Happy New Year!

 A New Year!  So fast!  2013 was a good one for our little family.  Really lovely, actually.

And the last few days of the year weren't an exception, full to the brim as they were with family and friends and fluffy-white snow. 

Here's a recap, by the day.

28th:  Fake Christmas Morning

A small group of treasured friends, four beautiful children in jammies, a sunny day and an abundance of pastries and coffee.  Need I say more?  

The 28th also brought a trip to the airport-- to pick up Anna, aka Vovo, for a quick last-minute visit.  Ivy was terribly excited about a bedtime drive with me to the airport, insisting on going along.  It was only halfway through the drive that I realized-- she thought we were getting on a plane and flying to Grandpa's house to pick Vovo up.  Once I explained that we weren't going to be flying anywhere, she promptly fell asleep. 

Jack, on the other hand, felt no need to drive along, as staying home meant playing Monopoly with daddy.  If I were to name a defining theme of this winter vacation (other than "family" and " too many presents") it would be Monopoly.  Jack has developed a deep fascination with the game and between the ongoing game that has taken over our dining room table, and the app on Nat's phone, he probably spends two hours a day playing.  Can't complain too much as his ability to make change and budget his money is actually pretty astounding. 

29th: 

Christmas number four-- Christmas morning with Gram and Bec.

OK, so disclosure-- this is not from the 29th.  Its from the Sunday before Christmas.  But I love this picture so here you go.

So Nat uses this Hipstamatic filter that sometimes randomly adds words to the frame.  I love the perfection of this one. 

 More family, another over-abundance of gifts, two excited spaniels, a delicious french toast brunch.  How are we so blessed?

In the evening, it was off to a holiday party at the home of one of Jack's classmates.  We've known this family since our 6 year olds were toddlers; they are lovely people with a lovely home, full of interesting antiques.  And, it turns out, they are friends with many of our neighbors.  People who we've lived a couple blocks away from for 7 years now, and never really talked to.  It was great to get a chance to get to know them.  Ivy stayed home from the party to get quality time with Vovo, and it was like Jack had stayed home too, for all we saw him.  Walked in, took off his boots, and followed a friend to the basement... and there he was for the duration.  Big boys, Air hockey, and video games.  What more do you need?

30th:  

We'd planned to take Vovo to all the museums, forgetting it was Monday and everything was closed.  Instead, a lazy morning together before ice skating at Wade Oval, picking up my new car, and then shopping with Anna and my  mom.  

Ivy is big enough for rental skates now, so we got her a pair set out.  I'd anticipated holding her up and walking around a few times, awkwardly, as she slipped all over.  Instead--

We were blown away by how well she did on her very first try.  She is fearless, this one, and sometimes that can work very well for her...

31st:

A morning at the Art Museum and Botanical Gardens with Ivy and Anna while Jack played at a friend's house.  It was so neat to see these places through the eyes of someone new, who does not take their magnificence for granted the way we do...

 An afternoon recovering, and then New Kiddo's Eve at Melinda's house.  

Quite the rockin' event this year thanks to the addition of a disco light and glow sticks.

We enjoyed the raucous partying going on in the dining room, as the adults sat sedately around the Christmas tree.  It seems like another lifetime that I was the one making all the noise...  but I am ok with that.