The Rest Of It

It's not so much that we're "zoo people" as it is that this particular location fulfilled the adventure guidelines of 1) being metro-accessible, 2) being easy on the wallet (it's actually FREE!), and 3) being of interest to the kiddos (and, let's be honest, to the biology teacher who kept saying, "Okay, just the Small Mammal House and then we can be done.  Oh, let's pop into the Great Apes.  Oh look- here we are at the Reptile House-- then we can go home!  :-)

Along the way, Miss C got to talk to a peacock:

The B-man took a rest on an anteater:

And we saw the Zoo Lights on our way out!

By the time we got back to the hotel, our proverbial dogs were barkin', so thanks to the wonder of accommodations right in the middle of a shopping pavilion, I was able to pick up Cheesecake Factory takeout and milk from CVS without even leaving the building!

Breakfast the next morning had quite the view:

And, of course, the visit was capped off with a trip to the swimming pool:

It's possible I'm already plotting where we can go have a random adventure next!!

In other news, this guy hits the big 40 today!!!!   ZUT ALORS!  How can it be?

Aaaaaannnnddd..... here's the whole pic because my thicket-of-bangs (and mouthful of metal) deserve some appreciation!

Happy Birthday to my first "other half"-- we may not ACTUALLY be twins but it sure feels like it sometimes!

A Day of Animals

When I decided to devise an alternate overnight adventure to our one originally scheduled for tonight at the Gaylord, I figured it made sense to piggyback onto theater tickets we already had for Monday morning.  We had so much fun seeing 101 Dalmations last year at a local stage that we decided it would be even better to see this year's show, since the source material was one of the young Brookster's favorites:  Arnold Lobel's stories about Frog and Toad.  But first?  A 4-block walk to a place selling "artisanal donuts" that I happened upon when searching the area for eateries:

(Spoiler alert:  they were delicious.)

Then it was on to the theater, where someone a full foot taller than his wife was tasked with taking this year's photo of the kids next to the sign, hence the change in angle:

 We had front row seats!

I really LOVED the show!  It was a musical and the songs were delightfully be-boppy; it is possible I was keeping beat with both my head and my feet.  (The older gentleman next to me (*edited to add:  I am actually not referring to the BG!) guffawed loudly in several places so it was all good.)   Also, I was reminded of how much I love being able to make eye contact (and smile, of course!) with performers.  Makes me think of that magical day back in 1994 where we had seats REALLY close to this fabulous Sunset Boulevard performer who was pretty easy on the eyes!

I digress...

After the show, we had a super yummy lunch at a Mediterranean place and then drove just a few miles down the road to the hotel I'd booked.  I'm no dope-- why would I pay $26 for hotel parking when I could pay a lot less at a nearby garage?  Not only did I save money, but also the walk from the garage allowed the kids to find this fabulous decoration of a sleigh filled with giant Legos so it was really a win-win:

Embassy Suites hotels are known for their atrium-style structure;  while this location was no exception, the difference was that the atrium wasn't filled with foliage and fish-in-ponds.  No-- it was a shopping pavilion!!   Um, that's better.

Our suite wasn't quite ready so we killed some time in World Market located just right there!

Once we could dump our stuff, we hit the metro-- here, the B-man is demonstrating his opinion of how long metro escalators are!

But no worries-- he was JOE COOL!  (Thanks, A(u)nn(t)ie Kate for these awesome gloves!)

Our destination?

What happened next?  Stay tuned for tomorrow's post...

Adventuring

When we decided to cancel the multi-family, pre-Christmas overnight at the Gaylord, I went ahead and booked a room there for us this week.  In the wee hours of Christmas morning, however, I decided the whole allure of the holiday decorations and ambiance would be anticlimactic after Christmas.  So, as I lay there waiting for kids to get up and present-opening to commence, I cooked up another plan that quickly turned into reality!

My mom and I put together a birthday celebration for Geoff when he was here since we won't be together on NYE, which is his actual (and BIG!) birthday.  Per longstanding family tradition, I created a scavenger hunt.  The kids immediately started whining about wanting one of their own so I decided to indulge them and, on Sunday, wrote up a bunch of rhyming clues for them to follow.  Instead of presents, however, each hiding spot had a picture representing a component of this newly devised adventure:

So that's what we're up to yesterday/today!   Will fill in more details once we are back at home but here's a screenshot I captured last night:

Man, I love an adventure!!  :-)

Happy Start to a Week Off!

