Scenes from Christmas

Christmas morning this year went much like christmas mornings of the past: with David and I pondering how long we're going to let the kids sleep!  I thought this might be the year Hannah woke us up, but it wasn't.  

They eventually wandered out just before 8.    

Grandpa Davis, Grandma Moon and Papa Tom were all here to share christmas morning with girls.  

Santa brought Riley a train set.  

Santa brought Hannah a bath robe and slippers. The bath robe is a huge hit, Hannah has worn it everyday since receiving it.  

Santa also brought Riley that lion, because she loves lions so much.  

David and I got her Pitch Perfect and a Where's Waldo book.  She sat down to do her Where's Waldo last night and found him 4 different times with relative ease!  

Grandpa Davis gave Riley a Sofia the First Doll.  She came with animals and they talk to each other.  

Here's Grandpa putting together Hannah's Fluttershy doll.  It flies, which amuses both girls.  

After opening, the kids just explored all their new toys.  Both girls enjoyed the train.  

Riley received some finger paints, along with finger paint paper.  So she spent some time finger painting while Hannah put together her new lego's.  

It was a lego Christmas for Hannah.  She received a bunch from her Great Grandma Davis, Aunt Marilyn and Aunt Brandy.  

Santa also brought her the police station.  

Joshua received a couple of ball caps from Santa and some Monsters University slippers.  He was so excited he couldn't get his eyes open.  And neither could Grandma Moon.  

Riley, with a travel art thing.  

Hannah also received Scrabble Flash, which is a great game.  All of us adults enjoyed playing a few round while the kids were occupied with other toys.  

We ended our evening with a fantastic meal cooked entirely by David: prime rib, sauteed green beans and oven crisp potatoes.  He cooked everything perfectly and it was a great meal!  

Paint your own

Pottery that is.  I've blogged about Greg's before but yesterday we went back for more.  And had just as much fun as the first time.  Amy and Tom each picked something out to paint.  I was the only one who didn't paint something but I found something

I want to paint the next time we go. 

Grandma picked out a  smiling buddha.  Hannah painted an egg, a sunshine, an angel 

and a mini tea cup and saucer.

Tom picked out a giant coffee mug and David picked out a bowl.

I love how intense everyone is!

Just like before, Hannah could have painted all day.  But we do have to watch the price!  The staff was awesome as well.  David really gets his moneys' worth our of their opinion!  I like the thought of going and painting something for us to keep every time we go.  We're not keeping David's bowl, eve though I love the design he did on it.  We're going to keep Hannah's egg because I really like it!  Everything else is christmas presents.  We're heading downtown on Black Friday for A Dicken's Holiday and we'll stop in to Greg's, possibly to paint one or two things or maybe just to say hello.  Maybe our pottery will be done then.  

Broadway at the Beach

I love the beach, so anytime someone suggests going to the beach, I jump right in.  While Amy and Tom were visiting, we decided to all drive down.  Riley was 6 days old but I didn't think she would mind much.  There's a place in Myrtle Beach called Broadway at the Beach.  They have lots of restaurants, shopping, the aquarium and a fair like area with lots of rides for little kids.  The plan was for Amy and Tom to just have fun with Hannah on all the rides while Riley stuck close to David and I.  

Hannah is ready, running down the boardwalk!

It was hot!  And I was the only one who would venture in the water 

with her.  What can I say, it felt good.  Of course, my shorts were damp until about 5 p.m. that day.  I think these little splash areas are a great idea.

On the teacups with Grandma

The motorcycles

The caterpillar.  Seeing her on this was hilarious!!

I think she went on this ride 5 times.  

Airplane ride

Riley in the sling for a little while.

It wouldn't be a proper fair experience without face painting.

We match!

Riley's ride, this is what she did the whole day.

Hula hooping at Margaritaville.  

We like Margarittaville for the margarita's and the atmosphere.  The food is only so-so and pricey, so we don't eat there.  But they do have a large outdoor area that includes a sand pit and hula hoops.  They also had a live DJ on this night.  David and Hannah danced the night away together.  They did the cha cha slide, the electric slide and danced together for many other songs.   

