Friday, February 1, 2013

Henry Ford Museum

Eric and Cathy live in a town called Berkley, about 20 minutes outside of Detroit. We took advantage of being close to the city and spent a morning at the Henry Ford Museum.

Gotta pose by this guy
There was an exhibit of old dollhouses that I could have spent hours staring at. Each room was fully furnished and most of the houses had a Christmas tree set up in the main room.


 
There was so much to see at the museum, so we only got to spend a few minutes on the dollhouses. There were lots of old machines that Chris spent time drooling over. 

 
The girls did very well at the museum, and had fun with their Aunt Cathy and Uncle Eric.
 
With a name like the Henry Ford Museum, you have to expect to spend some time admiring old cars. The really old ones were so fun to look at, and I couldn't help imagining the slower lifestyle that would have come with cars that drove 30 mph.
 

Emily really enjoyed looking at all the cars, and since "car" is one of her words, she enjoyed shouting it at every car she saw!
 
 

Addison and Uncle Eric share a special moment.


Chris was very excited to go see a steam powered generator start up, and when it was turned on, it was incredibly noisy, which scared Emily right up into Daddy's arms (who thought the loud machine was quite exhilarating, and his screaming child was hilarious).


Soon after the loud start-up, Emily was happily distracted looking at an old black and white picture of the city.


The Montgomery bus that Rosa Parks rode is at the Henry Ford Museum. After getting on the bus, an audio presentation started up that pointed out that I was sitting in the actual seat where Parks was sitting when she refused to give up her seat to a white passenger. It was pretty neat to see the actual spot where the civil rights movement really began.

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Welcome to Detroit

Our flight to Detroit was quite a bit more comfortable than it has been in the past, because we paid for three seats instead of two. We were able to have a row to ourselves, and the girls took turns sitting in the middle seat.

It was still a lot of sitting, though, so when we landed, they were ready to burn off some energy.



Eric came to pick us up, and brought us back to he and Cathy's new house, where we would be staying for the first few days in town. 



The girls quickly figured out that Eric's a pretty fun guy and they were in for a good time.
zoom!
This little wind up Christmas tree became a fast favorite, and Eric was very patient showing the girls how it worked
Weee!

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Christmas Morning

On Colorado Christmas morning, our plan was to come downstairs and eat breakfast before diving into gifts, but when the Santa gifts were spotted leaning against the couch, Addie and Emily forgot all about their hungry tummies.


They even went for the right present, each opening the one with her name on it without even being told!




That's right, Santa brought doll strollers. What fun!


After opening the strollers, we did break for breakfast, but right after getting cleaned up, it was time for stockings! The girls had a great time pulling out and opening all their little presents from Santa.
 
Snow Globes
Emily was very excited about her gloves
And Addie was super excited about her new toothbrush!
Ornaments!
 After opening our stockings, it was back to the Christmas tree to open presents from Mom and Dad. A grocery cart and a piano were the girls' main presents. These little elves were so excited top play with their new toys.


Merry Christmas!

Monday, January 21, 2013

Christmas Eve

We celebrated our Colorado Christmas Eve on December 16th. We went over to DeeDee's for brunch and presents with Great Grandma Nicoll, Dylan, Britney, Callie, and Annalea. It was so fun to watch all the girls opening and playing with their new toys.

Addie and Emily got to wear some very cute Christmas dresses, which they posed in for me before leaving for DeeDee's.

My sweet little elves
When you ask Emily to smile for the camera these days, lots of times she'll do this dramatic head tilt
Holding hands and looking sweet
Addie says "I'm ready to go!"

 Stockings at DeeDee's

 
 
 
Pistachios are a common treat in our stockings from DeeDee, and the girls discovered that Great Grandma was really good at opening the shells

 Presents!

Callie has recently begun wearing princess dresses, and had this beautiful Cinderella dress on for Christmas
Emily and Addie got new dolls with hair to brush and closing eyes to go with their new doll cradle and high chair
Callie got an amazing dress up box
The girls ask Uncle Dylan to get their doll out of her box
Ta Da!
Playing with Great Grandma
New tub toys!
Cal checks out Annalea's new puzzle
 We had a great morning with the family! After a nice long nap back home, we spent the evening playing with new toys. 

Before bed, the girls hung their stockings and ate Santa's cookies.



After a Christmas Eve bedtime story, it was off to bed.

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Winter Wagon Ride, Christmas Lights, and a Special Visit with Santa

Our neighborhood puts on a winter wagon ride every year, and it's a great way to see the lights in the neighborhood. This year, it was especially fun to do with the girls because they had such a great time seeing the horses and lights, and Santa came so the girls got to tell him what they wanted for Christmas and they got candy canes!


We walked up the block to the pool, where the neighbors gather to wait for a wagon ride
The horses are beautiful, and Addison cried every time they trotted off. At first Chris was sure it was because of their loud hoofbeats, but DeeDee was right, Addie just didn't want to see them go.
Hello Santa!
A little scared, but pretty much in awe
Candy cane!
Checking this guy out
Candy canes in hand, the girls sit on Santa's lap
On the ride
After going on two wagon rides, we hadn't had our fill of lights, so we walked around the neighborhood to ooooo and ahhh over all the decorations
Special time with DeeDee
Special time with Dad