Holiday Travel

We left for the Great Up North on Wednesday afternoon. Much to our surprise we were able to make the drive without any stops! Both children did amazingly well, especially Noelle's bladder! Max had his fussy moments but we threw food at him and he was quiet until his craw was empty.

When we arrived the children opened their Birthday gifts. We, sadly, will not see my family until sometime after Christmas, so this was a weekend of Thanksgiving, Christmas-ish, and Birthday Celebration Weekend. Noelle was very excited to not only open all her gifts, but to tear into all of Max's as well. A learning laptop, amongst a ton of other great presents, was a big hit and she promptly sat next to Granpa attempt to be as grown up as possible. Uncle Alex got the children a mini hockey net. Soon after putting it together Noelle went to take a shot and on her back swing hit Max in the eye. For the rest of the weekend he had a minor black eye. Poor little man! All of Max's gifts had to be "inspected" by Noelle. Luckily, he is too young to care that Noelle bullies her way in and takes over (she comes by it honestly) all. He just smiles and picks up the nearest item and goes on his way!
Thanksgiving morning we headed out to experience some fun in the snow, after Granma put in the 24 pound turkey! Noelle loved sledding and eating snow. Max was not too pleased about the gear he had to wear. It hindred his walking and the little man was not happy unless someone was holding him. One duel sledding attempt resulted in Noelle accidently slamming Max's face into the snow. Poor Max!
We enjoyed an early fabulous Thanksgiving feast, that Noelle had an active hand in preparing, then sadly watched the Lions lose, again. Max loved all the food, especially the mashed potatoes, stuffing and turkey. He ate probably twice what Noelle did! The tryptophan set in and the rest of the day was spent enjoy each other and taking it easy.

The big event on Friday was attending Uncle's first hockey game of the season. Max was more interested in walking around on the metal bleachers and trying to menace everyone/thing in sight. Noelle liked watching the players rushing by. We did not make it to the end of the game because both children began to fall asleep. The Mercy Rule was upheld at the end of the second period so we did not miss much. Alex's team won 12-0.

Saturday we took the children out to Granpa's friend's house to see some horses. Noelle had no fear and absolutely loved it! A ride on a snowmobile was also part of the visit. Noelle seemed to enjoy it and Max loved it, crying when it was over. She has been talking about the horses, Honey Bear and Moe, since returning home.
We all had such a great long weekend. Here are a few more pictures, including a few with the children playing with a big TV box, that was a big success. Oh, the simple things that little ones find joy in!