Holiday fun – Round 9: Joe and Christine come to town

Well, it wasn’t just Santa who came to town this year but Joe and Christine from Chicago. Joe is a lifelong family friend of mine – we just refer to each other as cousins to other people – makes the explanation much easier. He decided to check out the area and we were happy to have him and Christine with us for a few days.

We started their adventure bowling with Matt and his kids and oh boy…..words cannot describe that madness, followed by dinner. Saturday, Jason, Joe, Christine and I went to watch UNC play UNLV play basketball in Chapel Hill. Joe is a UNLV grad and that made the timing of his visit more relevant.

We had some down time the next day as we got ready for New Year’s Eve. We had dinner at home and then my Mom watched the boys – or should I say stayed home with the sleeping boys- while the adults went out for some drinks and fun.

Melissa, Jason, Joe, Christine - NYE 2012/13

The next day was spent watching football for hours and then Joe and Christine headed off to explore the area on their own for the rest of the week.

It was great to have them but I am glad that they left when they did because we got sick…and when I say we, I mean WE, AS IN ALL OF US! I can’t say that it was the flu because no one ever ran a fever but it started with Anthony for 2 days, then Jack and I got it at the same time, followed by Graham finished off with Chase and Jason. The sickness is bad enough but the timing sent me into a panic. Why? Because in just over 1 week we were surprising the kids and going to Disney World for a week and I had been planning that trip for over a YEAR! What happened? Read the next entry to find out!

Holiday fun – Round 8: Christmas with Nana

Because we knew the days leading up to Christmas were going to be crazy, we didn’t try to cram in opening presents with Nana. She was going to be with us for several days so we just let the time dictate itself for us and went with it. By the time we got around to opening presents with her, the boys were ready for more fun and they got excited about the next round of gifts.

Chase got the items he requested on his hand-written note (that Mommy scanned to Nana with some edits and explanations) and the triplets received what they (aka Mommy) asked for as well.

Flying Lightning McQueen, McQueen guitar and Wii Dance game – which is a great time for all of us – were given to Chase while the triplets got an indoor slide with a basketball goal, soccer goal and football hole along with some other goodies. With the cold weather approaching I knew I needed something to allow them to play ball inside and climb without driving me nuts or destroying my house (4 boys, remember?!) so this was a hit and makes all of us happy – even Mommy!

Jammin on McQueen

It may have been a bad idea to let him have a musical instrument in the middle of the winter when we are trapped inside!

At my request, Nana got all the boys dress-up outfits. We now have a construction worker, doctor, police man and fireman complete with accessories!

Nana added to the band by getting 'music in a box' and an Elmo guitar for the triplets. Now we can play music while others climb and slide as seen here!

But! We still weren’t done, for you see the next day would see Nana’s departure followed by the arrival of Joe and Christine from Chicago. This is why we did the holiday in stages. Stay tuned….and I promise to give you all the details about the Mickey items very soon!