Christmas in Houston!

Sorry - rewind a couple of months....

This year marked our second annual Christmas in Houston!  And, it didn't disappoint.  We got in late on the Sunday before Christmas, so the girls were sleeping when we got in.  But, everyone was excited to see each other the next morning! 

The first day there was gorgeous, so we took advantage and ate lunch outside. 

Then?  It was off to the Zoo!  It couldn't have been better weather - low 70's and sunny.  It was great!

 

 

 Mom's favorite part?  Our beer break on the patio by the giraffes...

 

Annabel drew a picture of the giraffe for all of us to remember that moment - fully equipped with a "pee tube!"

 

After the zoo, we all went to one of Lexi and Will's favorite spots for a drink.  It was great.  We sat outside enjoying a drink while the kids ran around playing chess.

 

 

After that?  Dinner at our favorite Chinese restaurant.  I swear, we really did do more than eat and drink on this trip.  Ok, well, most everything we did do did involve eating and drinking, but this is an Epting family vacation after all...

 

 

 

The next day, Lexi and I took the girls to see the nutcracker and Opa and Daddy took Alex on a guy day - complete with mini-golf, arcade games, etc.  Everyone had a great time! Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of Alex on his day with the guys because, well, I wasn't there and if I'm not there?  Pictures are not taken.

I do, however, have a picture of our beverages, which we pre-ordered and were ready and waiting for us at our own table during the intermission.  This is how we roll...

That night, we went over to friends of William and Lexi's for drinks and apps.  Little did they know that my children would eat them out of house and home...

The next day was Christmas Eve!  In an effort to give the hostess some time to get organized (and mama some time to sit in the sun and read...don't worry, I did ask if Lexi needed help, but you know Lexi - she has her way of doing things and if you try to help?  You are just messing things up.  Similar to when we were growing up and she wouldn't let me clean because I didn't do it well enough. It's a pretty sweet gig being her sister, actually.), Josh and Opa took all of the kids to the movies!  They went to see Big Hero 6 and all decided that it was a bit too scary, which of course, didn't bode well for Avery's nightmare issues, but we managed.  When they got back, in a continued effort to give Lexi some kid-free time, Opa and I took all of the kids to the playground (these are the things you can do on Christmas Eve in Houston). 

 

Notice Charlotte's helmet - she kept this thing on the entire time we were there.  It's actually probably a good thing, as this child has no fear....as you can see...

That night, had our first fire in the fire pit - complete with smores and fun little finger lights that Uncle Will purchased for all of the kids (and grandparents)...

The next day?  CHRISTMAS!!!!  Stay tuned..

 

 

Going with the Flow

We had an excellent lesson with going with the flow on Valentine's Day this last weekend.  The day started out really nice.  I tried to make it special by offering to make heart shaped pancakes and the kids had no interest, but whatever.  They did get to open their Valentine's day gifts, which they both loved.  Legos for both of them and then a CD for Avery and Pokémon cards for Alex.

 

Avery had gymnastics and then I took both kids out to a Valentine's Day lunch at Olive Garden.  Josh had to work pretty much all day, so it was a good excuse for a Mom date. 

 

Afterwards, we went home and the kids chilled out while I went back up to Josh's office because I needed to get some work done.  The plan was that Josh was going to pick me up at his office with the kids and we were going to go out to a Valentine's dinner together as a family.  Except - this one was going to be even more special because we were going to meet up with friends of ours and their kids who happen to be Alex and Avery's best friends.  On Friday, we were at Avery's "love bag" ceremony (will post about that one separately) and mentioned what our plans were.  They said that they really didn't have any plans and live about 5 mins from where we were going to have dinner, so we decided to invite them to join us.  The kids were thrilled. 

