Christmas Trip- Crayola Factory

We were so blessed to be together this Christmas.  This is the first year Ben has ever gotten any holiday leave.  After a lot of thought and research, we decided not to make the trip out west.  Instead we did our own little trip to Pennsylvania and celebrated here.  I found a hotel that had a huge indoor water park.  It was pretty pricey, so I kept watching the prices and waited to book until the last minute to get a good deal.  On the way there we made a stop in at the Crayola Factory in Easton, PA.  It is filled with different art projects, a live demonstration of crayon making, and play areas.  There is also a canal museum there, that Rhone liked.  We could have spent more time there, but we needed to get on the road.

Rhone got to open a special present for the trip.  It included a white board/magnet tray that I made for him, a new movie, and book.

Color on a "car" with crayola dry erase crayons.

Rhone could have played with this ball track all day.

Printing snowflakes

Gluing with dad.

Playing with our model magic clay

The whole family

Rhone sending his barge through the levies.

Learning about other forms of transportation

In front of some of the crayola crayon colors.

Christmas Parties

This year we headed to Ben's work party.  It was fun to have a night out without adults.  We even won a $50 gift card to Toys R Us.  The next day we went to an ugly Christmas sweater party/ farwell party for some of our Air Force friends that are moving.  We headed out in search of sweaters, without much success.  Instead we scored 3 identical handmade vests at goodwill.  It was huge on Rhone and tiny on Ben.  On our way home from the party we spotted a drive through Christmas light display.  Rhone loved seeing familar characters from Toy Story, Peanuts, and even Max and Ruby.  They also had a live nativity and a nice display about Christ's birth.  Rhone and I made a few Christmas crafts and a few gifts for our family and friends.  Christmas just came so fast this year, we hardly had time to squeeze all the fun in.

All dressed up for the party.

6 months pregnant

The snowman on the back was just adorable

Our matching family.

birthday celebration

I turned the big 27 this year. It always seems less fun to celebrate when I am pregnant, but Ben and Rhone did a great job of making the day special for me. Rhone slept in, which was one of the best gifts I received. My friend Amy and I share our birthdays, so we took the kids to play at Chick-Fil-A for lunch after story time. They played and we got to just sit and chat, which is always nice. We went out to eat at a yummy new Italian restaurant, had a Cold Stone birthday cake, and snuggled at home watching "Atlas Shrugged". A big thanks to everyone who called and sent gifts. I am one lucky girl!

Photo courtesy of Rhone

Rhone was a big help unwrapping gifts.

My yummy cake and pretty flowers.

Friends and more Christmas fun

We had a very busy Saturday.  We picked out and cut our tree, went to Ben's work party (previous post), and met up with Air Force friends we met in MS.  Angela and her 2 cute kids drove down from McGuire Air Force Base and our other friends just moved here from CA.  We had lunch and then headed to Fifer Orchards for the Cider Festival.  There was a wagon ride around the farm, free s'mores and apple cider, and some very cool swings.  It is always nice to catch up with friends.  

We also got our tree set up, sent our Christmas cards, and made some treats to share with our friends.  It seems like we have been a busy bunch, but we are doing our best to enjoy this Christmas season, especially since Ben got leave in the Christmas lottery and we know we will be together as a family for the first time in years.  We feel so blessed!

Bailey, Rhone and Ben on the wagon. Rhone really liked Bailey

Angela with her 2 kids and Rhone and Ben.

Look at that marshmellow.  YUM.

LOVING the swing!

Rhone wrote his letter to Santa....

...and we mailed it at the Macy's make a wish mail box

Rhone stamped the envelopes....

...and stamped our return address

Picking out our tree.

Decorating it with Dad.

Christmas Time is Here

Christmas Time is here. The Saturday after Thanksgiving we meet Cole at the Macy's in the Old Wannamaker Building in down town Philly. They have an amazing organ there and light show. They also have "Dicken's Village" which is tells the story of "A Christmas Carol". It's always nice to see family and it was a fun way to kick off the Christmas season. We also got our Christmas lights up outside. The next Saturday was a busy one, but in this post I am only including pictures from Ben's work party for kids. They had "snow globe" room, crafts, Santa, treats, and a movie. Rhone is still a little nervous about actually sitting on Santa's lap, but there were no tears. Rhone is actually pretty excited about Santa this year and is starting to talk about things like the North Pole and Santa's workshop where his toys will be made.

Usually I do the crafts with Rhone, so it's fun to see Ben and Rhone together.

The snow globe room was a big hit once Rhone finally decided to go in.

Here he is on Santa's lap. Santa is waving to me and Rhone is reaching for Ben. Rhone got a little toy and a Christmas book- so he was pretty excited about that.

Self portrait in front of the huge tree.

This is a classic kid picture, Rhone only made this face as soon as the picture was snapped.

The light show at Macy's

Helping Dad with the lights.

I somehow neglected to post about Pumpkin Chunkin' and didn't want to leave it out. The first weekend after Halloween Delaware hosts this event where teams compete in different catagories to see who can send a pumpkin the farthest. My friend and I went to the Officer Spouses Craft show, while the dads took the boys to Pumpkin Chunkin'. What great dads to brave the weather and crowds with 2 little boys. We even found them in a crowd shot on the Discovery Channel.

I think these are the air canons.

Rhone taking a picture on Ben's shoulders.

Rhone and Travis getting tired from the long day.