Aidan's trip into Chicago

For Christmas this year, we gave Aidan a big boy trip into Chicago. He was very excited. We took him on the Sunday and Monday after Christmas. It was a last minute decision as to when we would go, so we were scrambling a little to get everything organized. We had to drop Payton off at the puppy hotel on Saturday because they don't have drop-offs on Sunday. We packed a bag for Carson to go to Grandma Jeanne's and a bag for the other 3 of us to go to Chicago. We made it into Chicago about 2PM on Sunday and were lucky that our room was already ready. We took our bags up and then headed out for some Michigan Ave shopping! We stayed at the Embassy Suites and Aidan was pretty excited to have his own room and bed!

Aidan was such a trooper. We walked a couple of miles up and down Michigan Ave. We found some great sales (mostly for Mommy :-) ) and then of course hit some Aidan's new favorites....the Hershey Store and Garretts Popcorn! Aidan loved his Hershey Hot Chocolate! He loved walking around and looking at all of the people. He thought all the honking was pretty funny!

Here is Aidan on Michigan Ave. It was pretty cold, but we bundled up and walked quickly!

Aidan and Daddy

Aidan and Mommy

We visited Aidan's new favorite store...Hersheys. We all got a hot chocolate to help us warm up. Yummy! I think Aidan ended up wearing half of it as we walked down Michigan but it was fun and that is why you buy kids washable coats!

Aidan in front of the horses.

After some shopping in the afternoon, we went back to the hotel to relax a little before dinner. For dinner, we took Aidan to the ESPN Zone. We had a great dinner while watching the exciting football games. After dinner we went upstairs to play some games.

Aidan played the baseball pitch game. He was pretty accurate and threw it to the catcher but didn't have much speed so it didn't always register! So needless to say, that game lasted quite a while until the batter was out!

Aidan liked the motorcycle game!

After playing some games, we headed back to the hotel. We had planned to get a in-room movie, but Aidan fell asleep by 8 and then slept until we woke him up the next morning at 8:45! He was tired!

Aidan really liked the wishing well/fountain at the hotel.

Monday we had a great breakfast at the hotel. Aidan thought the Omelet bar was pretty neat!


After breakfast we checked out of the hotel and headed to Build-A-Bear. Aidan was so excited to make his own bear. He looked on the website before we went and already decided that he wanted to make an Alvin (from the Chipmunks).



Aidan liked the stuffing machine. He thought it was pretty neat.

Well it is winter here, so we decided Alvin needed a hat and scarf.

Part of the package from the hotel included a Build-A-Bear outfit from the hotel. Here is Alvin in his Embassy robe and slippers. It also came with make believe soap, lotion, shower cap, etc. All the things an animal needs for a hotel stay!

Aidan and his new buddy.

Aidan decided Carson needed a bear too, so we chose this one for Carson. The hotel had a bear kit waiting for us in our room and they gave us one during check-in, so we gave one to Carson for his bear. Carson's bear also has a Chicago Bears outfit with a helmet and everything!

It was a great 2 day getaway. Aidan had a great time. He was such a big boy, it still surprises me how grown up he has become in just 5 short years. He definitely loved the city. He loved walking around and seeing all the store, people, lights, cars, etc.

On our way back home, we dropped Jason off to go the Chicago Bears Monday night game. It was cold so he had many layers. They played the Vikings and won in overtime. What an exciting game. He didn't get home until about 3AM and was still pretty cold but he says it was worth it!

Carson dancing with Santa

Carson had a great time on Christmas Eve. He especially enjoyed the dancing and singing decorations. The video below shows Carson dancing with Santa. He was very entertaining! When Santa stopped, Carson froze like Santa did. In order to get Santa and Carson going again, we had to push their feet! Carson wouldn't move until we pushed his foot too! I think he gets his moves from his Daddy!!

Super Carson!!

Jason bought Carson some new pajamas that say Dad's lil sidekick. Carson loves these new jammies. They look like a superhero costume, fully equipped with the red cape on the back. Here is Carson showing off his new pjs.

The cape in the back is his favorite. It is not a separate cape, just the pjs with the different color in the back.
Aidan and Carson in their jammies.

Aidan. Don't you love those eyes?

Carson showing off his black eye!

Aidan the character!

Aidan discovered Jason's shaving cream the other night. He was pretty cute, but wasn't sure how to get it off. Here he is just sticking his whole face under the faucet.

Another black eye for Carson!!

Well my little Carson has gotten yet another black eye! The other night he was playing with a foam bat. He decided it was a good idea to throw it in the air. He looked up to catch it and it hit him square in the eye. The picture below shows Carson showing off his new look. What a character! Here is Carson the next morning. Nice and puffy!

