Orange Grove Christmas & New Year's Eve

We went to Orange Grove for Christmas on Friday, January 30th. It was a good weekend because we got to celebrate both Christmas and New Year's with family and friends, all at once! Before we left, Atticus and Everly had snacks on our bed!

 
 Right before we loaded up, we had to take a porch picture!

Also, I should say that our car was so full! And Atticus always sits in the 3rd row. He does not love it, but that is the only place he can go since he can buckle himself. Personally, I do not like to be in the 3rd row of a car; I get claustrophobic. So, I feel for him. Plus, we can't hear him as well and he is at the age where all he does is ask when we are getting to where we are going. And Grace just copies what he says. So, trips that may only be 4 hours can last forever. What's worse is that he got carsick on the way. So, we had to pull over, unload the entire back of the car so get him out, clean him and carseat up the best we could and then hope that it really was just carsickness and not a bug. But, we are parents and that is what we do and for what was going on, Atticus handled it so well. We were very proud of him. 

We arrived Friday night and went straight to the hospital in Beeville. Vic's grandfather, Pa, has not been well the last few weeks and has been in and out of the hospital for fluid on his heart and a bacterial infection as well as in rehab for doing some exercises to help him keep fluid off of his heart. So, he has been a busy guy trying to get well and the Winsauer family has been busy taking care of him. Janice had been in the hospital all week with him, so we saw her when we arrived. The kids were excited and happy and performed songs, dances, and ABC's to entertain Janice and Pa. By the time we left, the hospital was preparing to move Pa to Corpus to another hospital to help him even more.

We headed to Orange Grove to eat pizza with Steve and hang out and play for awhile before bed. Steve worked hard to get Everly to warm up, but she's a tough sell. And Janice came home in time to read some books to the kids before bed. That is her favorite thing to do with them.

The next morning, Jill, Geoff and Keller came over so the Seidel Family could open gifts. 

 We tricked Everly again!

 No matter what Christmas it is, she loves the paper the most.

 Grace got FOUR Disney princesses from Jill & Geoff for Christmas.

 Star Wars. Star Wars. Star Wars.

Do you remember those little stickers you could put on your ears to make earrings? Well, Grace got earrings and rings of all the Disney princesses. 

 The kids are set, with Carhartt coats, for the next two winters!

 Granny Irene, who lives down the street and will be 94 this year, came down for a visit after we opened packages. I love this picture of her and Jill.

 The entire crew.

 Jill and Geoff gave Atticus nerf guns and they had to practice right away.

 Just a few days before, Grace learned how to pedal her trike! We brought the trike and scooter with us so they could play outside. The Seidels have lots of great driveway (that is not sloped like ours!) for them to practice.

 Atticus met a new friend that was visiting the Seidel's neighbors and he liked Star Wars. His name was Kyle and the two had such a good time!

 And this picture is why we also just bought helmets this past week for their outdoor vehicle runs. Atticus is getting much better at his scooter, but he still puts his weight all the way on the back. I am very nervous he is going to flip the front up and fall backwards. So, helmets were needed! And how could they resist an R2D2 helmet when he and Vic shopped for one?

 

 Once Steve got back, the boys got him good! These two little boys played and played.

 

While they played and Everly napped, Grace and I played My Little Ponies on the back porch. I love this beautiful, funny, imaginative little girl.

 

 Later that afternoon, we got ready to go to The Browns for New Year's Eve festivities with the Meischen/Powell/Trackwell/Hoelscher families. Before going to the Browns, Steve & Atticus went to the deer blind to look for deer. When I asked him about it later, he was most excited that they got to go and eat a bag of cheetos in the deer blind together! He was also really into that gun; he is very into guns on star wars and building with legos and playing with friends. So, he thought it was pretty cool to take a gun to the deer blind. 

 Also, right before we loaded up to head to the Browns, Phyllis and Allie came over. Phyllis is Vic's aunt and Allie is Vic's cousin, Shelly's, daughter. She is a couple years older than Grace but immediately wanted to play. We really need to get these girls together again some time! We have not seen them much in the last few years since we do holidays at home. But, I think it's time to start making some memories with our cousins!

