Christmas 2015

Oh what fun we had with family traditions and seeing Christmas through the eyes of a toddler!

We enjoyed the German Christmas market at the Union Depot in St Paul (where we had our wedding reception) a few weeks ago. Maeve loves to play this video over and over again on my phone (which she knows how to navigate and find everything she wants even though I organize everything in folders on my iPhone!). This video is of the carolers singing 'Jingle Bells.'

We also enjoyed making gingerbread houses like we do every year. This year we decided not to get a kit and instead make them with Graham Crackers and icing and real candy (since all she wants to do is eat the candy!). It's not the best looking gingerbread house but it was fun making it!

Christmas week was filled with food and family. Maeve loved seeing her cousins and Aunts and Uncles. Flashcards were her favorite thing to play with at Grandma and Grandpa Kirchner's house and she liked showing YaYa (Grandma Joanne) how much she knew the pictures on the cards. It was fun and more relaxing then in years past when Maeve could play with everyone and all of her new toys without needing constant entertaining (which she seems to still need when she's at home).

This year we went to Christmas morning Mass. That was much more manageable then the Christmas Eve Mass that's so packed you can't even get a seat. We were able to enjoy Mass and Maeve enjoyed eating all of the snacks we brought her, singing 'Happy Birthday' and 'Pat a Cake,' after everyone sang the Christmas songs and walking around the atrium when she was making too much noise in the sanctuary.

We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!!

Visiting Santa

On Friday night we went to the Macy's 8th floor display where we enjoyed seeing the elves in the workshop.

After visiting the workshop, we stopped in to tell Santa that we wanted Minnie Mouse for Christmas. There wasn't much talking just apprehension at first when Mom and Dad sat down with Santa and Maeve, and then screaming and crying when we let Santa hold Maeve, and then yelling 'out' when Grandma Jan and Grandpa Steve sat down with Santa.

Why do we torture our kids for these pictures? It does give you a good chuckle, doesn't it? Nonetheless, it was good to keep the tradition going of the pictures. Here's a comparison of how the last 2 years have gone!

NOLA Thanksgiving 2015

Food, food, and more food! What else would you do when it's both Thanksgiving and you are in New Orleans?! We had a delicious deep fried turkey, another turkey and all the fixin's from Whole Foods, red beans and rice from Sean's stepdad, Shrimp mirliton from Kara, pecan pie from Houston, po boys, beignets, and probably a lot more!

We enjoyed so many fun activities with the kids. Hunter (7), Kaelyn (5), Maeve (2), Finn (18 months), and Audrey (15 months) had fun at the Aquarium, Christmas in the Oaks, the Zoo, and City Park. We all survived staying in one house!

Christmas in the Oaks was one of my favorite Christmas memories growing up. It's a different experience with a toddler and they no longer let you drive through the lights and instead you take a train. After waiting 1 hour to ride the train and getting bumped off the train we were set to get on after telling Maeve we were getting on (because we were there on opening night and the workers didn't seem to have it all together yet) we were not very happy. You can see Maeve's reaction in the pictures. While the train ride wasn't worth it, we did enjoy seeing the lighted trees and tall poinsettia tree.

The aquarium and the zoo were a big hit with all of the kids. They also enjoyed the pool table at the house and playing with the Mardi Gras stuff around the house. It had a great backyard as well so we could get outside.

In between kid activities, I enjoyed brunch with friends while Eric hung out at the brewery with another friend to watch the Saints lose. Texas A&M lost to LSU when Paul and Marcia were at the game and Notre Dame lost to Stanford with Dad and Eric watching from the house. All losing teams this past weekend!

The lights display at the Roosevelt hotel was amazing. Of course Finn and Maeve weren't cooperating for pictures so you'll see that in the pictures. We were able to capture a few good ones, though! We also brought Maeve and Finn to see Santa Claus. Neither were interested in sitting next to him so we just looked from a few feet away.

We had great weather (75 and sunny), everyone was healthy (until they got home), and of course the weekend went by way too fast!

I hope everyone else enjoyed their Turkey day too!