New Year's Day Hike

We had a yummy breakfast casserole (made with Great Harvest bread) to start off our New Year and then headed out for our annual New Year's Day hike. We decided to try a hike at Eno River State Park. When we showed up, we found out they were having a huge hiking event that day and there were hundreds of people at the park. The last thing you want when hiking is hundreds of other people on the trail. Luckily they directed us to another park entrance where the crowds were far less and we were able to explore and hike in peace. It was fun to have Grandma join us. The kids were good hikers and had fun climbing around the rocks at the river. We'll have to return in the summer when we can get into the water. Oliver didn't bring a coat so he wore Amelia's coat the whole time.

New Year's Eve and the abrupt end of our tree.

I was busy preparing dinner on New Year's Eve when I heard a commotion and then Simon started crying. He had been running around the tree and his foot caught on some lights and the whole thing came down on him. He wasn't hurt, just frightened. It landed ornament-side down and all the water in the stand ran everywhere. The tree was already super dead and crispy so needles were everywhere. We finally got the thing dragged outside and everyone frantically worked to gather up ornaments and clean up the mess. It was a crazy, unexpected addition to our New Year's Eve. We had planned to take the tree down the next day so Simon just gave us an early start.

Other highlights from my New Year's Eve: doing dishes and helping Elsa with homework. I think Ben took a nap. Party animals. Elsa did manage to stay up until midnight and she was pretty excited about that, but too tired to actually enjoy herself. We toasted the New Year and then did a video chat with my dad to hear him play Auld Lang Syne on his saxophone (an annual tradition). That was a much better ending than dishes and homework.

Knitting lessons from Grandma. Pre-tree disaster.

 

saying goodbye to grandpa.

We were so lucky to have my dad here for an entire week. It went by far too quickly though. He is always so helpful and loves playing with the kids. It was sad to see him go but we were glad we could have Grandma a little longer. We stopped at Observation Park at the airport after dropping Grandpa off on a rainy morning.

My favorite new nativity. My parents brought this nativity back from their trip to Spain a few months ago. Excellent addition to my collection.

giant jenga and a haircut

After Ben finished building the doll bunkbed for the girls, he made a giant Jenga set. The kids have had fun playing with it, although shoes are recommended.

Trying on Grandpa's hat.

A trip to the playground one afternoon when my parents were here.

My mom gave Simon his first haircut! His hair was getting pretty long and out of control. 

NC Zoo

Since we were rained out on Christmas Eve, we decided to go the zoo the day after Christmas. The weather was perfect. We stopped at Cook Out for lunch on our way. Simon loves dipping anything in anything. He was a big fan of mustard on this particular day.

December videos.

Simon and Sparky from Sarah Black on Vimeo.


Christmas Morning 2014 from Sarah Black on Vimeo.

 
Amelia and Elsa Sing, December 2014 from Sarah Black on Vimeo.

 
Oliver sings. December 2014 from Sarah Black on Vimeo.

 
Simon laughs. from Sarah Black on Vimeo.

More Christmas Day.

We had German pancakes for breakfast. It was more of a brunch by the time we finished opening gifts. The rest of the day was spent playing with all our new toys, finishing puzzles, chatting with family members in other states, watching movies, and trying out Ben's new basketball hoop.

Amelia got lots of books for Christmas. My parents gave her the Percy Jackson series and she burned through the entire series over Christmas break and is almost done with the rest of the books. She is really into Greek mythology now. I wish I had as much leisure time for reading as she does.

The girls love their new hair accessories from Grandma and Grandpa Black.

Simon quickly developed a love/hate relationship with Elsa's dog. He loves to watch it flip and constantly brings me the dog and wants me to turn it on. But then he's sort of terrified of it. I watched the dog "chase" Simon until he had backed himself under the desk. I couldn't stop laughing. And quickly found the camera. (Video to come.) His many facial expressions say it all.

Video chat with the Vermont crew.