Christmas in Connecticut

 We headed out for the long drive to Connecticut - playing the alphabet game, reading, watching movies, and checking out the others on the road.

Biker Dog was our favorite.

 We went into NYC the day after we got there, showing the kids 5th Avenue - lights, window displays, decorations,

Rockefeller Plaza,

FAO Schwartz, and the Lego store. The important things for kids right before Christmas.

 When the sun started going down, the wind picked up and the temperature dropped.

A NYC pretzel hit the spot . . .  if you can say that about a NYC pretzel.

 We went from Robert's sister's place to his brother's house, a little farther into Connecticut, for a couple of days before and after Christmas.

 We had fun being all together.

My camera broke completely the day we went into NYC - it was on the verge - and I was so excited to go with Robert and buy a new one the day before Christmas!

 With no snow, we spent some time at a great school playground. 

I had a hard time keeping Jake in a jacket and shoes.

 On Christmas Eve, after telling the story of Christ's birth (with everyone involved with some part), we made a cousins pyramid before sending them off to bed.

 Christmas morning brought a dusting of snow, the kids were so excited. It made Christmas perfect.

There wasn't enough snow to go out right away, but by the time breakfast was eaten and presents were open, the Georgia cousins were dressed and out in the cold stuff!

 

 The kids got to open stockings before breakfast,

 and gifts after. 

We did go one at a time for the everyone's first gift, but the excitement got the best of everyone and each opened their gifts 

excitedly showing them to others and excited to see what someone else got as well.

 With snow in CT most likely our only chance to play in snow, Natalie, Jake, and Logan went out to play in the little bit that had fallen for Christmas.

 The trampoline is always fun with snow!

 Then they came in to warm up, build with Legos,

 and just be together with cousins.

My sister-in-laws know me well and both had puzzles waiting to be done. The snowman one we finished at Robert's brother's house - it was a large 2000 piece one with odd shapes. Let's just say it got finished very late the night before we were going to be heading back to Robert's sister's house.

 We went ice skating (minus Logan and I) with the cousins, my niece is very good and it was fun to watch her to twirls and jumps 

while the rest of just tried staying up as they went around the rink.

There was a snow storm moving in that evening, so we stayed one more night. 

We let the kids go sledding, that night, when there was enough snow. 

 

They had a blast night sledding and we had to drag them in when we realized it was almost 10pm!

 

 The snowplows worked through the night and, in clearing the driveway, left a perfect mound of snow to sled off of!

 

 I love the picture below - a great shot of Jake's jump start, what you miss is the second later when he landed and biffed it! It was so funny - we were all laughing.

 Although I wasn't too thrilled about packing wet snow clothes in the car to go back to Heather's, I'm glad the kids got to have some more fun together in the snow.

 A couple of snowmen even came to life.

 

 It was a good thing they got some more time in the snow because Heather's had melted by the time we got there.

We stayed busy having fun inside. 

Puzzles, Legos, and JustDance on the Xbox.

Natalie tested out her cake pop maker, her gift from Santa. Parker could hardly wait and got as many samples as he wanted.

 We took one more trip into the city, to the Museum of Natural History. 

You can spend days there, we only had a few hours - but the kids loved everything they saw.

 Alyssa started to not feel well, so she and I headed back out to the car to wait for the others.

(I'll have to put in a picture Robert took of the cousins when I get it from his camera.)

 A vacation wish for me came true when Troy went down to Scarsdale to bring back bagels for breakfast - the ones I grew up on. They are a must when we go to visit and are so close to great bagels!

The kids had one last vacation wish come true when it started snowing again.

 By late afternoon there was enough snow for one more trip to some hills.

There were some fun runs down the hill, testing each sled and the snowboard, racing each other, and seeing who could go the farthest.

Parker enjoyed the playground and swings while the others went up and down the hill.

 A perfect way to end a wonderful Christmas trip to Connecticut!