2003
"Over the river and through the woods to Grammy and Poppop's house we go..."
We left on Tuesday to spend a week with Schuyler's family in Lake Charles. The girls had lots of fun at Grammy and Poppop's house...and with their uncles. Caroline quickly found the ice skating pond...and Bethany discovered one of Grammy's favorite hobbies. She looks like she's serious...at this point, she just likes writing letters in the boxes having no idea how to read or know what's supposed to go in the boxes!
Christmas Eve day in LC was sunny and cool. The girls enjoyed playing outside; Caroline worked on her movie star poses. Bethany still has fun playing with Daddy's old toys - as usual, they covered the floor of the den. We attended Christmas Eve service and came home for a light dinner. Papaw and Grandma had shipped their gifts from San Antonio, so we decided to pace the gift-opening and open those gifts Christmas Eve. Bethany was delighted with her new Barbie and Caroline's Veggietales addiction was further fed with more videos and books. Even with an understanding of Santa, Bethany didn't necessarily buy into the idea. We all had to encourage her to set out cookies, but she wasn't particularly excited about it. With the girls tucked in bed, the rest of us teleconferenced with Kenton and Kerry in TN for the annual reading of the Deitch's version of the Night Before Christmas.
The girls awoke to find slippers from Santa and other goodies in their stockings (However, Bethany was adamant that Uncle Will ate the cookies and the gifts were from her friend, Mackenzie...whatever...). The rest of the "Christmas Tree" commenced after breakfast. The girls' loved Will's new duck pants. Daddy helped Bethany work her drill to take apart her new Hummer. The adults enjoyed a wonderful Christmas dinner in the early afternoon. The girls were supposed to be watching a movie, but Caroline had had just too much Christmas...You may remember the matching Penguin outfits Grammy made a few years ago. On Christmas evening, we all went over to see Uncle Will's new bachelor pad. He occupies the upstairs of an old home that is spacious, yet cozy. The girls quickly found the golfing cubby hole, as well as other room, passages, and a duck bathroom to explore. You never know what will happen with crazy Uncle Will, so by the end of the evening, all of us, including Poppop were dancing the Chicken dance (yes, we have video!).
"Look, Mom, no hands!" More sunny weather after Christmas...Bethany helped with her first 500-piece puzzle. You won't be surprised to learn she actually fit a few pieces. Kenton and new fiancé, Kerry, arrived from her home in TN on Saturday, which meant....another round of presents. Yea! The girls had fun with even more people around to entertain them
The whole family went to church Sunday morning, so we recruited a friend passing by to snap the family photo. Schuyler's longtime friend, Adam, was in town with his family. We were glad to spend a little time with Betsy and baby Kate, as well. Caroline gets jealous when Mommy holds another baby, but she gradually thought Kate was alright after all.
"The Pond" - Anytime the girls went outside, they HAD to through rocks in the pond in Grammy's backyard. I could have posted 20 pictures of them each day throwing rocks in the pond. It's a surprise neither of them fell in. One day we even drove downtown where Bethany could throw rocks in the big "pond" (aka Lake Charles). Kids and water...go figure.
We had an uneventful drive home Monday afternoon. Schuyler didn't have to go back to work for another week, so we all enjoyed a break before getting back into the routine!
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