A Trip To The Farm

For the New Year's Holiday we took the boys to visit Grandma and Grandpa Egger down on the farm in Oregon. This was the first time Drew and Evan had been south of Babies R Us in Lynnwood and Isaac south of Children's Hospital in Seattle. Needless to say an 8 hour car drive was a daunting task but WELL worth it! We drove at night while the boys slept and it worked like a charm! Casey drove straight through making record time (7 hours). Poor Grandma and Grandpa waited up until 2am to greet us!

The boys did great while on vacation! They slept good, they ate good, and they tried really hard to be good! We had such a good time visiting Casey's family and the boys really enjoyed hanging out with Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Tina, Aunt Kortni, and cousin Kayli (who was nice enough to share her old toys). We have been practicing identifying animals and their sounds with the boys so it sure was fun to show them some real live cows up close.

Our visit just happened to coincide with the Fiesta Bowl which the University of Oregon was playing in so we got "Ducked". We were all outfitted with yellow and green duck gear which greatly pained Casey to wear as he is a paid WSU Cougar! You should have seen his face! We had a wonderful time at the farm and can't wait to go back!!!

Tina and Evan

Isaac, Casey, Drew, & Grandma checking out the mommy cow and baby cows.

Grandpa and Drew just hanging out.

Kortni and Kayli

They boys spent endless hours playing with these large blocks. They especially loved playing peek-a-boo with Grandma!

Lights of Christmas

We ventured out and took the boys to the Lights of Christmas at Warm Beach. We typically don't go many places other than Costco and Target as a family so this was a pretty big outing for us, especially in the cold! We took the boys in our wagon and they all took turns riding and being carried. Although we lost a few mittens along the way they boys really seemed to enjoy sightseeing and people watching. Maybe next year we won't be doing an Indy 500 lap around the lights and will be able to stop for hot chocolate and doughnuts!

Christmas 2009

Christmas was a lot of fun for our family this year. The boys enjoyed looking at Christmas decorations and lights and would have really liked to touch it all. Although the boys received many gifts, the wrapping paper and boxes proved to be their favorite toys. Not only did new "big boy" toys come at the perfect time (as the boys were getting very bored with their baby toys) but Santa also brought them a big slide to help get out some of their endless energy. They love sliding but have found it more fun to climb to the platform and dance which inevitably creates a baby traffic jam and biting and pushing ensues. Close supervision is required:)

A rare family picture with everyone looking in the same direction!

The boys were able to visit with Santa this year to share all of their wants and wishes for Christmas. I had "heard" of Santa's Den in Marysville that people really liked so I decided to check it out. My mom and I dressed the boys in their Christmas sweaters, packed them in the car and headed out for Santa pictures. I arrived at Santa's Den to find the actual Den curtained off but the desk where you purchased your package had really nice sample photos with a nice looking Santa in front of a decorated tree or fireplace. So we purchased our package and waited our turn. Finally, Santa was ready for us...or so he thought. The Egger hurricane entered the den and I quickly began grabbing boys and trying to get them sitting with Santa. By the time I took a real good look around at the "Den" it was too late. The "Den" consisted of the ugliest, cheapest looking backdrops and a stuffed reindeer. So I went with the dollar store den and figured it wouldn't look that bad in the pictures. Wrong! Oh well, we will laugh about it next year!! Despite the surroundings the boys did ok. There were a few tears but no major meltdowns. Mom and I were sweating and exhausted by the time we were done but it was worth it...kind of:)

Surprisingly, Evan who has recently been the most shy around strangers did the best with Santa. Must have been the candy canes!

Isaac didn't like Santa very much and never once looked at the camera.

Drew is frozen with fear in a running position.

Yes Evan, you are sitting on a dead, stuffed Rudolf and Santa has a death grip on the back of your sweater.

Can't wait for next year!!!!