Christmas (2011)

With a 3-year (almost 4-year) old, the entire Christmas season came alive...decorating the house, baking cookies, visiting Santa, wrapping gifts, singing carols...it was all amazing with Morgan.

 

   

 

Morgan was a little apprehensive at first meeting Santa but after a few moments of shyness was able to tell him the items on her Christmas list...Curious George Board Game, "Lion" Doll, and a bunny hat.

 

This year we hosted Christmas for the first time.  The entire Brown side of the family (Grandma/Pop-Pop, Aunt Hillary/Uncle Owen/Sohpia/Jackson, and Aunt Stephanie/Uncle Matt/Olivia) came over Christmas Eve for a big family dinner.  We enjoyed every minute of the craziness.  The girls even decorated cookies to exchange with each other and to share with Santa.

Then the Whites and Grandma/Pop-Pop stayed over night (a sleepover in the basement). We had a special treat as Santa visited the neighborhood on a firetruck and handed out candy...Sophia ran outside with her Daddy as Morgan stayed cuddled on the couch with Grandma (screaming that if she saw Santa on Christmas Eve he would not bring any presents). The kids had a bath and set out cookies for Santa/carrots for the reindeer. Pop-pop read the Christmas story and then it was off to bed. Sophia and Morgan were exhausted but super excited for the morning.  It was adorable to see the magic come alive with the two 3-year olds.

Christmas morning was really fun with the three kids...and excitement definitely filled the air, especially as they all climbed the stairs from the basement, crept around the dining room wall, and spotted all the presents under the tree.  Grandma/Pop-Pop brought a tasty breakfast and we all had a great day relaxing with each other.  Morgan received her 3 items from Santa (you can see her wearing the bunny hat below), as well as some items for her new Big Girl Room from Mommy and Daddy!

What an amazing Christmas it was...we can't wait until next year to celebrate with a 4-year old and a 7-month old.  :)

Fall (2011)

We always love the fall and all of the outdoor activities that go along with the season.   

But this year our first activity was actually to enjoy the summer a little longer by taking our family trip to Florida.  We met our friends the K's down there and had a great week split between Tampa (beach/Busch Gardens) and Orlando (SeaWorld) using our wonderful "Grover" hopper passes from Sesame Place...they definitely paid off this year.  :)

After our extra week of summer, we embraced the fall, starting with our annual apple picking at our favorite orchard...Solebury in Bucks County.  Morgan's friend Kyran and his family joined us this year and we had a lot of fun playing on the hayride, running through the tree paths and snacking on their delicious cider doughnuts. 

We visited Sesame Street Place to enjoy their Count's-Spooktakular Halloween Festival...Morgan and her friend Kaya had a great time at the park dressed up in their costumes (Morgan decided to wear her ladybug from last year and Kaya was a purple dragon), trick or treating, riding rides, and enjoying the themed activities.

In October we celebrated Cousin Olivia's 2nd birthday in Carlisle.  Her party was a costume party... Morgan wore her witch costume and Mommy was her black cat.



Morgan had a lot of fun with Halloween this year...3 yrs is a great age to enjoy everything.  We went pumpking picking at our organic farm (Longview).  School had a costume parade again.  And we all had a great time trick or treating around the neighborhood.  Morgan was so cute in her witch costume! 

We ended the fall with a trip to Chicago for Thanksgiving to spend some time with the Reineke side of the family.  We had a great week and got to spend time with Papa and Grandma Key, Aunt Andrea and "Uncle" John, Uncle Tyler, Tanta, GG Princess, and Mommy's FL7 friends (and their bunch of boys).  We were so excited to announce to everyone our upcoming arrival in a 6 short months...hard to believe how fast that time has flown...and now we are already down to 3 weeks.