Busy Cousins - 12/23

We were all amazed at how well the girls all played together for the entire visit. Towards the end, the bickering did start a bit, but there was not one major fight the entire two weeks.

Here are Emma and Pau playing Chutes and Ladders


The girls are working on a Christmas Art Project here:

Everyone Arrives! (12/22)

Xmas is over, and we are all exhausted but boy did we have a good time. Here's a chronological look at events over the last two weeks:

We celebrated Gabriel's birthday the first day that everyone arrived.

Early Christmas

The Chens came over for an early Christmas celebration at our place. Here are the girls scribbling on the dry erase board, while Jujy takes her usual spot in front of the kitchen (mini-Ginny). Then we were treated to an "Item" Christmas sing-a-long -- complete with its littlest drummer -- The Juje.

Gift opening frenzy:

The kids' table -- the girls stuffed their faces and then continued on their maniacal streak of tearing down the house.

Bowling

We went bowling with the girls last week -- Emma had a great time experimenting with rolling the ball using different speeds down the ramp, and both got a kick out of the cool bowling shoes they got to wear. Seriously, bowling shoes for toddlers are adorable!

Gallery of Art

Alexa stayed home from school last Monday because she was still getting over a cold. Arturo stayed with her in the morning. He caught her busy with masking tape putting up some art work on our wall.

Emma's last Holiday Show at CBA

The 4's belted out their Rudolph Song - complete with red noses:

Alexa's first Holiday Show

Despite the fact that she was hidden in the back corner, Alexa really did sing and "wiggle"/dance -- we could actually hear her voice singing the song. Very cute!

A Visit to Santa

Today we went to the mall to visit Santa. Emma has been so excited to do this for a few days, and she did great. She did get a little nervous when the moment came, but she was resolute -- she needed to ask Santa for her present. Alexa was skeptical ever since we brought up the subject a few days back -- she seemed to get a little into it when we were standing in line and I was showing her what a nice man Santa is. But once she got close to him, she froze -- and wouldn't sit on his lap. So I ended up in the picture.

When Santa asked the kids what they wanted for Christmas, Emma did bravely say a Scooter, while Alexa whispered -- Jump Rope. All my child wants for Christmas is a jump rope that she doesn't know how to use.

After Santa, the mall had a short performance of the Nutcracker put on by a local dance school. It was cool -- Emma and I were really into it. Alexa got bored pretty quickly. Then it was off to run the halls of the mall. The girls really love it when they get open space to run as fast and as much as they want. Here's Alexa tearing down the walkway of the mall, really happy.

Chocolate Reindeer

After coming in from the cold, the girls helped me make Chocolate Reindeer for their Holiday Show on Friday. The cookies are easy for the kids to help me with and they really liked the result -- especially biting off Rudolph's nose in the end :)

Let it Snow!

The first snow of the year! On Wedesday, we got about 2+ inches of snow and Arturo was working from home. So the girls got on their snow pants and went outside to play!

Here's a picture of the house, during the snowfall, with our Christmas lights on:

Emma and Alexa, all bundled up and ready to go:

Arturo had a snowball fight with the girls:

Alexa got really comfortable in the sled that my parents got for her and sat in front of our snowman, watching him for a long time. Emma named the snowman, "Jacom." (Pronounced Jacob but with an "m") Don't ask. We don't, anymore.

Tree Trimming

Picking the perfect Tree

On Sunday we got our Christmas tree. But it was so cold, the girls looked like little Michelin Men.

Emma helping to push the tree:

Alexa insisted on helping to push the tree as well:

This was our tree from 2005. The girls are so little!

Gymini

Emma has been taking Gymnastics classes since September, and she still looks forward to it every Monday. It's a real gym where they train older kids for competitions. Emma is just at the "preschool" level, but you can see them teaching the kids the foundations of what will later be full-blown tricks.

Emma is in the back of this picture, working on the fundamentals of the back flip on the bars -- they tell the kids to try and touch the snowman's face with their feet.

Here is Emma working on the beginning of a handstand -- she "walks" up this mat and holds herself there. It's hard for them because they are working on their arm strength to hold up all their weight.

RTC

We goofed around Reston Town Center Friday night. Alexa and Arturo were spinning around, which is why Alexa is cracking up in this picture.

Christmas at the Hyatt

Every Christmas, the Hyatt at Reston creates this cool display full of various Gingerbread houses with a train running through it. It's really pretty cool. Alexa couldn't get enough of it. Emma got over it pretty quickly. On the other hand, Emma was transfixed by the ice skaters outside, while Alexa got bored of that right away.