved seeing all the fire trucks and vehicles decorated with Christmas lights! He also loved the floats - he pointed out Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus on one of the floats and then he got to see Santa and his reindeer on top of the last fire truck in the parade! It was a great parade!Then, on Sunday, we took Carson to his first live production. We went to the Wharton Center in East Lansing to see Click, Clack, Moo! He was mesmerized by all the singing and dancing. He laughed at the funny parts and clapped when he was supposed to - he loved it! We'll be looking for some more live productions to take him to in the future.
So that was our weekend, in a nutshell. Quite busy and going non-stop, but we had a ton of fun and made some great memories, which is the important thing! We've got another busy weekend coming up again next weekend. We'll be going to Grand Rapids on Thursday night and using our two free hotel nights at a hotel with a big, indoor waterslide! We'll get to see family while we're out there and we'll be checking out the Dutch Winterfest in Holland and Fred Meijer Gardens! Can't wait!
Happy (Belated) Thanksgiving!
This is quite late, but I'm just now catching up on posts. Happy Belated Thanksgiving! We hope everyone had a wonderful day spent with family.Kevin flew home from Spain on Thanksgiving Eve and so was quite tired and jet-lagged on Thanksgiving. We still had a very nice day, though... even though we changed our plans that afternoon. We started out by going over to Grandma and Grandpa Holleboom's house for an early turkey dinner. Aunt Julie, Uncle Jason, Anna, Joel, Jonah, and Uncle Danny were all there, too! We had a very tasty meal and the kids all had fun playing together. We had originally planned to head to Grand Rapids to see some of Kevin's extended family in the afternoon, but we decided not to make the trip for a number of reasons. After we left Kevin's parents' house, we stopped in at Sara's Aunt Jeri's house for a quick visit. Then we headed home for some much-needed rest and family time.
It was a great day and we are so thankful for our little man - he brings such joy to our lives. We are also very thankful to have Kevin home safely and have been thoroughly enjoying our time together as a family again.
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