A Happy Holiday

The Christmas holiday has come and gone and all that remains is the mess and the memories. We had 7 of our family members come to visit, so our house was full to the brim. On Monday, my sister, Deanna came into town from Colorado. She got to witness Chloe at Mommy & Me pre-school and at gymnastics. My parents, Chloe's BeBe and PaPaw arrived on Wednesday from Texas and Matt's brother, Rob, and our sister-in-law and nieces arrived on Thursday to stay for a few days as a stopover on their way to visit family in England.

Chloe loved visiting with her cousins, Bryn and Gemma. A week later she is still running around the house yelling, "Bumpy, Bumpy, Gecko!", a game Bryn and Chloe created. While our nieces were here, we went into NYC to witness the holiday scene and took a carriage ride through Central Park. We also went to the Bronx Zoo for the holiday lights. Chloe had a great time at the zoo and keeps talking about it.


I have to say Christmas morning was a bit overwhelming for Chloe. She had tons of gifts and I think she got a little tired of opening them. She didn't know what to play with first. It was toy overload. Some of her favorite gifts were the Barbie ATM/Bank she got from Grant, her digital camera from Aunt Deanna and Uncle John and her scooter from BeBe and PaPaw. She received lots more gifts than that, but those seem to be the hits right now. However, she is discovering her other toys on a daily basis.

This past Thursday, we decided to head back into the city thinking that the holiday madness would have died down and it would be a bit more calm before the New Year's storm. Ha! We attempted to head to the Museum of Natural History but I think everyone else with children in the tri-state area had the same idea. Chloe loved looking at exhibits, but it was so crowded that we didn't get to see much. She was eagerly anticipating the butterfly exhibit, but it was sold out when we arrived. We will definitely have to take her back in a few weeks when the crowds won't be around.


We will remember our first Christmas in the NE for a long time to come.