Christmas Vacation

It was so great to have Dan off of work for almost (not quite but, almost!) 2 weeks. And Mom and Dad stayed for a whole week as well. It really felt like a "vacation" even though we didn't leave home.

We did a few things to keep busy and entertain ourselves, including a trip to the bowling alley,



Ava had her own bumper lane and we bowled a game in the lane right next to her.



She was so excited! She just ran around and back and forth and kept saying, "I did it! I did it!"

It was stiff competition but I won by one point! (almost got me, Dan!)

2 of my favorite bowlers

We also went to the Houston Children's Museum. Our last visit was before we moved down here.

Just like last time, the "grocery store" was a big hit!


And this time, Ava tried her hand at face painting,


It was a good reminder to keep my make-up out of reach.


Ava, ever the cooking assistant, helped Grandma with dinner, her make-up mostly intact.



And again, Grandma and Ava worked together, this time to make a gingerbread house. Luckily, Mom didn't have any lofty intentions for the gingerbread house because Ava was VERY enthusiastic about the decorating.


Especially excited about putting "snow" on the roof.

A two handed job

Oooh, but look at these beauties our neighbor made and dropped off. I thought they were so cute and the house even has stained glass windows!



Our vacation also had it's fair share of relaxing,




Grandpa balancing,


Harry Potter reading (I've converted my father!), Harry Potter watching, and eating,




Unfortunately, the party's over and it's back to the grind. It was sure fun while it lasted though!