My Babies' Blog: Closing Out 2015 and Ringing in 2016

We had a busy December...filled with traveling, Christmas parties and visitors, in addition to the usual stuff.

We went up to Michigan the first weekend, but it wasn't quite as smooth as originally planned. I had a trip to Denver on Thurs and Fri and was supposed to get home around 11 PM on Friday, but instead there was freezing fog so the flight got diverted to Cleveland and then cancelled. Since the earliest flight back was 9:30 the next morning we decided that Sean and the girls would drive up to Cleveland to pick me up on the way to Detroit. So we didn't get to Grandma's until about 3 PM on Sat, which worked out OK. We visited with Grandma and Marilyn awhile and then went out to Aunt Lynn and Uncle Mike's, stopping to pick up some pizza on the way. Sean's parents were up there too so was his Mom came with us also (his dad was visiting Grandma Betty). We had a nice visit with everyone; she girls liked seeing the dogs and cats, especially Maggie. The next day, around lunchtime, Darlene and Samantha as well as Ray came to visit Grandma so we visited with them for a few hours, celebrated Marilyn's birthday, and then had to start getting ready to head home. We stopped by Ken and Kathy's also on the way out of town to visit for about an hour; the girls like their dog Harley as well.

Birthday girl enjoying a beer. :)

The next Friday was Sean's work Christmas party on a riverboat cruise in Cincinnati. The weather was awesome (60s!) and we had a lot of fun. On Saturday the girls and I went to my work's children's Christmas party in the morning, which included a visit with Santa for Fiona, but not Ava. Afterwards we all got a haircut, and then after lunch we went down to Sean's coworker's mansion for an open house and another visit with Santa. The weather was so nice that we stopped by Twin Creek MetroPark afterwards for a hike. Fortunately I had the Jeep stroller in the van since the trail was 1.6 miles and the girls got a little tired. It was kind of bumpy though so it was tricky to steer sometimes, especially when both of them were in there.

No more straggly ends!

Inside one of the showers at Stoney's

Shopping with Mama can be tiring...

On the 18th was Fiona's class Christmas party, so Ava and I went to that. I volunteered to bring a game, so Fiona and I had made a snowman to play "Pin the Nose on the Snowman." The kids had fun and weren't too rowdy. Ava also like playing it, but wasn't keen on playing with the other kids though. She asked at least twice to go home. After we left there we went home for a bit and then went to my work's Christmas party on the base. We had lunch and they had kids and adult games. Ava decorated a gingerbread man, colored, and ate a ton of grapes. We had to leave a little early to run an errand and make sure we could meet Fiona at the bus. That evening the girls and I then went to pick up Uncle Leo from the airport while Sean finished dinner and entertained Justin and Kerrianne until we returned. Both girls fell asleep as we were driving so when we got home Ava was a little grumpy. She made us all laugh by declaring "I don't like people." when we got home and she saw we had company.

The next day we went to the Air Force Museum in the afternoon and then just hung out in the evening, which included opening some presents, and on Sunday we went to John Bryan State Park in the late morning and then had a late lunch at Clifton Mill. The lights weren't on since it was daytime, but we walked around the grounds a bit. Then Leo had to pick up his rental car and left in the evening to drive up to Cleveland for his work trip.

He fits!

The girls opened their presents from Uncle Leo (and family) so he could see their reactions.

On Wednesday (the 23rd) Mom got here around 10 PM and then stayed until Jan 2nd. Sean and I both worked a half day on Thurs and then went to see the Star Wars; The Force Awakens. I really liked it and would see it again. The weather was nice so the girls, Mom and I went to the playground before dinner also. After dinner on Thurs, Fiona helped me put out cookies and a carrot for Santa and the reindeer before bed.

Fiona can climb the rock wall now (and up the firepole!)

Nobody got up real early on Christmas and then Ava wanted breakfast, so we had some French toast before opening presents. Ava got a Dora mike from Grandma that she really likes and Fiona got tatoos that she put on almost everyone. They both also got a cupcake from Santa again this year, but it wasn't quite as exciting as last year. In the afternoon (well almost evening) the rest of Sean's family came over for dinner, along with Jennifer's brothers (although only Sean stayed for dinner). We had a nice dinner with ham and scalloped potatoes, sweet potatoes and turkey, corn and rolls. And since I let the girls decide what they wanted it was stress-free. After dinner we opened more gifts, celebrated Carol's birthday, and visited.

Fiona decorated the My Little Pony that Santa brought her.

The girls both love playing with the microphone (that actually works).

Ava liked her new puzzles also.

Showing off her new PJs.

We didn't do much on Sat or Sun since it was rainy both days; in fact I stayed in my PJs all day Sun...it was awesome. I did get my photobook made over the weekend, and the girls played a lot. I was off Monday and Tuesday also (and both days were rainy) so we decided to go the Boonshoft on Monday after spending most of the weekend at home. We saw a new (to us) Planetarium show and looked at and played on the exhibits. Tuesday we played outside in the morning and then went to buy a new mattress for Ava's old bedroom, and I worked on Wednesday.

Using the night-vision goggles in the zoo area.

All three of us climbed up to the highest tower.

One last stop on the way out.

Ava's first cup of tea (I think).

Donna and Margaret drove down Wednesday evening and helped Mom watch the girls while Sean and I worked on Thursday. Somehow I managed to go to Kroger on both Christmas Eve and New Years Eve this year and it was crazy busy both days! The girls went to bed as usual on New Years Eve, but the grown-ups watched The Martian (another good movie) and then everyone except Sean played Bananagrams until the ball dropped. We didn't get to bed until around 1 AM and of course the girls were up at 6 the next morning. But Mom was too so I actually got to sleep in! On Friday I cleaned up the office (still have more to do) while Mom, Donna and Margaret took the girls to the playground. Saturday we all (except Sean) went to Boonshoft again - Fiona's choice. We did different stuff so everyone had fun again. Mom left Saturday evening to fly home and Donna and Margaret left on Sunday around lunchtime.