JOY TO THE WORLD!

Before the children's service where the kiddies sang and we celebrated Christ's birth:

After Santa had stopped by:

And...before the traditional cranberry bread has been devoured:

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Around These Parts

As it turns out, it can be lots of fun having eight people bunking in this house!   A constant stream of activity (and playmates!) is definitely a treat for the little people!

These two are bunking up:  (Weird angle in order to capture some of the Christmas lights!)

These two were getting down to some puzzle business:

These two were making faces through the window after B got off the bus:

These three were being lazy:

This one was showing off her line o' ponies: 

These five were playing some cards:

This one was photobombing the boys:

And....everybody was eating "Grandmother Duncan's" fudge!

Happy Christmas Eve to you!!   We actually had been planning to spend last night at the Gaylord to soak in some holiday decorations and cheer but ended up deciding that the soaking we were getting from the constant rain would make that experience a little less fun.  (Part of the plan would have included wandering around the whole shopping area outside the hotel and that just wasn't going to happen in the rain.)   So we cancelled the 3 rooms and laid low at home.  I've been fighting a cold so I actually was in bed at 7:45pm!

The BG celebrated his first morning of vacation by sleeping until.......4:00am!  Yes, that IS earlier than he gets up even on a school day.  The mailman dropped off at 7:00am what might finally be the last round of packages-- or maybe not.  We'll see what else transpires today.  Pretty sure there's a big Indian food feast in our immediate future!

Wordless Wednesday

Light It Up

The guys in this family have school through tomorrow (!!!) so the rest of us went oot and aboot yesterday for some errands and lunch:

The BG worked late so we never really saw him, but the rest of us (plus Christy and Olive) had a fabulous evening walking through the nearby lights display!

B-man was having more fun than it looks like here:

Creepy sunflowers!

And some artistic Geoff pics:

It has now started raining and isn't supposed to stop until later this weekend.  Oh, and it's supposed to be 75 degrees on Thursday.  Winter?  What winter?  NOT ACCEPTABLE.

(but it's fun to be together!)

Party's REALLY Getting Started Now!

Look at this gang!

They rolled in around 4:30 yesterday.  So fun to have them all here!

Grammie is excited to have all her chickens together, especially this cute little Yoda:

Need Easy-to-Make Cookie Suggestions?

I signed up to take cookies to both a children's choir party and Miss C's preschool party.  I decided to start with the chaos of my baking "pantry" for inspiration and found this bag o' tastiness buried deep in the pile:

Then I turned to my friend, the google, and searched for recipes that used the peppermint crunch baking chips.   First up--  the very creatively named Peppermint Crunch Christmas Cookies:

Then, in honor of our visitor, I figured we'd do a chocolate one.  Look at this multi-generational baking:

These Chocolate Peppermint Pudding Cookies turned out to be really yummy, too!
 

In case anyone out there needs to take cookies anywhere over the next week, these recipes are both very easy (once you have the bag of baking chips!).  Just FYI, for the first one, I only used a cup of the chips, not a whole bag like it said.  Had to make the bag work for two different recipes, after all!

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Late-Night Adventure

A VIP was due to arrive at the airport shortly after 8pm last night so, as a special treat, we decided the kids could come along for the ride even though that would put them in bed much later than usual.  The BG washed 'em up, put 'em in their pajamas, and....then we found out the flight was running behind schedule.   But no turning back now!

The B-man took a blanket in the car and that caused us all to miss the fact he forgot his vest which meant his pajamas (which I'd specifically planned to be covered up with the vest!) were front and center at the airport!

"Hiding":

 We found her!

Looking forward to a fun adventure!

(After these pics were taken, there was a "bag jam" that held up all the luggage.  We pulled in the garage at 10pm-- la scandale!)

Merry Mantel

I should probably ditch the red star and start over from scratch, but it seems appropriate for the season.   The nutcrackers on either side are new this year (post-Christmas super good deal from Weggies) and the little "O Come Let Us Adore Him" box sign just arrived (super cheap from Kohl's) last night to complete the layout:

And all twinkly: