Capitol Hill's Arboretum

January 7, 2007

The post says the 7th but we really went last week and caught the tail end of the Christmas display. It was AMAZING! First a photo outside The Capitol with a big beautiful Christmas tree out front that looks teeeny tiny compared to the rest of the photo but really it was impressive up close and personal!

Outside they had a train display that was really cool. As you can see it was all made of wood and this too was gigantic with a fabulous wood bridge and tons of trains running at the same time so the kids were in awe.
Inside was SUPER warm and this we had to take off our jackets quickly after leaving this room and entering "The Rain forest".
But first I had to get at least one photo of a replica. There was one replica of each monument,
The Capitol, and the White House. VERY COOL. Each had it's own story of being made with this wood, or that gourd etc. The detail was unbelievable! If you're ever in DC for the holiday's this is a must see for adults and children alike. My kids LOVED it!
The jungle had the coolest flowers. I just had to take a few photos!
Just look at the dew drops!

Okay, I promise house pictures REALLY soon! Everything is "mostly" done but we keep having to shuffle the mess from the projects from one room to another and I CANNOT take a photo of my brand new room with a bunch of "stuff" distracting from the beauty. But soon - I promise!

Christmas

December 25, 2007



I don't want to bore you all with too many present opening photos but I have included a few. First of all, the kids are apparently still a bit too young to understand that Santa came. Which works for me because they didn't wake up until 8 a.m. YEAH!!! However, once they came downstairs the ripping began in earnest! It was cute but chaotic. I think next year we might have to begin the turn-taking present opening concept. Maggie was going nuts! She opened all kinds of presents that weren't for her. Gotta love her :o)

The first present. This photo is only noteworthy for the background. See how nice and clean the house is...

Let the chaos begin!

THE AFTERMATH! I know it's blurry but LOOK AT THE FLOOR!!! Oh wait, you can't SEE the floor. Hmmm, are my kids spoiled? NAH!

My power rangers

The Neverending Christmas Festivities

December 23, 2007

Fine, neverending isn't one word but since the festivities continued for 3 days straight it feels as though one word is appropriate. Let's start with the day before Christmas Eve... The 23rd of Dec my wonderful Aunt Bonnie hosted Christmas at her house which included her 3 children and their 3 spouses, my sister and I, my dear hubby, my parents and, of course, the 12 grandchildren! Let's just say it was a full house in oh so many ways. Thanks Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Mark we had a GREAT time! Now, there are no pictures because of my stupid broken camera but hopefully my cousin Andria will send a few our way (fingers crossed). After the party we went to the Bull Run Festival of Lights. For all my SoCal friends this is the same idea as at the Del Mar Fairgrounds except there was a carnival at the end. We weren't going to stop but I really needed to use the restroom and well, no way the kids were letting me out without getting out too! Which was great really because they had a blast driving cars and riding the carousel.

December 24, 2007

Merry Christmas Eve! Tonight we spent at my mom's house. Mom and Dad made a FABULOUS dinner and then we opened gifts. So much fun. Really, just watching the kids tear through the presents without stopping to breath was so much fun. Then there was the sugar high. I do, have a few photos, thankfully the camera has decided to cooperate again. Just to be safe though I plan on getting a new one with the x-mas money from Mom - THANKS!

Aunt Natalie and Maggie opening "ponyville", I believe this is Maggie's favorite present of all!

Max, Mamaw and Maggie opening the V-Smile. Which is a great game but the losers don't include a power cord and the batteries only last 20 minutes! Ridiculous! Guess who's headed to Best Buy?

My nephew, Joshua, don't ya just LOVE the look on their faces?

"The Men" hanging back and watching the chaos.

My Mom, who is probably NOT happy with me for posting this photo, handing out the Christmas cards with a "surprise" inside :o) Thanks!

Maggie in her fancy new snow boots from Aunt Nat. Aren't they the cutest?!

Okay, that's all for now. Christmas morning photo's to follow soon. Hmmm, do you think my kids are spoiled?