Cousins at Great Grandma's House

Immediately after our visit with Santa Claus we went to visit with each other some more at Tim's Great Grandma's house.  Connie had not met Bryce before either so she was especially excited for everyone's visit.

Connie has a huge, fenced in yard, which was definitely a good thing on this particular visit.  The big boys were so wound up that I'm sure they would have broken something if we'd had to keep them inside!  Tyler hung back for awhile, but he eventually joined in!

Everyone came in for our customary Ledo's pizza lunch and then I piled all four cousins into Great Grandma's chair for a few pictures.

Santa at the Lake

For the third year in a row we went to see Santa at Lake Anne Plaza, where I work.  It is such a great event,  I really look forward to it each year!  The weather this year was absolutely perfect, sunny and warm enough that they didn't need a coat and their Christmas sweaters could be seen!  The four of us got there nice and early and enjoyed breakfast before wandering over to check out the animals at the petting zoo.  The baby Alpaca was this years favorite. It was the softest thing I had ever felt, and it liked Timmy, coming right up to him and sniffing his hair!

Then it was time to decorate gingerbread men.

And there was some time for climbing and jumping while we waited for Jenny and her family and the Pavlus's to join us before Santa's arrival.

Finally it was time to see Santa!  Tyler had no issue about sitting with Santa, but was generally unimpressed and could not be convinced to smile.  Timmy was ecstatic to see Santa and was fully prepared with his list this year, though Tim and I did help him develop his list.  He asked for a trampoline like Brayden's, Star Wars Lego Sets, an Angry Bird Star Wars Set, and more Wii controllers so everyone could play Mario together.

A special treat this year was the first opportunity for Timmy and Tyler to meet Bryce!  The boys didn't seem to notice that there was a baby inside the thing Aunt Jenny had on her chest beforehand, but after sitting with Santa we had Jenny introduce them.  Tyler was pretty curious about him, but it was love at first sight for Timmy!

Greenwood

In early November we decided to go visit Tim's cousin Jason, at their family's country home, Greenwood.  I had been there with Tim a handful of times in high school and college, but it had been a long time since I had been. Jason and Tracey were awesome hosts, they had tons of toys for the boys and pretty much left the TV on Disney Junior all weekend, the boys were in heaven.  Add Jason's amazing cooking to the mix, and I was too!  On Saturday Tim, Jason and Timmy went out on the boat to do some fishing while Tyler napped and Tracey and I hung out on the patio.

Afterwards the boys played some Wiffle Ball and Football and generally goofed off.  As soon as Tyler saw the metal pole, left over from an old satelite dish, he was sure it was a T for T-Ball.  He was demanding to have the ball and bat all to himself, but couldn't reach the T anyways!

We took advantage of the beautiful scenery to have Jason take a few family photos of us too.

And we wrapped up the afternoon with a trip to Pollak winery, which is immediately on the other side of the lake.  Where we enjoyed this view from the deck.  It was such a nice, relaxing day, and a much needed change of pace!