Chuck E Cheese sends us on our way...

On December 28th, after a long morning of packing bags, we dropped Kevin off at Taber's work for a factory tour, and then headed out to Chuck E Cheese's for one last party before we had to leave the wonderful Rigg residence and return to the Hanks home in Chicago.

The kids all enjoyed a delightful pizza dinner before gathering their coins and hitting the rides and games.

Teya thoroughly enjoyed the games, but the younger kids mostly just wanted to go on the rides.

One of their favorite rides was actually a flight simulation. They took turns riding it together and had a blast!

Brooklyn and Lily also took the opportunity to pretend they were racing each other. Brook was pretty proud of herself for beating her sister (because her car was screwed into the ground a little further ahead than Lily's) and boasted about it for half the night!

The kids could have stayed there all night, but alas, all good things must come to an end, and we had to peel them off the rides and head to the airport.

The good thing about going to Chuck E Cheeses before flying with our kids... THEY WERE WASTED! Brooklyn passed out so hard that Kevin had to carry her across the whole airport, to the taxi, out of the taxi, and into her bed... and she never budged!

Anyway, the flight was a breeze and the girls adjusted to being back home in no time. It helped that they got to veg out by spending endless hours watching their dad play Zelda... I would have protested but it was just so very "Hanks" of them that I couldn't put an end to it :)

The Day of Dates

The 27th of December was a Day of Dates! We started off the day by sending Kevin and Taber out for a "Man-cation" (aka Man Date, or Guys Day Out). They partied hard by watching Mission Impossible at the theater, eating burgers at a manly restaurant, and hitting the bowling alley for some Candlestick Bowling!

In the meantime, Becca and I took the kids to Imajine That for a Mommy and Me date. They enjoyed crawling through logs...

Shopping...

 Painting...

 Sliding...

 Dinosaur Wrestling...

 

Driving...

And Problem Solving!

It was a great little place for the kids to play and an excellent way to let them run out all their extra Christmas energy! :)

 

Anyway, we got back from Imajine That at the same time Kevin and Taber got home from bowling. Then Kevin and I quickly handed our kids off to Taber and Becca and headed out for our own date!!! 

We went to Giacomo's in Boston and had an incredible time! Our waiter looked like a mob boss and actually informed Kevin that he couldn't order what he wanted! Then he told Kevin what he was going to get and promptly brought it out :) It actually ended up being the best food EVER so we didn't mind. Plus it really made the experience that much better. 

Once we were done eating, the waiter told us we were to go down the street to a gelato shop for dessert. We obeyed and were NOT disappointed! Then when we were stuffed to the brink, we turned on the GPS and did a little geocaching before heading home for bed!

The Boston Children's Museum and the Freedom Trail

The day after Christmas we were able to spend the morning playing with our new toys (including Auntie Becca's new digital SLR that took most of these pictures) and having a fashion show in all our new clothes! Then, after many great poses for the camera, we packed up our kids and headed to Boston for some more fun!

Once we got into town, we dropped Kevin off on the Freedom Trail to do a little sight seeing on his own whilst Becca and I dragged all the kiddos off to the Boston Children's Museum. It was a very cold and windy day so we were all happy to play inside while Kevin ran around town exploring History!

When we arrived at the museum the girls didn't waste any time checking out all the exhibits that were on display...

And soon they found all the fun play rooms. The sand room was Lily's favorite. She started out playing with the shovels and rakes and eventually ended up swimming on the floor through a giant pile of spilled sand and licking the sand off the floor! She caused quite a commotion with the other parents :)

The girls also enjoyed playing peek-a-boo through little holes in the wall, building sand castles, and splashing around in the water room.

There was just so much to do at the museum and the girls had a blast getting all their crazies out.

It wasn't long before Kevin made it back from the Freedom Trail and joined in on all the fun. He danced with the girls in front of a green screen that made them the stars of an Arthur episode...

And taught them all how to hula hoop like a pro!

But soon the kiddos were all worn out, so we packed them back up and headed home for some good grubbin' and a wonderful night of sleep!

Christmas Day 2011

Soon Christmas morning came and there was definitely MAGIC in the air!!!

