Day At The Museum

For those who are not aware, my kids LOVE dinosaurs!!! So I decided to do something totally crazy and go to the Museum of Natural History in NYC! Barring the logistical nightmare, (NEVER TRY TO GO TO NYC DURING HOLIDAY WEEK!) we had a really really good time!

Forget the T Rex, THIS dino was the most impressive! (Don't ask me it's name)

Caeley and Elijah reading up on the big guy!

AWESOME!!!

Elijah insisted on seeing the elephant exhibit. Caeley waits patiently to go to the 4th floor AKA The Dinosaur floor!

Cales in front of a T Rex skull.

Caeley and Elijah were excited to touch an actual dinosaur bone!

My paleontologist in training! She is getting so big and prettier by the minute!

The Dino Tree outside the main entrance. Though it was fun to see the dino skeletons, the best part of this trip was being able to talk to my kids, especially Caeley, and hear them tell me what they saw, hear Caeley's hypothesis on what the dinosaurs did and why they did them, and above all that, just talking. I so much look forward to this discussion thing with the kids as they grow older, I have a feeling they are going to turn out to be pretty interesting people....

Hanging with the Cousins!

After we left from New Milford, we went back down to visit Aunt Maggie and Uncle Felix and the twins. We had a great few days. Here are some of the highlights...

Caeley loves being the big cuz!

Elijah enjoying quality time with Liliana and Lucas

Caeley and Lucas

"Wait a minute! Who is this guy crashing the party?"

"YEE HAW!!!!"

The next day we went to a children's museum in town. It was the first time for everyone, and it was FREEZING!! Great day to investigate the place!

"Look Dad! Fish!!!"

Toddler play room. Caeley didn't care about the 3 year age restriction!

"Mirror Mirror on the wall!"

Hello pretty lady!

Hanging in the tree house...

After the museum, we were off to lunch and to meet Nana and Aunt Connie.

Nana hanging with her grandkids!

Aunt Connie snuggling with Nana

Thanks to Nana for a great lunch and thanks to family Gomez for letting us hang out. We had a blast....

Last few days in New Milford...

So after the excitement of Christmas there was still more to do! It was time to see more friends and family and so we had a jam packed day of fun times on Saturday. Check it out!

Caeley and Laine coming in from one of their many outdoor excursions. Judging by Cales's face, it looked like they had a great time!

Our friends, The Owens clan from Boston, came to visit us in New Milford. We were all a little tired of documenting the week's festivities, so we decided to just relax and live the moments in real time. We did manage to get a pic of the best friends Noah and Elijah, rocking the funky mics.

That evening, the Emmerichs stopped by! It is rare to get the whole family together for a visit, so we were excited to see all of them in one place.

Rob, Christie, and Aunt Joanne!

FJ and Elijah certainly hit it off and had some quality guy time.

Everyone enjoying another great meal at Laine and Pop's! It's hard to remember that space used to be a bedroom!

Some of the guys hanging out on the cool new couch!

And again, the return of Santa Boo!

And then it was time for what seemed to be a nightly occurrence, the Caeley Singing and Dancing Revue!

The other half of the dynamic duo, Laine, rocking the accompaniment!

"NO!! LAINE!!! I want to count it off!!"

After the singing and dancing, Caeley read a bed time story to everyone. She had everyone, including herself, cracking up!

One of the gifts Elijah and Caeley received was this "Goin' Fishin'" game. The game was a revamped version of an old game that the older cousins used to play. The older cousins were excited when Laine produced the original from the basement! Good going Laine! She never gets rid of anything associated with a memory!

It was truly a special Christmas for our kids this year! We want to take the time to truly thank Laine and Pop for going way way above and beyond what we could ever have imagined for Christmas. From the decorations of the house, to showering of gifts and the full use of their perfect home to entertain our friends, we truly truly appreciate it. Thanks for being such great grandparents to our kids, and their home away from home!

CHRISTMAS!!!

We awoke this morning with Caeley running into our room, saying Santa had come. We got up and watched as Caeley's eyes were full of excitement and wonder. You can't beat that! She sat next to me and said she was "so excited I'm shaking!" and she really was! :) It was hard, but she had to wait until Elijah woke up. He finally helped her out about a half an hour later. Here are some highlights!

Caeley was allowed to open a present while she waited for her brother to wake up. It was the book "The Nutcracker!" Thanks Aunt Bookie and Uncle Brian!

Caeley begins the assault on the wrapped gifts!

Elijah tearing into his first present!

Proof Santa is real. No one knows what it does or how to put it together!

Elijah playing with his trains as dad watches

I love this one, kind of captures the excitement of the morning!

Rip and Tear! Rip and Tear!

Brush your teeth Uncle Robbie!

Elijah learning how to play the spoons!

The rest of the day was just relaxing, playing with gifts and eating. Then we had visitors that evening...

Caeley got dressed up in her Christmas dress again, she loves it.

Caeley hanging out with Oma

Elijah's gift from Oma: a very very cute Santa outfit! He loved it!

Elijah warming up the crowd for his big sister

Then he joined her in a duet. Check out the video as they put the icing on the perfect Christmas day! Merry Christmas!