Well, in keeping with tradition in New England, it started snowing that day at around 3 and it was really coming down.  But - we were troopers and decided to brave it.  So, Josh picked me up and we headed towards the restaurant.  However, when we got to the bridge (i.e., the only way to get to this restaurant)???  It was CLOSED!  There had been an accident and they were not letting people on!  Seriously????  I felt so bad.  You could see the disappointment in the kids' eyes.  I'll be honest - I was a bit disappointed as well. 

Given that the weather was slowly getting worse and worse, we decided it would be best if we just stuck close to home, which as you know - really limits our options!  So, we ended up at a restaurant that isn't nearly as exciting, but ended up being quite good.  Of course, Alex was being a pain about what he wanted to eat and didn't want anything.  As it turns out, there was a reason.  Poor kid came down with a fever at dinner - you could literally just see him fading.  So, all in all, it was probably a good thing that we didn't meet up with our friends.  He ended up being down for the count for most of the weekend, but was fully recovered by Monday.

So, while it may not have been the Valentine's Day celebration that we all envisioned, it ended up being a pretty ok night for all of us.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Old Man Winter HATES New England

It's funny - just the other day, I was thinking to myself -Self? We haven't had ANY snow this winter!  I wonder if we will even get some at all?  Yeah....Self?  You screwed yourself.  We got nailed by our first blizzard the next night.  It started at around 3 PM and continued until late Tuesday.  Mind you - this was being classified as a "historical blizzard" and what does my husband do? 

Grills dinner of course!  As it turns out, it was a good thing he did, as the grill was buried with snow and has not been seen since.

I think that we ended up with about 2 feet of snow total, but!!!!!!  NEVER.  LOST.  POWER!!!!!  It was seriously a miracle.  This is the first storm since I've lived here that LC didn't lose power. And, I will say - I can handle a blizzard with power!!!  It was actually somewhat enjoyable.  We all just hunkered down and found things to do inside.  Of course, you know our family and staying indoors for too long tends to make all of us a bit cooped up, so we did all get out at least once during the day.  Alex and Josh went out to shovel and sled (i.e., Josh pulled him up the road on the sled). 

Then, Avery joined them during round 2. 

And, me?  I got an onion.  Yes.  An onion.  As you can imagine, one of the best things to do while being stuck inside is to cook (and drink wine).  But, of course, every recipe I found needed an onion and we did not have one.  But....Kristen and Randal did.  :)  So, out I went.  Surprisingly, the roads weren't bad ( I was walking).  The only issue I had was when I got to their house - the drifts were literally up to my waist.  I stepped in one and thought that I wouldn't be able to get out.  Insane.  But, I got the onion and we had a great meal that night! 

So, that storm left us homebound with no school for 2 days straight.  The upside was that the second day was gorgeous (in New England terms) - 30 degrees and sunny!  So, the kids got their first round of sledding in for the season.  We started at home and then headed over the Grammy and Grampy's old house and had a great time!

 

The following weekend, we had 2 of the kids' friends over and went sledding down an even better hill.  They all had a blast.

That same night (less than a week from the 1st blizzard)?  You guessed it...another blizzard.  I will say that this one was well-timed, as it was Super Bowl Sunday and we found out right before the game that school was cancelled.  Definitely made for a more enjoyable game knowing that we didn't have to be at work or school the next day.  Not to mention ,the Pats winning never hurts (although, I'm still heartbroken that the Pack didn't make it).  This one was almost worse - it started with snow, then switched to rain and then back to snow again.  So, everything was a slushy mess during the day and then an icy mess at night.  And, still is for that matter.  But, again - we kept power! So, all in all, I was fine. 

I will tell you one individual who is NOT ok with the snow.  This guy...

That path that he is standing in?  Leads to a small area that we literally had to shovel out for him to go to the bathroom.  Not only that, but the temps have been so cold that we haven't even been able to take him for any good walks. 

Since then?  We have literally had snow almost every.  single.  day.  In fact, school was closed the following Monday as well and we just got another storm this last weekend on Valentine's Day.  Unbelievable.  I think that at this point, we are all done with this weather.  Insane.