Christmas - the rest of it

Cousins!

Wow, the picture taking apparently just went downhill as the season went on. There are hardly any from our time at the Loughman home, but rest assured, much fun was had. Both girls had fun playing with their cousin Brooke, Violet especially. There were moments I didn't know exactly where my children were or what they were doing, but I wasn't particularly worried about it, which is a pleasant place to be. I'm going to have to hire Brooke to come hang out with us for a week this summer so my children can be entertained.

Christmas at the Loughman's involved more presents, lots of good eating, playtime for the girls, some couch-lounging, the start of a new book (Amy Poehler's "Yes Please" - so far excellent, although my reading time has dramatically decreased with the departure of cousin Brooke... come back Brooke!), the bowling alley, the movies ("Into the Woods" - excellent! Fun fact: I played Rapunzel in our high school's version.), and a wine tasting game (I correctly identified four out of six wines - not terrible). It's always a lovely, relaxing time at the Loughman's for Christmas. After doing my own share of hosting, I was just happy to be in someone else's house where I didn't feel the same compulsion to load the dishwasher every three seconds. With a 15-month-old, we kept it fairly low-key. No fancy dinners out, nights didn't stretch too late, we're just in that season. But laid-back seemed to suit everyone else just fine. Until next year!

Burning off some energy at the park.

This guy. That beard.