A BELLEVUE MERRY CHRISTMAS

Dunn insisted on wishing all a Merry Christmas!!

It is hard to get a picture of a dog that is the exact same color as the carpet- he just kind of blends in.

BABES IN TOYLAND

 

 

Even though Rachel and I drove the kids back to Utah more than a week ago, I was looking at pictures taken during their stay and missing them.

I worked hard  to make sure they were entertained while they were here.  Which meant gathering some toys for them to play with.  Some were borrowed, some were bought and some were made.

I fell in love with the purple hobby horse I found at a local thrift store.  I always wanted one when I was a kid.  The kids got the hang of galloping around with a stick between their legs pretty quickly.  Grandma provided the sound effects.

Besides toys, we also did activities and crafts:

The kids are naked because they are using an eye dropper to drip vinegar and food coloring into pans of baking soda and watching the resulting foam/fizzing (reminiscent of a science fair volcano).  I didn't want the food coloring to stain their clothes, so I pulled off their shirts- luckily they are still young enough they don't care.

Evelyn and Douglas had two very different methods of experimentation.

 

Evelyn very meticulously dripped her colors in a little at a time and kept her colors separated and tidy.

 

 

Douglas' was more of a "hands on" mish/mash approach.  He started adding colors with the eye dropper, progressed to a spoon, then a measuring cup and ended just picking up the jars of food coloring and dumping all the colors into his pan resulting in brown/gray sludge he delighted in squishing between his fingers.

 

 

 

We ate ice cream, although I'm not quite sure why they are eating it on the floor.

 

 

Here is Evelyn wearing grandma's glasses (upside down).  Somehow I feel like she is mocking me.

 

 

Odie  looks a little nervous sharing a bed with Dunn.  That was about all Dunn was willing to share, certainly not his favorite cow, and certainly not his family's attention. Poor Odie, he tried so hard to stay out of Dunn's way so he wouldn't get snarled at.

 

 

When Rachel arrived home from her trip to Peru, both Odie and the kids just couldn't get close enough.

 

 

 

And Douglas just couldn't smile big enough!!

10 DAYS OF BLISS

Yes, we all had fun, especially grandma!!!

 

 

 

We decorated gingerbread boys (Jared's was a ninja)

 

 

We played on the toys at various parks

 

 

 

We went to the beach...

 

 

 

Where it was literally below freezing in spite of the glorious sunshine,

 

 

and Douglas walked into the water and got deep enough for his rain boots to fill up (which ruined his day!)

 

 

While the dogs enjoyed the frigid lake.

 

 

 

Best of all was spending a lot of time with Aunt Becca