Please follow the link below to the most recent pics of the little ladies. We have been a busy bunch, as I'm sure is the case with the rest of you. The holidays were wonderful, but I, for one, am doing okay with them being behind us. We had a great time celebrating Christmas, but holy crap, did we celebrate Christmas... a lot.
We spent Thanksgiving in Fremont, enjoying a low key gathering with Kyle's family. We even got to spend some time with Aunt Marilyn and Uncle Larry, who traveled all the way from Connecticut. It was so great to see them! Megan's school has an annual kindergarten feast on the last day before the holiday. Each kindergarten class (there are 4) made something to contribute to the meal, and each parent is asked to donate a small item as well. Megan's class made cornbread, which is her favorite food on earth (comes with the Purdy genes), so she was especially excited to be a part of this.
We again opted to visit Santa at the John Ball Zoo in GR. We find him to be the most genuine Santa look-alike, and also not a total scheister like those losers at the mall. The zoo does an annual Christmas with the Animals party - zoo admission is free with a "present" for the animals (treats for them like peanut butter, jelly, or other little items) and the whole zoo is decked out for Christmas, with Santa and Mrs. Claus there and plenty of activities for the kids. We look forward to it every year.
We began a new Christmas tradition this year for the girls - the Elf on the Shelf. After hearing for a couple of years that this was right up my alley, curiousity finally got the better of me and we took the plunge. The basic premise is that the elf (who our girls promptly fell in love with and named Sparkle Teddy Bear - no, I'm not kidding) arrives from the North Pole to be Santa's eyes and ears on the ground (she appeared on December 1st). She disappears every night after bedtime to report back to Santa on their behavior, and reappears in a different place each day - until Christmas Eve, when she returns to the North Pole with Santa. We had so much fun with it. I've got pictures all saved up for her activites each day, which I have high hopes of eventually turning into a blog post, but as I suck at keeping the blog current, I would not recommend that anyone hold their breath).
We had a trip to Chicago planned for the second weekend in December. We had tickets to see the play Cinderella while in town. Cinderella was being played by Uncle Ryan's little sister Missy, so there was no way we wanted to miss this. With Megan's big wish from Santa being an American Girl doll, and a trip to Chicago already in the works, Sparkle Teddy Bear convinced Santa to deliver a couple of special gifts to the girls a little early (that is our story and we are sticking to it). On the morning we were to leave, two presents, a note from Sparkle Teddy Bear and a note from Santa to each girl appeared on our fireplace. Santa brought Megan her doll and Hannah even got a Bitty Baby (American Girl infant dolls), and Sparkle Teddy Bear arranged a tea party for them at the store that very afternoon. They were beyond thrilled!
We had great weather for the trip, and made it downtown in record time. We had time for swimming and relaxing before heading out for our tea party and to explore the store, which I will begrudgingly admit is actually kind of an awesome place. We then headed to Lincoln Park Zoo to catch the Zoo Lights (approximately 40 billion Christmas lights strung throughout the zoo). The next morning was the play (which was great!!!) and then we headed to the suburbs to visit with Aunt Becky and family for the afternoon/evening. It was so great to be able to see them, too! We hit Winter Wonderland at Navy Pier before leaving town the next day. It was an awesome trip and such a fun way to kick off the holidays.
We spent the next several weeks wrapped up in school parties, neighbor parties and family parties. Last year Megan and I started a new tradition in the neighborhood - the 12 days of Christmas cookies, where we baked and delivered one cookie per family member for 12 days. It was a hit, and this year the other neighbors were all interested in getting involved. There are six families back in our little area that are close, so we divided and each took two days for treat delivery. It was a ton of fun, though we are still detoxing from 12 extra days of holiday sugar intake.
The girls were very successful at being spoiled again, which will probably not shock anyone. It was a very Merry Christmas.
In other non-Christmas events, we have kept Megan active in swim lessons since September. Something has seemed to click with her, and all of a sudden she is swimming like a little fish. She has progressed two levels of swim classes since the fall (this was after stalling out at the same level for a couple of years!!), and Kyle had her at the Y just this past week, where she surprised him by swimming almost exclusively under water! She has come such a long way in such a short period of time! She will start her next lessons next weekend, and we booked a trip to Great Wolf Lodge (indoor waterpark in Traverse City) later in the month when she has a random two day break from school. Because she has been so cautious about the water, we didn't think this was something she would have previously enjoyed, but I'm certain it will be a whole different story now. She is reading with gusto and keeps a very busy social calendar - the cold weather does not seem to have deterred the neighbor kids from seeking each other out to play, though this is not the case for the parents - oh well, the kids are getting older now, right?
Hannah is busy, busy, busy as ever, keeping up her reputation as wild child. We started a third attempt at potty training last weekend - though we got off to an awful start, I am pleased to announce that the kid has now caught on and is doing absolutely awesome! We are looking forward to sending her back to school next week with these new skills - she cannot wait to show her teachers her big girl underwear. :) I have cautioned her that in today's world she should probably be careful with how she approaches this, but I assure you it's all innocent.
Hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and a happy new year!
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