Children's Museum in Waco

My Aunt Leanne and Uncle Clay were in town visiting Michelle in Austin and we wanted to make sure we got to spend time together so we met halfway in Waco and wen to the children's museum on campus at Baylor University - Mayborn Museum.  It was myself, my kids, Kimber and Kaitlyn that went to meet Michelle's family, Leanne, and Clay.

While the first floor of the museum was cool it was much more of a traditional museum than a children's museum that has a lot of hands on stuff.  I was sort of worried because it was my idea to meet here and I didn't want it to be a bust.  However, once we got up to the second floor it exceeded my expectations.  There was a ton of fun and interesting stuff to do that all ages enjoyed!

Max playing on a typewriter.  (It made me feel old - - - I had to take a typewriting class in middle school on typewriters and he will only view them as antiques!)

Richard, Michelle, Kimberly, and Kaitlyn better watch out for this crazy driver! :)

Natalie and Kenna

She's been sticking her tongue out a lot lately, I think it's because she's teething

Coolest bubble toys ever!

See how the bubble is sucked towards Max as he takes a deep breath in?  So cool.

Blowing out

This is the only picture I have of Leanne (I can't believe we didn't get a group photo!) and all you can see is part of her behind Michelle

Kimber, Kait, and Kenna

Emmalyn got lots of love from Natalie (and Kenna)

Kenna holding Emmalyn (This totally would have been me at that age - drawn to any baby)

Maxwell, Kait, and Emmalyn

After the museum, we went to Chuy's for some mexican food.  It was so wonderful to get to spend time with all of them.  They are such important and special people to me and I am grateful for them in my life (just wish we all didn't live so far away!)

Back home with daddy

My happy boy

Playing Monopoly deal

Sizing each other up (this competition was fierce!)

One day of Christmas vacation can be filled with so much fun!

Kaitlyn made notes for both Max and Emmalyn.  She's so sweet.  Maxwell doesn't call her Kaitlyn.  Instead, he calls her Shelly Belly. (Her middle name is Michelle and I don't quite remember where the Belly part came in.)

Playing another game Maxwell got for Christmas

We got into the costume box and played dress up

Max is a fan of all sunglasses, even when they are blinged-out girlie ones.

All of us went to Costco, walking around with that many people can get crazy in Costco!

Playing at the part to get out some energy.  The weather was nice enough for just jackets until the sun went down.

Video - Maxwell doesn't have any interest in sitting in a swing like you normally do.  Instead, whenever he plays on swings, he does this.

Hayden, Maxwell (dressed up like a police officer), Kaity, Kimberly, and Emmalyn

I love this pic!

We came back home and warmed up with hot chocolate. Maxwell actually drank it!  He usually won't eat any food that has warmth to it.

Maxwell was excited to get a DVD from Aunt Aja in the mail

Emmalyn got this cute little pig that vibrates

I think it made her a little nervous at first so she held onto me

2014 Christmas Card

Enjoying Christmas Break

It's so nice to be able to spend more than just a weekend together hanging out and having fun.  It was an added bonus to be able to have Kaity and Kimberly here too.

We spent time playing with toys and keeping Emmalyn away from the toys...

Since we never really dressed up on Christmas, the kids put on their Christmas outfits the day after Christmas.  :)

Cute kids but they wouldn't look at me

Uh oh, we've lost her attention

Max tried to hold her but it just made her mad.  It's so hard to get a good picture of them both!

Let's take a break and try again...

The best picture I've got...wish Maxwell was smiling more

Now I wish Emmalyn was smiling more

...and right back to wishing Maxwell was smiling more.

Just can't win.  !

We took our kids and Kaitlyn to cici's pizza.  She took Maxwell to the arcade to play games.  It was cute.

After pizza, we drove around and looked at some of the Christmas lights in the neighborhood.  These two had a great time together and were cracking each other up.

Kaitlyn made pictures for both Maxwell and Emmalyn

Kaitlyn, Maxwell, and Hayden working on a puzzle

...Then they moved onto Sequence for kids.   I think it is so great that Maxwell was able to play games with Kaitlyn and it didn't need to be a simple baby game.  They adjusted the rules so that you played whatever card you picked but other than that, it was the real deal.  Proud of my smart kiddo.

Maxwell really enjoyed Kaitlyn and they were often together whether it was playing games or watching movies or something else

Tida and Jason came over to hang with us!  Chef Tida got to work in the kitchen and helped make dinner.

Emmalyn and Jason.  He's so great with my kids - - they love him.

What a fun night with friends, family, and games.

We stayed up until after 2 am playing games.  (Thank goodness that doesn't happen often - I'm too old for that!)  Have you played "heads up" on your phone?  If not, you should.  It's hilarious.

In the morning, Tida made congee (an Asian breakfast dish with rice and eggs).  It was delicious!

We weren't ready for the fun to end so Jason and Tida hung out until late afternoon watching football.  I am so grateful for their friendship!  (And since they live 45 min away they usually put the guest bedroom to use when they are here which is great.)

Not sure why he decided to wear his shirt like this

Joe and Peter trying a drink that you can tell by the look on their faces wasn't good

Poor baby pulled her walking toy on top of her and it cut her nose.  So sad.

I love it when she cuddles

Tired girl fell asleep on me

Emmalyn is pulling up on everything.  She loved to be standing!  However, she's now starting to get into everything - ugh.

When we go to Costco, we have now started giving Emmalyn some of the samples because she would get so mad if she saw one of us eating and not sharing.

Something caught my ear when I was listening to Maxwell - - I noticed that he has started being able to say his "L"s!  (He use to say them as "W"s)  So, for example he said "blue" instead of "bwue".  You can hear him consciously thinking about it when he's talking.  Anyway, I think it's really cool that he just figured it out and I didn't have