I've fallen behind in my blogging... that's what illnesses will do to you.
We rang in the New Year with good intentions of a healthy and prosperous intentions. We went to the annual celebrations at our friends Brian and Stephanie.
The happy couple...
Stephanie and I as we closed into midnight....
Some of the guys...
This is a party for the adults and kids...
Only ours couldn't stay up until 9pm. Talk about easy night for Mom and Dad.
On the health front, if you weren't aware Dave and I have been sick for most of 2013 - and in fact Dave has been sick for all of 2013 (he was diagnosed with bronchitis the day after Christmas). We're mostly recovered but are looking forward to a much healthier remainder of the year!
Drew may have "graduated" from his home day care nearly 3 years ago, but you're never too old to celebrate Christmas with Ms. Stephanie and her present and past day care kids.
Drew is in the back left - some of the kids weren't watched by Ms. Stephanie, but they did have siblings who are/were watched by her or are part of the Preschool where Drew went.
Ms. Stephanie singing with all the kid in preparation for Santa's visit. Love how they're all screaming rather than singing the various songs.
And finally Santa appeared. Drew got some presents.
I have to say this was the first year that Dave wasn't Santa, and I don't think anyone figured out who it was - which was the Preschool Director's son...
We always look forward to the very nice dinner and hanging out with everyone, thankfully it's everyone we know. It'll be strange when the day comes that we won't know any of the parents because we (and Drew) are that old.
Since this week is Thanksgiving I probably should finally get around to blogging about Halloween...
The Saturday before our friends Brian and Stephanie held their annual Halloween party - but this year it was adults only. Oh boy did that definitely kick things up a notch!
The only appropriate photo I've seen of Dave and I was taken by our neighbor who was watching Drew for us that night.
Dave was a cartoon-like mobster and I was Sporty Tinker Bell. My costume is serving a dual purpose - Halloween and I was testing things out for the Tinker Bell half marathon in January.
After dropping Drew off we made our appearance to the party - it was an absolute blast! It started out with a guest appearance by the Village People performing YMCA.
And we had some politicians stop by...
Costume contests....
It was great hanging out with friends...
But of course Dave knows how to find trouble. He was busted by the police.
Thankfully Sporty Tink was a good girl and the other officer on the scene (Stephanie) had no reason to make any arrests.
Around 10pm the party really got started as a group of us started dancing to some old school music. I think this was the most fun part of the night.
Of course it wasn't long after we started dancing that some friends came in to tell me I needed to take Dave home. He'd had enough and was outside getting sick. That'll happen when you don't eat anything since lunch and you start drinking like a fish.
I took Dave home, got Drew into bed then went back to the party, but when I arrived around midnight everyone had cleared out. I guess they were afraid of turning into pumpkins.
The consensus is that this party is a hit without the kiddos.
On Friday we were invited back as alumni to Ms. Stephanie's annual Daycare Family Christmas dinner. Of course we are invited back year after year because Dave plays an awesome Santa.... Here is last year's dinner and I think this is the first one from two years ago. There wasn't a point in doing it Drew's first year - he was the only kid she watched for a long time.
Well Friday night the house was filled with I think 9 kids and 11 adults. It was a fun night of friends, laughs and prime rib (kids had pizza). Forgive the cellphone pictures, I forgot my camera at home. And then I played photographer for Ms. Stephanie with her camera - which is far more important than my own pictures.
The kids getting dinner ready (Drew is to the right side below Amber - who is in the black shirt).
Drew talking to Santa (Daddy).
Ms. Stephanie's 6 year old figured out this year it was Dave and then whispered to Drew the secret that Dave was Santa. Drew came over to me and asked... I nonchalantly said that Daddy went to home to get his shoes - which he did forget for this costume. You can't tell, but he's wearing socks instead of shoes.
And as you can see this party tuckered Drew out. He fell asleep before we hit the main road home. He cuddled with the Grinch all weekend (we ran the Bah Humbug 5K the next morning - and Drew was the designated Grinch holder).
While many of you - family and friends - were happy to get a break from all the snow and storms that hit you last week, Dave, Drew and I wanted to go to the snow. (Note that we go to the snow - we can leave when we're done - unlike you bwahaha.) So on Friday we drove to Lake Tahoe with our friends - Ms. Stephanie and her family (Drew's old day care provider) and Ms. Jonelle and her family (Drew's current preschool teacher). Translation: 6 Adults and 5 kids went to Lake Tahoe, sharing a 3 bedroom timeshare.
While you would think that many people in a room would be a little crazy, I have to say I thought it was rather smooth and easy. Of course it helps that the timeshare is larger than my house, but I digress.
Friday night we got there around 10pm and the kids were wired and ready to play - which they did until probably 1am. Dave and I finally went to sleep around 3AM and Drew was up at 7. Lovely. But he was really excited - we told him on Saturday we were going sledding.
