Thanksgiving (part 1)

We had a criminal amount of fun in Texas during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend-- but what else can you expect from getting Charlotte, Sonia, and Peter together?  Of course we endured the typical toy tussles, random toddler crabbiness, the attack of a tummy bug, and travel-related sleep issues, but nothing out of the ordinary.  Here are a few highlights from the first part of the visit:

I still get a kick out of watching Sonia happily pull her Thomas suitcase through the airport!

Watching a dvd on the airplane while clutching her beloved Brobee:

Finally in Texas-- cousin convention!  My parents' gently sloping driveway was perfect for riding bikes and, oddly enough, pushing lawnmowers.

Swinging on the porch swing that my grandfather made is always a big hit with the kids!

Bestest buddies!

My mom had a bunch of cool gourds displayed on the table, and they became some of the kids' favorite toys this holiday.

Sonia's first experience on a big wheel....  Her legs need to get just a teeny bit longer!

Andrew, I think Petey's tricycle is a wee bit too small for you!

Helping Grandma JoJo out with the gardening:

My mom had her Christmas tree up already, and we thought it was funny to see the kids in bathing suits (we were about to go for a swim in the hot tub) standing in front of it. 

Pizza-Pie and two of his favorite things: Grandpa "Bike" and a pillow pet (AKA a "bubba"):

A rousing game of ring-around-the-rosie while we were waiting for Andrew to finish up cooking Thanksgiving dinner:

Oh, Charbunkle!

The feast!  Andrew cooked about 80% and my mom cooked the other 20%.  Thank you so much for a really, really yummy Thanksgiving dinner, you two!!

Going on a gnome hunt

I know, I know, I talk constantly about how much I love the Morton Arboretum.  But come on-- who else thinks of hiding 15 gnomes throughout the children's garden and encouraging kids to brave the cooler temperatures by hunting for those gnomes?  Even stego got in on the act after he ate half of the plants in the garden.

Of course, Sonia thought that gnome hunting was seriously awesome.  And we loved watching her get excited about each one that we found!

Re-imagined Fashion

My fabulous second cousin (first cousin once removed? she's my mom's first cousin's wife....), Susan, knitted this fabulously beautiful maroon sweater for The Great Sosini when she was just a wee little baby.  One of the times Sonia wore it was the day I took her to meet Santa Claus the first time. 

Fashion has taken a turn for the awesome with the popularity of cute cropped sweaters and sleeves that are shorter than the sleeves on the shirts worn underneath.  When I realized that the body of the sweater still fits Sonia (thanks to the style and stretchiness of the sweater), I put together this outfit:

Sosini looks pretty darn trendy, in my opinion!

I'm sure when Susan knitted this sweater, she had no idea Sonia would still be wearing it two whole years later!  Thank you again for this wonderful gift, Susan....  Handmade gifts are so special, and when they are as exquisite as this sweater, they are simply priceless.

Arboretum Adventures with Stego

The Great Sosini has recently developed a sincere love for dinosaurs, and she especially likes carrying them around the neighborhood with Daddy, letting them "eat" various plants.  When we went to the arboretum yesterday morning to take advantage of possibly the last day in 2011 with semi-decent weather, Sonia brought her new stegosaurus along for an adventure.  He must have loved the veritable buffet of different plants that the arboretum provided for his snacking pleasure!

Adventures in haircuttery

The Great Sosini's hair was once again heading down the dangerous road toward a mullet, so we decided it was time to chop a bit more of the back and give the sides a chance to catch up.  For fun, I ponied up the couple of extra dollars to take Sosi to a fun kids' hair salon.  The hair stylist took one look at Sonia's pink shirt, figured that she had a girly-girl on her hands, and led us over to this super-cute pink car.

My strategy with Sonia's hair is to avoid cutting bangs until her actual bangs grow to her eyebrows.  The hair that hangs over her forehead right now is the hair that, once it's long and heavy enough, will be hair that hangs down the sides.  If we cut it into bangs, then Sonia's going to have that problem where her bangs start at the back of her head.  Luckily, Sosini's real bangs are actually starting to grow (they're 1/2 inch long now).

Here's another "before" picture....

Sonia was looking around the salon and suddenly, she pointed to this cool black flamed-out car.  "Can I sit in DAT ONE?!" she asked, excitedly.  She thought the flame car was way cooler than the girly pink car.  That's our Sonia!  I'm sure Uncle Corey and cousin Peter, who both own flamed-out shoes, will be proud when they hear this story.

For fun, the hairdresser put a cute little pigtail in Sosini's hair.

Sonia was vaguely interested in The Little Mermaid, the movie that was playing on the TV by the flamed-out car, but when we needed her to look down during part of the haircut, only a Lightning McQueen Matchbox car could hold her attention.

After!

Sosini's hair is almost to the point of being cut in an actual hairstyle!  So exciting.  Andrew and I both have fairly thick hair, so one day, we're going to look back at this time period in amusement.  For now, I'm just enjoying not having to worry too much about Sonia's hair on a daily basis.  It dries very quickly, looks pretty much the same every day, and never gets tangled.  We love our little hair-challenged beauty!

Yum

In this house, we're not afraid of eating batter that contains raw eggs. Sosini is very thankful for that!

Mmmmm....  Ghirardelli dark chocolate brownie mix.... 

Visit from Grandma JoJo & Grandpa Spike (part 3)

The last couple days of the visit from the grandparents were lovely....  On Monday, we visited the arboretum to take in some of the spectacular Midwest fall color.

On Tuesday morning before the grandparents had to head to the airport, we took Sonia to the DuPage Children's Museum for an art class.  She had a blast!

Painting on coffee filters:

Driving cars through colored shaving cream:

Messy!!!!

Painting with salad spinners!

Spraying water on powdered paint:

I love taking Sonia other places to do art....  Way less clean-up on my part!

We had such a wonderful visit....  Thank you so much for coming, Mom and Dad!  We love you!