Our sweet girl. So, as soon as we got out to the Browns, I realized I left my camera and was so sad! I barely got any pictures, but I will try to describe how much fun everyone had. First of all, Grace fell asleep on the way, so we left her in the car and I bet she slept the first hour and a half we were there. But, Atticus had a great time! He LOVES his friend Beck and was so excited to see him. Beck had even drawn a picture for Atticus and it is still hanging on our refrigerator. I look forward to these two growing up together. Anyways, there were some older kids there as well and they were so amazing to play with and watch over the younger ones all night. Clare, Katherine and Edmund (Mandee's neices and nephew) and Reagan and her brother (Raymonds grandkids) took care of Atticus, Beck and Ben, and Colten and William all night. They played on the rows of round hay bales, took rides in the mule, threw those little firecrackers that you throw on the ground that pop, and ran and played all night. Someone brought each kid their own flashlight and someone brought play guns and these kids just played and played. Atticus was in heaven! When Grace finally woke up, she took a little adjusting but then was ready to play too. She is so funny because she loves Beck and Ben and somehow, when I watch them, I feel like they treat her like a little sister because they play with her and include her, but watch out for her too. And that little Ben...he is the cutest little stink! And he plays with her and aggravates her but only to the point of her having the best time! It's hard to believe they are all growing up, but really hard to believe Ben is already 4 and Grace is almost 4. Anyways, we ate, watched fireworks and then everyone headed out about 9:30. Of course, even though Everly had not fallen asleep once in my arms and was exhausted, we all decided to stop by Mandee and Derek's for a few minutes and then head home. A few minutes turned into 2 hours. Sara & Scott Trackwell and their kids were staying at Mandee's as well. So, we all got to visit and our kids played and did you know that even though Everly fell asleep in the car on the ride back into town, she woke back up and stayed awake until we left at 11:45? Clearly, she wanted to ring in the new year too! She never fussed, as long as she was with me, and even though I know she was tired, she fought it hard and stayed awake the entire evening. Finally, when it was only our kids still awake and we were tired, we headed back to Steve & Janice's house to bathe them adn put them down. They were all asleep within minutes. Vic made us 2am quesadillas for a snack and off to bed we went. What a fun New Year's Eve!

I love times I get to spend visiting! Everly was perfectly behaved (in my arms) and let me visit all night long with Sara and Mandee!

They were playing on the Mule and this cute little Ben wouldn't stop being silly for a picture. Grace just loved it!

Here they are watching fireworks! Atticus loved them!

But, Grace and Beck did NOT love the loud fireworks. I brought Everly in and found them in here holding their ears. Cuties!

Grace was hesitant about sparklers too, but Atticus loved them!

Everly finally let me put her down on the couch for a little bit. And did you know that Happy New Year hat on her head is the same one we had when we celebrated New Year's with Mandee and Derek back in 2011? It was such a fun night and she still had her decorations!

Reagan wanted to love on Everly so much and Everly lasted a minute until she cried. So, fun fact. Reagan is Raymond and Judi's granddaughter. And Reagan's dad is Steven Hoelscher, who photographed our wedding. So, Reagan was actually in attendance at our wedding and was so little. She is so grown up now!! I hope she comes to A&M one day so we can see her! Wouldn't the kids love that? 

The next morning, we loaded up to go to Corpus where Pa was in the hospital and we could see Granny Liz and Keith as well. We arrived and visited with him for awhile. He was having a harder time this day breathing and didn't seem to feel as well as the Friday night we got to Beeville. But, we got to visit and about 20 minutes later, Granny Liz and Keith showed up. Keith held Everly and she started to cry. Someone must have heard her, because a nurse came in and told us that kids under 12 were not allowed and continued to tell us all the terrible germs and illnesses that our kids could catch if we stayed. We did not need to be convinced and we got our of there more quickly than we'd planned. We've all been fine since, but with Everly so young, and this guy being so serious about us being back there, I was nervous. We were so confused by how we missed the sign he talked about when we came in. But, when we walked out, we saw it. It was facing the wrong way! So, we never saw the sign coming in that prohibited 12 and under being there. Plus, the place was pretty deserted, so nobody saw us to tell us. Oh well. We got to see Granny Liz and Keith for a quick minute.

We got lunch, fed Everly, and headed home. It was a long time in the car that day. It's just tough on little kids; they can only last so long and they need to move around. They were in the car from 10:30 to 5:00 with only the one stop and we were so glad to be home and out of the car. But, it was a really nice time in Orange Grove for Christmas and New Year's!