Christmas: Round 1

I'm making a valiant effort to get caught up on the blog with all of the holiday happenings these past few weeks. I'm behind, I know it. We all shared a family cold last week, bringing my energy level close to zero, though we have done lots in spite of the runny noses. Just no blogging.

Last night, we celebrated Christmas with my parents, brothers and sister-in-law. Typically, we get together on Christmas eve, but Tim had to work the holiday weekend this year. Regardless of the day celebrated, it is always a fantastic time! Gavin had so much fun opening and playing with gifts. In fact, I think his favorite word yesterday was "open". I love seeing the joy in his face, even with just the smallest of gifts. And we had a great time sharing our gifts with others, my favorite part of the holidays.

Gavin loves his spinny car toy from Uncle Tim (even though we don't have batteries for it yet- it's still fun).

MaeMe made him homemade "Cars" pajamas that are absolutely adorable!

Lots of books that have kept him entertained all day. In fact, Gavin sat on my lap on the couch for at least 30 consecutive minutes this morning looking at all of his new books. For those of you who know Gavin, you know that he NEVER sits still for more than three minutes at a time. I just loved the snuggle time!

Gavin (and Brad and I) bought a toy box for MaeMe and BaPa, so that there is a more official place to store all of his "retro" toys (things that my mom has been holding on to for years from my brothers and I when we were little).

Uncle Andy and Aunt Karen got Gavin this cool tent with a tunnel. He loves it and spent a good portion of today hiding out in it and playing.

And MaeMe and BaPa gave Gavin his first ever wagon. Again, the child loves all things with wheels, so it was an instant hit. It is a super fancy wagon, too, with lots of bells and whistles (some for the parents!). It will be great fun this spring and summer, once the snow is melted.

Rounds two and three of Christmas are tomorrow...more to come!

Meijer Gardens with Santa

Tuesday night, we visited Santa at Frederik Meijer Gardens. We waited in line for about 45minutes to spend about 45 seconds with the big guy. Surprisingly, Gavin was not freaked out by Santa ("Tanta") this year. Really just fascinated and in awe. He loved to just stare at him. We asked Santa, on Gavin's behalf, for cars and Handy Manny toys for Christmas. We'll see tomorrow if St. Nick delivers!

The wonderful thing about the Gardens this time of year are the Christmas trees from around the world. We always enjoy strolling through and checking them out.

And Gavin's absolute favorite part of the night was watching the little train go round and round on the expansive track throughout many of the rooms at the Gardens. This boy LOVES all things vehicle related...trains are no exception. Here he is in awe, watching the choo-choo go by!

Baking Cookies

Last week, we baked cookies. This was Gavin's first time helping with Christmas cookies. Like mother, like son - he grabbed for some raw dough first thing and shoved his mouth full! He lasted about 3 minutes helping, then it was primarily just me baking.

The Great Christmas Tree Hunt

We went in search of our Christmas tree this morning to Vormittag's Farm in Allendale. As always, success! Here we are (squinting) with the chosen one...

And just playing around...

Note to self for next year - bring a sled for faster transportation!

Exploring

G is for Gavin

Bath time has been particularly fun lately. Gavin is working to learn his letters. His favorite is G...

The Jockey

Look Mom, no hands!

Wanna Be Runner

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween from our little Dragon!

Freshly carved punkies (note the cars in his hands - they rarely leave his side)

The obligatory, forced photo (can you tell by his overly excited expression)

"Scah-crow"

Even scary dragons can stop to smell the flowers!

Visit to the Farm

To round out our "fall weekend", we stopped out to my grandparent's farm to let Gavin run around and explore. Brad and I will be purchasing a portion of the farm land in December and have been giving much thought lately to the home we will build there in the next few years. We spent some time today exploring where we might build. The corn hasn't be cut quite yet, so I think we'll go back in a few weeks when we can get a better view.

Here are some photos of our exploration...

Uncle Bill - Gavin couldn't resist sitting on the tractor, hope that is okay!

The Perfect "Punkies"

Yesterday, we held on to our yearly tradition of picking out pumpkins ("punkies" as Gavin calls them) at the Morse's Farm, Brad's Aunt and Uncle. Given the weather was beautiful after I left work, we thought we'd beat the gloomy weather that was in store for the weekend. We had a fun time!

Apple samples, too.

Here's our little family of three - aren't they cute!

Fall Harvest

We headed to Fruit Ridge Hay Rides farm this afternoon to enjoy a hay ride, cider, donuts, apples and pumpkins. It was a beautiful, sunny fall day. Gavin loved exploring the farm. We wished we would have had more time, but lunch and a delayed nap were calling.