Here is his compromise to showing everyone his black eye. Wearing mommy's glasses.

Never a dull day with Carson!

Christmas Day 2009

Merry Christmas!! It was kind of weird looking outside today. Due the rain we have had the last few days, most of the snow has melted. It is about 40 degrees out today so not the normal Christmas weather, but we'll take it!

Here is the before picture. Santa and mommy didn't bother wrapping all of the gifts! I did put on bows though!

Payton has no idea what is going on! She loves the excitement in the air though.
The boys slept in this morning until about 8:30AM and then were ready to go! They came downstairs this morning in their matching Buzz Lightyear Christmas pajamas and tore open their presents. I love this annual picture of the boys coming downstairs and seeing the presents for the first time. Aidan is pointing to his new scooter Santa brought him!

Aidan went right over to his scooter and rode it down the hallway. I am actually quite surprised of the coordination he has on it.

Carson was a little overwhelmed at first. He just kept walking around the tree, not quite sure where to start.

Daddy, Santa ate all of my cookies! Can I eat the crumbs?

Carson in front of his new "snuggle chair". Jason has a lounge chair that he sits in most of the time. Carson has recently started to take "daddy's chair". We thought he was ready for his own and when we found a Toy Story themed chair, it was a must! Notice the chair, PJ's and Buzz lightyear doll all match. Carson loves Toy Story right now!!

I love how excited the boys get opening presents. They are very appreciative and really inspect things over. They don't just go on to grab the next one. Aidan loves Christmas!! He got everything on his Santa list this year. (Scooter, art projects and Legos)

new CD's and activities/projects from Grandma and Grandpa Geis. Grandma knows how much the boys like listening to music, especially when it is time to go to bed. It helps them wind down.

Carson loves his new Elmo "CD" player.

The boys did well this year. Aidan received a scooter, art projects and Legos from Santa. Carson got his Buzz and Thomas items from his Santa letter. It was a Toy Story Christmas this year! Carson got a new Toy Story fold out kids couch, Buzz, Woody, Slinky (the dog), Army Men (from Toy Story), new pj's, new CD's (he loves music) remote control car and a DVD. Aidan got some games, new Wall-E game for his V-Motion, DVD's, Bakugan's, a kids's Snuggie (Car's themed) and new pjs. They both got new Art Easels from Grandma and Grandpa Geis along with paint, markers and paper.


We bought the boys Buzz Lightyear gloves. They light up and have various saying when you raise your hand in the sky just like Buzz!

After present opening, we had the boys' favorite, Monkey Bread for breakfast. We watched one of their new DVD's (Night of the Museum 2) and relaxed a little.

Due to the storm the days before Christmas, Jason's grandparents road leading to their house was not driveable, we are hosting Christmas dinner today. We put the turkey in the oven and now we wait the several hours for it to cook!


Carson chilling in his new snuggle chair.

They boys are happily playing with their new toys and watching another new DVD, Scooby Doo! Jason is enjoying the 24 hours of The Christmas Story on TV! What a great day so far!






Later in the evening:

This was the table as we were getting ready to sit down for dinner.

Jason carving the turkey. 2 years in a row Christmas Day has been at our house. Watch out, we might figure out what we are doing! I think Jason and I make a good hosting team. It was a nice relaxing day complete with lots of eating and drinking.

Christmas dinner turned out great and we all ate way too much!

Round 2 for presents:

The boys opened more presents from Grandma and Grandpa Grey and got some great presents.
Carson got a new "David" book. He loves all the No David! books. He has them all memorized.

Carson also got some new clothes, snow boots, blocks, and PlayDoh.

Aidan got his Leap Frog tag reading system he has been wanting along with a new pair of snow pants and new clothes. He also got a new microscope to look at bugs a little closer!

The boys will be kept busy for a long time playing with the new toys! I love that Aidan gets just as excited for a new sweater as he does for new Bakugans. Both boys were very appreciative and had a great Christmas!

We are winding down the day by watching Home Alone in some new Christmas pajamas and then off to bed. Everyone is tired! Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Christmas Eve 2009

The Grey boys have been very excited for Christmas this year. They have been counting down the days until they could tear open their presents. As posted in a previous post, Carson got a little anxious!!
Traditionally, Christmas Eve is spent at Jason's parents house eating a traditional Swedish dinner, complete with ham, swedish meatballs, lingonberries, rice pudding and more! This was a tradition that Jason's Grandpa Grey started many years ago. This year we had to go with plan B. In the days before Christmas Eve, we had a huge storm go through that had everything from rain to ice/hail to snow. During the ice storm, Jason's parents lost power and are still without power as of Christmas Day. Luckily, their good friends who normally join us for dinner, volunteered their home for the cooking and hosting this year. Thanks JB and Lani!!

