Ringing in 2011

I've been on an organizing, book-reading, class-registering, continuing-ed-taking kick.  And the blog has been put on the bottom of the list of priorities.  But I wanted to document our fun week between Christmas and New Year's.  Andrew had vacation time that he needed to use, so he took the whole week off and we had such a great little staycation.

MONDAY
Drove up to Winston.  Visited SciWorks.

Brandon found a hidden monster truck.

Whitney built a cool Kapla block tower.

Caroline cried when it was time to leave.

She's cute when she cries.

Stopped at Chuck E's.

The kids score BIG TIME when Andrew comes with us.

Made our first visit to the festival of lights at Tanglewood.

It's one of those things I've wanted to do for the last seven years,

but never got around to.

Wow, were we missing out!

The pictures don't do it justice.

These were HUGE light displays.

It was fantastic.

Cool castle with penguin and polar bear.

Candles and poinsettias.

My favorite:  The pirate ship and lake monster.

TUESDAY

Mary watched the kids all day long, so Andrew and I could have an extended date.  Fabulous.

Went ice skating downtown at the seasonal outdoor rink.

We had a great time.

The rink is small and the ice was not so smooth, though.

We were glad there weren't many people there on a weekday morning.

Most of the time, I was busy just trying not to fall.

I didn't.  Yippee!

But Andrew got tricky.

Check out his arabesque!

Glad to see the orthopedist's phone number on the wall.

Thankfully, we didn't have to call.

Stuffed our faces with cheesecake.

 Filled our souls at the temple.

WEDNESDAY

Brandon and I went to the "Bodies Revealed" exhibit at the science center with our friends.  It was amazing.  And a little creepy.  Ok, the 4th grade boys thought it was more creepy than amazing.  

Then Brandon got to help Indiana Bones with her show.

Andrew, our fantasy football league commissioner,

presented Michael with trophies for winning the last

two super bowls.  Then the two of them drove down

to Charlotte to watch a Bobcats game.

Andrew got some sweet action shots.

I think he has new aspirations of becoming a sports photographer.

THURSDAY

We were supposed to head to Asheville to spend New Year's with our cousins, but Andrew woke up with pink eye.  Instead we just played the Wii all day long.

FRIDAY

After starting his antibiotic treatment, we headed to Asheville a day late.

The boys played video games.

The girls played dress up.

 

All of us had fun taking our turns holding Chapel,

the happiest baby in the world.

 Ate lots of yummy food.

After putting the kids to bed, we stayed up

playing Settlers through the new year.

 Ryan won.

With the rest of our family so far away,

we love having these cousins nearby.

It was hard to go back to the normal routine of work and school after having such a fun week of play.  But we did it.  And we're already looking forward to our next break.  Martin Luther King Day?