During the hottest part of the day, David and I sat down to watch a movie, Bridesmaids.  This got Riley out of the heat for a little while.  I nursed her in the cool, quiet movie theatre and David and I got to enjoy a movie together.  It was really funny, by the way.  We laughed so hard we cried at some parts.  Riley did awesome; she slept.  Hannah had so much fun, and we all had fun just watching her.   We drove home around 11 pm.  It's such a great way to spend a family day together.  I'm not going to say it's the cheapest thing you can do, but it sure is fun.   

Hannah slept til about 730 Christmas morning.  It's a good thing she didn't sleep much later than that, we would've had to wake her up!  Her stuff from Santa was all laid out, unwrapped, as well as the rest of her gifts.  Santa brought Hannah a bike, a dollhouse and a pillow pet.  

Checking out her new bike in the kitchen.

Hannah explaining how it works to David.

Opening gifts.

Grandma Moon liked her apron.

She decided to help open Grandma and Papa's gift.

Hannah and her Tag Reader.

Hannah and David playing with David's slot cars.

Hannah's dollhouse. 

This is the mirror that David and I decorated for Hannah.

Overall, Hannah had a great christmas.  It was so much fun watching her open gifts and get so excited over them.  She got lots of little stuff, the kind of stuff that Hannah loves: makeup, books, jewelry, crayons and coloring books.  I've asked her what her favorite gifts are but they change every time I ask.  I think I like that best though.  Yesterday we spent the day at my grandma's and then the evening at my mom's house.  When it was all said and done, Hannah got Tinkerbell shoes, another pillow pet,  a bath mat that she can color over and over agian, a Tinkbell bed tent, Tag Reader books, a medical kit, some clothes, Tinkerbell statues, a play doh maker, a gum maker, two Barbie dolls and a play house, which I'll post about later.  

Cernock Girl's Trip to Southern Illinois

Before we left, I was very anxious about my trip to Amy and Tom's.  Actually, I was anxious about the 13 hour drive to their house with Hannah.  It's not that Hannah is a bad passenger but I mean 13 hours, come on now!  I don't like being in the car for that long.  Plus, I knew it would be hard for me to help Hannah with anything she might want/need help with since I was the only other person in the car.  We managed though, and pretty darn well.  

She got one new toy before we left, the one she's playing with in this picture.  It's a LeapFrog ABC game.  I like how she has her leg propped up on her knee.  

My new found love, way better than Starbucks!!!  And cheaper.  I recently tried the Chai Tea Monster which was very good too.

Hyped up from Monster.  That's why I'm smiling.

Such a good little passenger.

This was the front passenger seat, I was as prepared as any mom could be.

Like I said, the drive went a lot smoother than I thought.  We only stopped three times, not counting the stop off at Gretchen's for a few hours.  Hannah took a long nap.  We didn't stop for food, we had enough snacks to hold us over.  Of course, she had plenty to eat at Gretchen's house.  I pulled out of my driveway at 630 and pulled into Amy and Tom's driveway at 930ish.  This includes 3 hours stop at Gretchen's.  

Jammbas Ranch

Out in Cedar Creek, there's a place called Jammbas Ranch.  I've heard about it all my life but I've never been there.  Overall, I'm happy with our decision to go out there.  It was inexpensive, but slightly cheesy in a tourist trap kind of way.  However, Hannah had the best time.  She loved running around feeding the different animals.  She became very protective over her pail of bread.  

Checking out the turtle

She really enjoyed feeding the goats.

Checking out the pig, that turned out to be privately owned.  Apparently, you weren't supposed to feed this one.  

More goats.

Charlie, the loose llama.  

Hannah and her pail of bread.

Feeding the white tail deer.  

Looking at the elk with daddy.

Me and the goats.  

This goat go stuck in the fence.  David couldn't walk away with it's head and stuck and the goat couldn't get unstuck on it's own.  So, David helped, which turned out to be harder than David thought.  

The long, swinging bridge that was more tricky to walk across than we thought.  It was alright to start out, but then it got a little freaky.  

Cheese

Amy decided to feed the buffalo, which proceeded to lick her and really freak her out.  

The bear, I actually felt a little sorry for him.