HoHoHoAndSnow

Feels like it's been awhile. Holiday Craziness will do that to the best of  us.

We went to Grammy's house in California for Christmas. Grandpa Jon of course was there and Grandma Cheryl and Grandpa Charles flew in from El Paso. Cousins and Aunts all stayed in Texas, so Mackenzie and Zachy had four grandparents all to themselves.

The night before we left, Mackenzie enjoyed some time with Fisbee, whom we said our good-byes to before leaving on our adventure. He brought Mackenzie a Pinky-Dinky-Doo DVD for the car ride and Zachy a frog drum. Did we get a good Elf or what?!?! I'm pretty sure that departing gifts are not in his contract.

We drove to California on Christmas Eve day. The drive took about seven hours. Both kids did fantastically. I was a-mazed. We ended up stopping at a Carl's Jr. that, unbeknownst to us, had a playarea. That stop lasted about a hour and was per-fect! Otherwise we had two brief potty stops. Mackenzie did not nap. Zachy oddly only napped for about forty-five minutes the whole drive. Total fuss time was maybe ten minutes. Did I already say that I was a-mazed? I cannot recall what time we finally made it, but I think it was five-ish, Cali time (six-ish our time).

 Zachy was strangely entertained by this rattle for the majority of the drive over.

And Mackenzie was just carefree and feeling the spirit of our adventure.

After some dinner, Mackenzie and Grammy made some cookies for Santa. Grandma Cheryl read her 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. We put out the cookies and laid down to sleep. Both kids were sound asleep by eight.

Zachy woke up first on Christmas Day. We went downstairs and he was all over Mackenzie's doll buggy. Shhhh...don't tell her!

We looked around a bit, but had to wait until Miss Mackenzie woke up to do anything more. Lucky Zachy is One and didn't yet know that there was fun to be had inside those wrapped presents. But, we walked around and I explained it all to him while we waited.  (Here he is looking at and up the chimney.)

Once Mackenzie got up, we woke Grammy up. Mackenzie was veryvery excited when she saw her buggy. That was her main present. Santa also got her a Baby Alive doll and a game. She was a happy camper.

Santa brought Zachy a clacking alligator that he can pull along, a Milk Truck and a game. All a big success, but he is One and, as such, he loved the boxes just as much. Oh, and I almost forgot, he got this thing where he pounds in the balls. He LOVES it. Oh my, the boy is a good pounder, an aggressive pounder. Hilarious and  somewhat concerning at the same time.

Of course there were many more presents to come and in fact, I do believe we spent the next few days opening them bit by bit. The Grandmas were very pleased with their sweatshirts.

As for the rest of the visit to Grammy's...the kids enjoyed playing piano.

Zachy enjoyed the stairs, way too much if you ask me.

Mackenzie hung out with the dolls.

They played Rudolph together.

We went to Balboa Beach. Both were soooo excited! Their little faces lit up BIG!

Mackenzie wanted to go on the Ferris Wheel and Bungee Trampoline - maybe next year Totgirl! But, she did go on the Merry Go Round.

At the end of the day when I was putting her to bed, we said our usual, 'Thank you for a good day.' After a pause, she said, 'Thank you for the Merry Go Round, Momma.' Ahhhh....Melt my heart!

Those are the 'hightlights.' Tiring for all, but a good trip.Both kids had a really good time. Mackenzie had lots of fun having so much undivided attention. People to play preschool and infant room and read stories and take walks and play ballerina dance and to perform for and I could go on and on and on. Everyone could not get over what a wonderful imagination she has and how really funny the girl is. And funny she is! Zachy loved the attention as well, although he still stays close to Mommy and Daddy. But he did enjoy the stairs, a lot as I mentioned. He also loved going on walks and playing outside. Everyone was in awe of what a super little guy he is. I mean really, a super little boy. So easy going and delightful and sweet. 

The car ride home, well that was pretty much the exact opposite of the car ride there. Still not too much napping, that was the same. But a lot more fussing. Mostly dear Zachy. He had a rough time. We seemed to have to stop more and the stops were not as 'friendly' to our needs. The best stop, strangely, was at Quartzsite. Who'da thunk?!?! Zachy and Mackenzie enjoyed playing in dirt.

And cruising around the gem and rock mart.

Mackenzie was not a big fan of the bathroom at the Carl's. But, she agreed to go in the car. Thank Goodness for totpotties!

Other than a lost totgirlshoe and a horrible salad from Carl's, Quartzsite was the best of the bad stops we made on our return trip. Following that stop, Zachy sacked out, for a short while, but the fuss-break was nice.

And home we finally got, eight long hours later. We were all happy to arrive. Zachy needed some lovin' and holding, but once he got some good food in him, he was good as new and had forgotten the trauma of the eight hour drive from down below. Mackenzie fell right into the comforts of home. They went to bed by about eight-thirty and Mackenzie was asleep in, no exaggeration, less than two minutes. I think Zachy took a bit longer, but not by much. We were all POOPED! And, we all slept in until SEVEN-ish! Oh My. I loved that. Loved it a lot. I have not gotten that much sleep in who knows how long? Over a year, maybe two. It was like a Christmas Miracle and having the winning Lottery Ticket at the same time. Yes, THAT great. Hey, I'm pretty sleep deprived overall!

Yesterday it started to snow and today we have been snowed in. I was supposed to work today, but the roads were too bad to drive in, so we had a snow day!

Zachy wasn't too sure about it. He tried, yes he did, but it was cold and I think he wanted his dirt back!

Mackenzie enjoyed the snow though! She thought it was great....until she fell, but that was a good half hour later and she went back out later.

So, there it is, in a nutshell. Our HoHoHoAndSnow.

I leave you now, with a couple TotMusings.

1. Zachy had taken Mackenzie's Hello Kitty bucket. She was upset. I asked her, 'Mackenzie were you playing with it?' She responded, 'It's My Hello Kitty!.' About three times we went back and forth until finally she replied with, 'Momma, I NOT sharing it!'
2. I was changing uncooperative Zachy's diaper (he is a Wiggleworm and thinks it's funny) and needed wipes. I asked Mackenzie to get me some and she came back yelling, 'Doo-daa-daa-doooooo, Mackenzie to the rescue!'
3. Zachy's new thing is to take off his diaper and then have me chase him around to get it back on him. Yesterday he happened to have a little pee issue when the diaper was off. He looked at it with some concern and said, 'Ut-oh!', then tried to wipe it up.