We had a very long Christmas vacation this year away from home! Because of bad weather our trip home got extended at the beginning AND at the end. We did so many fun things and had a great time seeing lots of family! I thought it would be easier for me to remember everything by breaking it up by days and then posting some pictures in the next blog post. We are in desperate need right now of getting back on a normal schedule. Grady's normal bedtime when we were gone was anytime after 10:30. Luckily he slept in most mornings until 8:00, which is pretty late for him! He also did a good job of taking good naps in the afternoon, which was very necessary! He was begging to go "night night" most afternoons because he was so ready for a nap. He was having way too much fun at night to go to bed and of course didn't even get tired at all until very late at night!
Day 1 (Wed. Dec. 22nd)
Left NP around 1:00 to travel to Paul's parents farm. We weren't scheduled to leave until the next night but because of a possible snow storm we decided to leave early and beat it. FYI: the big storm never really happened, but it was still nice to be there early and start the celebrating! We arrived around 6:00 in time for supper with the whole family and a night of playing games and cards.
Day 2 (Thurs. Dec. 23rd)
Had breakfat at McDonald's in West Point with Uncle Mike in the morning. Went to play at Great-Grandma Betty's & Great-Grandpa Ken's during the morning. The boys LOVE playing in their basement. They have so many fun toys and a big space for them to run around. And Gma Betty loves having them too!
After playing, we made another trip to West Point for lunch at the truck stop, one of Gpa Ron's favorite places, for Godfather's pizza. Came home for naps and then hung out at home that night playing more games.
Day 3 (Fri. Dec. 24th)
Hung out at home in the morning and prepared for Paul's immediate family's Christmas celebration at noon. We ate lunch and then opened presents in the afternoon! The 3 boys (Grady, Isaac, Luke) were so excited to open presents! I got a really cute video of them running around in a circle in front of the tree yelling "Present time!" However, once the present opening started they didn't really care as much for it and kept having to be redirected back to the present opening. They got lots of awesome stuff though!
That night we all went to Christmas Eve mass at 5:00 in Wisner and then headed to Gma Betty's & Gpa Ken's for the Guenther family Christmas that night.
Day 4 (Sat. Dec. 25th)
Santa came! Grady woke up to some cool new things from Santa! A McDonald's drive-thru play set with lots of accessories and a stocking full of goodies!
We slept in because of our late night celebrating the night before and then got ready to head to the Hagedorn family Christmas at noon that day in West Point. (Paul's mom's side of the family.) We left a little early from this Christmas becuase we were heading to Lincoln and Grady was VERY ready for a nap! During present opening he kept coming up to me and whining "I night night!" "I night night!". He fell asleep on Paul's lap during presents, which is VERY not like him. We can't ever get him to even sit on our laps for more than 2 seconds so he must have been a tired little boy from all of the partying we had been doing!
So, we left for Lincoln and had a nice supper at my Aunt Shari's house with some family who was there. Most importantly, baby Noah (my cousin Heather's baby), who is about 4 months old. This was the first time we got to see him in person so it was a fun night!
Day 5 (Sun. Dec. 26th)
We went to church that morning and then headed over to my Aunt Lori & Uncle Scott's for the Luehring family Christmas (my mom's side of the family). We had a brunch at 10:00 and then of course presents afterwards, and games with the cousins! Gradyn got to play with Madison at this Christmas, which was fun to see him interact with a girl and how different it is from playing with boys all the time.
*Side-note* - During church that morning Grady took a run towards the front of the church and Paul had to chase him all the way to the front and to the side seating that he took off towards. It was quite hilarious, and embarrassing all at the same time! Everyone was laughing and we got quite a few comments about it on the way the car afterwards. That is why we DO NOT allow him to think he can get out of the pew during church. He takes off and doesn't want to come back. He has been so much better about church lately, so we are hoping this was a 1 time fluke!
After the Luehring Christmas we left to go back to Pender and got to hang out with some of Mike's friends who were visiting. We went to eat pizza at Welsh's Pizzeria in Pender and then back to the farm to play some games with them.
Day 6 (Mon. Dec. 27th)
Cassie & I took the boys to Norfolk during the mornning for a little shopping and lunch.
I think we just hung out at the house playing cards and games that night but all of the days are starting to run together so I can't remember for sure! :)
Day 7 (Tues. Dec. 28th)
We took Grady outside in the morning to ride around on the Mule and see the cows. He also got to ride in the tractor with Daddy for a LONG time because Mike & Ben got stuck so they went to pull them out! He LOVES the tractor rides and seeing the cows and Gpa on the farm!
That night Paul, Andy, Cassie, Mike, & I went to Sioux City to a movie and dinner at Texas Roadhouse. It was awesome! Cassie and I even got to squeeze in some shopping at our favorite store, Gap Outlet! :)
Day 8 (Wed. Dec. 29th)
I think we just hung out in the morning and played. We went to Paul's cousin Ben's holiday tournament basketball game in the afternoon. West Point Central Catholic played Homer in Bancroft. Grady did pretty well at the game! I was sweating by halftime from keeping him busy, but he stayed seated with us, which was my worry! It was nice he had his cousins and Gpa to also entertain him.
We then went with a LOT of the Hagedorn family to eat at The Hideaway! Our local fave!
Day 9 (Thurs. Dec. 30th)
Isaac & Luke came to hang out with us for the morning! The 3 boys got to take a bath together for the 2nd time of the week, which they love! We then all went outside to "play" on the farm, which means tractor rides, riding on the mule, and watching the guys work. They love it! It was about 50 degrees so all of the snow was melting and it was a MESS on the farm that day, but we tried to stay out of it the best we could.
We then got to go to the truck stop for lunch again for more Godfather's pizza!
That night most of the family went to Ben's final holiday tourney game while Paul, Grady, and I went in to Pender to hang out with our friends Ryan & Deenna and see their twin babies Oliver and Olive, who are 9 months old. It was fun to see Grady play with the twins because it was a nice change of pace from all of the fighting he does with Isaac & Luke! He was SO NICE to the twins and made sure they always had a toy to play with! Much different than fighting over every toy with his cousins.... :)
We got home in time to see the Husker Bowl game (yuck...).
Day 10 (Fri. Dec. 31st)
This is when we wanted to leave to come back home to NP but decided we better not due to bad weather. We hung out/took naps in the morning on the farm and then went to Beemer to eat lunch at the Hay Barn at noon. This was our laziest day! More naps and hanging out in the afternoon!
Gma Betty & Gpa Ken watched all 3 boys that night so Andy, Cassie, Paul, and I could go out with some of Andy & Cassie's friends to eat and celebrate the New Year! We ate at the Hideaway again, which was awesome! We made it back home in time to see the ball drop and say Happy New Year and then were asleep in bed by 12:15. :) Grady also rung in the New Year and saw the ball drop for the first time! :)
Day 11 (Sat. Jan 1st)
We packed up and drove home and got back around 4:00. Spent the night unpacking, doing laundry, and re-organizing. I already have lots of project planned for us to do this month to get the baby's room ready and figure out where we can store lots and lots and lots of "stuff". Wish us luck! :)
It was an awesome vacation away to hang out and see lots of family! We got to do so many fun things and mostly just hang out with Isaac & Luke, which is good for the 3 boys! They love/hate each other so much! haha! Mostly love, except when someone is taking their toy away!