Brooklyn and Lily woke up first and we had to try very hard to contain them in our bedroom until everyone else was awake. Luckily that didn't take too long!

Teya and Brinley weren't far behind and after some hugs and a story book, Taber and Becca got up too and we all headed toward the Christmas tree and stockings!

Taber and Kevin got me and Becca matching robes to wear while opening presents, so we quickly put them on and then got ready for the explosion of excitement that was to come.

And then it EXPLODED! All Brooklyn asked Santa for this year was a pet fish and a candy cane. As soon as she saw them, she was bouncing off the walls in delight!

Here she is making fish kisses to Mr. Starlight

Lily didn't ask for anything, but Santa guessed that she might like this little hammer and peg set, and he was right! We couldn't get her to open anything else after she found it by her stocking.

Once we were done seeing what Santa brought, we got to open our gifts to each other. It was so fun seeing every one's reactions to their gifts and I'm pretty sure they were all thrilled with what they got :)

Even Cam was overjoyed with the huge amount of paper to crawl through and all the noise making toys that were strewn about the room!

After all the present unwrapping was through and we'd all eaten a sugar filled breakfast, we got dressed and headed to church. The girls looked super cute in their new dresses from Auntie Becca... especially lugging around the little doggies that I crocheted them :)

Anyway, it was a perfect Christmas filled with family and fun. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas as well!

Christmas Eve

On the morning of Christmas Eve, Kevin, Becca and Taber went out for a 13.1 (or more) mile run on the Applefest Half Marathon course. They all wore Santa hats to get in the spirit of things and received many friendly honks and waves in return. And while they were out... I held down the fort until reinforcements could arrive :)

Once everyone was back from running, fed, and showered, we started going on shopping splits for last minute gifts and to prepare for the Rigg's Christmas Eve party!

Then right before the party started, Taber took the girls to drop off some "12 days of Christmas" gifts. They were very stealthy and well prepared for the drop as you can tell by the map Taber is planning out for everyone :)

Unfortunately, Brinley started barfing her guts out just minutes before the guests arrived. But no worries! Becca kept her game face on, got things cleaned up, quarantined Brinley upstairs with a puke pail and some movies, and then got the party started!

She and her friends had thought of everything! Chicken nuggets and smiley fries for the kid plates,  gingerbread men for the children to decorate and Christmas cartoons to keep them entertained...

And lots of yummy Cafe Rio style food for the adults to munch on whilst engaging in conversation uninterrupted by little people!

When dinner was done, we had a great Christmas program, complete with music and a very cute (and CRAZY) Nativity... and then we sent everyone home to their beds so Santa could come and pay us all a visit!

Getting our Christmas Prep ON!

On the 22nd and 23rd of December, we started to pound out the rest of our Christmas preparations. Basically that meant me and Becca went shopping, Taber and Kevin watched the kids... Kevin and Taber went shopping, Becca and I watched the kids... Me and Kevin went shopping, Becca and Taber watched the kids... you get the gist of it. A lot revolves around your children when your house contains an almost-1-year-old, almost-2-year-old, 3 year old, almost-4-year-old, and 5 year old!!!

But don't worry! The kiddos had limitless fun whilst the adults were getting things under wraps! They had a blast playing on the trampoline, in the playroom, and in the craft room too.

And we managed to get them out to the park between shopping trips as well! And BOY were they excited about that!

It was pretty funny watching Becca and Taber gush all over Camden at the park. He is the cutest little boy on the planet so you can't really blame them :)

Meanwhile,  Brooklyn kept us pretty busy spotting her while she practiced climbing like her Daddy.

Teya was at school when we were at the park, and although she was missed, Brooklyn and Brinley played GREAT together!

We all had a blast enjoying the unusually warm winter weather, but soon it was time for Lily and Cam to go down for naps. So Becca and I headed for home with the babies while Taber and Kevin stayed a little longer so the girls could play...

Ummm...errr.. or so they could play!

During our shopping days we also managed to go out and see the movie "Arthur Christmas" and to have some pretty groovy dance parties complements of Auntie Becca... See for yourself! Stay tuned for our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day adventures!

To be continued...