Dinner was great and the boys had a good time playing with their cousins and Bianka (JB's granddaughter). Carson, who doesn't normally eat much, had 2 pieces of ham and later while we were eating dessert, had 2 hot dogs.

After dinner and dessert we went to Sinnissippi Park to see the annual Festival of Lights one more time. It was a little strange going through the park while it was raining....actually it was pouring! The boys got home and went right to bed in fear that Santa would stop and see that they weren't sleeping and skip our house! Aidan was up until 10PM last night and he was VERY worried about being up so late! Santa had quite the weather to go through last night. We had a constant rain and high winds.
Here is Aidan snuggling with JB's dog, Molly. Luckily she was pretty mellow, Aidan likes to get right in there!

Carson liked JB's singing animals and trees. They all sang a different Christmas song.

Carson's favorite dancing tree.

The boys with their cousins Abby and Hunter.

It was a change in plans from normal tradition, but it turned out great. Thanks again to Lani and JB for opening their house to all of us and our crazy kids!

Aidan tells Carson about Santa

I overheard the following conversation between Aidan and Carson earlier today (Christmas Eve):
Aidan said:
"Santa comes around on special nights. It is called Christmas Eve. And if you hear something tonight on the roof, do you know what it is....don't wake up! If you hear it, stay in bed. Santa has a very long beard. He can jump from his reindeer.

"Tonight we have to put out cookies for Santa. If we don't put out cookies, he won't leave presents. Don't eat the cookies Carson! If you see cookies in the front room, don't eat them! Santa drinks milk too." Carson asked "What kind of milk does he drink?" Aidan responded "I think he usually drinks regular milk, but we are going to give him organic milk or special milk (soy milk) because that is all we have."

He takes his big brother role very seriously and makes sure Carson knows all the details!

My very generous Aidan

I have always been aware of what a nice and caring boy Aidan is. He is always very affectionate toward others, especially little ones. He loves to snuggle and gives great hugs and kisses. He is full of "I love yous" and is constantly telling it everyone around him. I was reminded what a good little boy he was today.
Aidan had his Christmas party for his Kindergarten class today. I was one of the room helpers who signed up. Let me create a mental picture for you. 20 Kindergartners trying to make individual gingerbread houses. Each child got graham crackers, frosting, candies, M&Ms, candy canes, etc. It was a messy and fun project for all. After that project, they kids each got 2 cookies and then some take home goodie bags. I was helping one of the other moms clean up after the party was over. We were packing up the extra treats in Ziploc bags so the kids could take home what they didn't eat. I overheard one of the other moms asking Aidan if he would like to take his leftovers home with him. He said "Yes, I would like to share this with my brother". Even the mom was a little shocked! Normally, kids don't share sweets like that with anyone! I can honestly say that I don't think Carson would have been so generous with Aidan.
So I was very happy with Aidan as we were leaving but not sure if he would go through with it. We picked up Carson from preschool and sure enough, the first thing Aidan said to him once we got back into the car....."Carson, I have a cookie for you". He also shared his M&M's with Carson too.
I am continued to be shocked by Aidan's generosity and hope it continues throughout his life. I think a lot of people can benefit from someone like him.

Weekend in Chicago

This past weekend Jason and I went into Chicago to celebrate our anniversary as we try to do each year. This year we stayed at the Embassy Suites (gotta love the free breakfast!). We went to Texas de Brazil for dinner. It was unbelievable. We ate so much, we had no room for dessert. But we took some with us for later!
I love going to Chicago around the Holidays as it is so festive and there are so many people around. I love walking down Michigan Avenue and people watching. You never know who you are going to see. This year we saw a tap dancer/performer and several saxaphone players. I also, of course, love the shopping too. This year, we bought out the Disney store. Carson has been watching Toy Story nearly nonstop. So we are doing a Toy Story Christmas. He is getting a little Toy Story couch, Buzz stuffed animal, Slinky animal, and many more. We left with 2 big bags for the boys and only a few things for Jason and I.
here is the view from our hotel room. it is right off of Ohio and a few blocks off Michigan. Perfect location for walking around downtown.

I love all the lights on Michigan Avenue!

More Lights!

Yep, you guessed it..more lights!

The big Christmas tree.

We came back Sunday evening and had to get ready for the week...back to reality. It is always nice to get away and have adult conversations without being constantly interrupted by the boys trying to say something. It amazes me that we have been married for 8 years now. The time has just flown. Love you honey!