Christmas Highlights

Wow, I can't believe it has come and gone.  I remember as a child the let down of the day after Christmas.  However, as a parent I couldn't wait for the stuff to be down, the house to be clean, and telling the kids there is no excuse to be bored with so many new things to play with.  Here are a few pictures of the seasonal fun.

At our extended Barlow Family Christmas Party we had a "Beach" themed Christmas.  Hence the reason for Gavin's Hawaiian shirt and Santa's beachwear.  It was a fun time.  Sadly, my camera died right after Gavin.

Christmas Eve at Grandma and Grandpa Hickok's house.  Each year we have a dinner of deli meats and cheeses, shrimp (this year they were JUMBO shrimp - too bad I don't eat them), chips, dip, salads, and wassail.  It was delicious, like always.  We then played Christmas BINGO, exchanged a few gifts, watched Claymation Christmas, talked about favorite Christmas memories then it was time for home.  Our kids exchanged and opened sibling gifts on Christmas Eve, put out milk and cookies, then fell asleep way too late because they were excited.

                                              Here are the kids with Grandma and Grandpa.

 Camberlyn got a Tinkerbell playhouse set.  I think the pieces are a bit small and I'm sure she'll lose them soon, but she loves it.  She got so many fun things and didn't get a chance to play with it all before bed that as she was going to bed on Christmas night she was just crying, "I want to look at my stuff."

 Gavin got a double-light saber (like Darth Maul)- this was a surprise- he didn't know he was getting it.

This is a cool Cars puzzle that has a track in it, so when it's all put together these wind-up cars can go along the track.

 Jackson got a kit to make bouncy balls.  It's so easy to do and they have lots of fun doing it.

Each of the boys also got an excavation kit to reveal gemstones in Jackson's kit and a dinosaur fossil in Gavin's kit.  It took lots of work and patience, but it kept them busy for a long time and they dug everything out within a couple of days.

Gavin also got these cool dinosaur eggs that will hatch in a couple of days.  In fact, as I'm posting this a few have already popped open.  It's really cool to come down every morning and see the progress.  Gavin's excited to have a little family of toy dinosaurs.

The kids had a wonderful Christmas and I think they got everything they "really" wanted.