Here's the group as we were trying to get them out the door.
Finally we made it out there for the last picture together before they all went their merry ways.
L-R: Drew, Charlise, Zionna, Mason, Troy
And then they were off! Dave did a few runs with Drew before letting him go on his own.
Here's Ms. Stephanie and Charlise
Here are a couple of videos of the sledding action:
Drew decided at one point he wanted to roll down the hill rather than sled (it was intentional).
After about 30 minutes of sledding, most of the kids were getting tired of sledding (the other two families were also in Tahoe last weekend), so they decided to have a snowball fight and everyone ganged up on Dave. Ms. Jonelle and I played photographer.
After the snow, we all went back to the room and took naps. Drew just woke up from his 3 1/2 hour nap when I snapped this shot of all the kids watching TV.
L-R: Charlise, Drew, Mason, Troy (poking his head from behind the table) and Zionna.
It was a great weekend, but man was it exhausting! I was in bed Sunday night by 7:30pm!
Could Drew have a future as a rock star or singer in a band? Check out this video and you decide:
A few weeks ago we were at our friends house and took advantage of their Sister-in-Law's karaoke system. The kids had a blast with it!
Back L-R: Troy, Brian, Mason, Charlise, Zionna,
Front L-R: Stephanie, Drew
Of course we kept shooing the kids out so we grown-ups could play too.
I'll spare you the actual singing (if that's what you call it) from the adults. Lets just say there was some drinking and good times. The guys get a kick out of seeing Steph and I sing Gloria Estefan's "1-2-3". I guess we tend to "dance" and sing.
Happy New Year! There are a lot of things we're looking forward to this year and we hope you all are too.
Here's a look at how we rang 2011 at Ms. Stephanie's house (Drew's former day care provider).
There was no hope for Drew making it until Midnight. When he was asking to go to bed before we even left, we knew there wasn't a chance. He did last until about 10:30 when he put himself to sleep on the couch.
Meanwhile everyone continued to party around him. Here some of us are gathered in the front room for the countdown.... there were a lot more people behind me.
The happy couple happy to be awake (and mostly sober) for the New Year. (By the way it was 8 years ago on this evening that Dave popped the question).
Me and Stephanie
I didn't really make any resolutions this year, however I did set a goal for myself. To run at least 475 miles this year (averaging a little more than 9 miles/week). Now if it would only stop raining....
For the past three years we've had Christmas with the kids and the families of our friends - my college roommate Lisa and her family, and her cousin Brian and his family (his wife Stephanie used to watch Drew). Sunday was another such event - the six kids and the six adults enjoying a tasty dinner, dessert, drinks and watching the kids open presents.
Of course the latter is the highlight for the kiddos. It's crazy watching them open gifts in about 10-seconds flat.
L-R: Trevor, Emily, Drew, Troy, Mason (mostly hidden by Troy). Ms. Stephanie is in the blue playing "Santa".
Drew was so excited to see what he got from Trevor and Emily (my friend Lisa's kids).
The following picture is blurry, but you can't mistake the excited little boy holding that new toy - Chuck the talking Truck. (He recently discovered the cartoon on the new kids network called Hub).
The older kids were perfectly happy to play with their new toys - DS games.
L-R: Trevor, Mason, Emily
Later that night Drew and his BFF Troy were giving each other hugs....
Which would just lead to them knocking each other over on top of each other...
They had a blast doing that and then wrestling Stephanie's brother. Needless to say Drew had so much fun he conked out less than halfway home.
The old gang was back together again - well Drew's old gang. Last Friday, Ms. Stephanie - Drew's former daycare provider - held her annual Daycare Christmas Dinner for her kids, and their parents. Since we were "graduates" technically we weren't supposed to be there. Only Dave played Santa last year (read/see all about it here) a little too well, and he now has a permanent job.
After a delicious dinner, the kids anxiously awaited the arrival of Santa. Well just before the Jolly Old Man showed up, the kids gathered to sing a carol or two, then he walked in the door.
L-R: Celeste, Baby Drew, Troy, Mason, Big Drew (missing is Caleb who was on the couch screaming, poor kid was terrified by Santa... could it have been the bushy eyebrows?)
What a difference a year makes - Drew wasn't terrified of his Dad... errrr... Santa this year. Still clueless who the bearded man is, Drew happily told him he was a good boy this year and that he wanted... a Mobigo. (You have to know by now that's all Drew's asking all the Santas for Christmas).
Good news, these kids must've been good this year because they all got presents. A Star Wars tent.
And then we tried to get all the kids together for a pose... needless to say it didn't go well.
L-R: Caleb, Baby Drew, Santa (in back) Mason, Drew, (beneath Santa) Troy, and Celeste.
We had a fantastic time! Oh and if you were wondering, this Santa had authentic padding - haha.
