Weekend in London

Paul and I left the kiddos with their Mema and GG for the weekend and took off for London for a long weekend.  We got to visit with family and went to an Arsenal game.  Of course I forgot to take pictures during our family visits, but we did get pictures of the game.  It was lovely to see everybody though and next time we will go for longer and bring the kids - who can not wait to see their Grandma, Papi, Sarah, Lindel & kiddos!!

So going to Emirates stadium for Paul was like Christmas, his birthday and every other holiday combined.  It was a great experience and lot of fun.  Arsenal won 3-0 and Van Persie scored a hat trick.

The stadium has it's own tube stop.  Everybody getting off has their arsenal gear on.  I bought the red hat for the occasion.

So the gate is to separate the away fans from the home fans after the game.  Apparently, they do not get along so well.  Funny, before the game we asked a security guard for a pub to go to since we were there so early.  He made sure we were Arsenal supporters before telling us the pub.  He said if you are not Arsenal fans then you should not go.

This is what you see when you come out of the tube.

Paul in front of the stadium

 The pitch

Austin Staycation!

Very late post.

The week after Christmas Paul had off and we decided to have a little vacation in the Austin area.  We grilled outside a lot, took the kids to tons of parks, went to San Antonio for the day, took Charlie to ride his new bicycle, and took the kids to the movies!  It was Kate's first movie at the cinema and she did great.

Pictures of what we hope to be our annual Austin staycation!

Charlie on his new big boy bike.  Since we live on a very steep hill, we have to put the bike in the car and take him where it is flat to ride his bike.

At Kate's first theatre experience!  She loved it.  Popcorn definitely helped keep her occupied.  She loved it though.

Charlie is an old pro now.  Even though it was a princess movie, he still enjoyed it.  He was very excited to see previews for a new Cars movie and Kung Fu Panda II.

Our visit to San Antonio was awesome.  We went to the children's museum which was so wonderful.  They had a plane and control tower area with real plane seats in it and pilot caps for the kids to play with.  The whole basement of the museum was a grocery store, complete with little carts, aisles of food, and a checkout area with registers.  Charlie and Kate loved it.  Then we enjoyed lunch outside on the riverwalk in the 70 degree weather and a boat ride down the river.  Great day!

Charlie in the cockpit of the plane

Charlie giving directions while Kate flies the plane.

At the supermarket

Kate was very picky with what food she decided to put in her cart

Time to check-out

 Boat ride down the river

Christmas Day

On Christmas Day we had Mema, Uncle Keith and Aunt Merry over for appetizers, dinner and drinks.  While Kate napped we decided to introduce Charlie to the movie Elf.  Our very favorite holiday movie.

Watching Elf

 Charlie showing Aunt Merry his new superhero pop-up book

My two boys snuggling and eating Brie

 Charlie opening his new Toy Story tent from Aunt Merry

Kate opening her new princess costume, complete with purse, high-heels, jewelry, magic wand, purse and gloves from Aunt Merry

All decked out in princess attire with Mema

Charlie picked out his own Christmas gifts for people this year.  Uncle Keith got a football alarm clock.

Aunt Merry had to have leopard print high-heels from Target.

 Kate snuggling her Uncle.

Santa came!

Christmas morning right before mayhem.  Carrying on my family's tradition, Santa toys/presents are not wrapped.  The kids are not allowed to see the living room until we all go out together, which meant sleepover in Mommy and Daddy's room.  Charlie would not go to sleep Christmas Eve, which made for a fun time trying to get everything out under the tree before Paul and I could go to sleep.

The other Jones family tradition we are continuing is we open our stockings from Santa on our bed.  I love it!

Charlie & Daddy holding up their new bookmarks and mints from Santa in their stockings.  After opening his stocking Charlie could not believe how thoughtful Santa was and how well he knew him.  He wanted to call him right then to say thank you.

Kate playing with her new laptop

 Reading their new books

 Opening her new baby clothes for her baby

Playing with his new Batman cave

It was a book filled Christmas thanks to Grandma, Papi and Sarah!  They gave the children so many books for Christmas.  This is not even all of them. Thank you!  They love them.

Kate playing with her new dollhouse.

 Feeding her baby in her baby's new highchair

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve we went over to Mema's house for our traditional Italian seafood dinner.  Mema made a TON of food, and the kids each got to open one present from Mema.  They also had stockings there to open which was fun.

Charlie opening his stocking

 Charlie and the Christmas tree

 Charlie opening up his rocket ship

 Kate showing Daddy her new Abby Cadabby

When we got home we made sure to leave the cookies and milk out for Santa!

Don't Break the Ice!

Our babysitter Sarah gave Charlie the game Don't Break the Ice for Christmas.  The kids, Mema, Uncle Keith and Aunt Merry had a ball playing.  Even Kate was able to play.

Gingerbread House

This year for the first time the kids and I made a gingerbread house.  I let go of all my controlling instincts, gave them each a side of the house, and let them decorate it however they liked.  They loved it!

The front

Charlie's side

 Kate's side