Tuesday, December 22, 2009

March of the Penguins

This past weekend was our third annual trip to what my side of family has come to call - The Penguin House. It's the weekend before Christmas where we spend an entire weekend together to celebrate Christmas - yes, thirteen of us, under one roof for four days. The house is located in Galena, Illinois at Eagle Ridge Resort and was dubbed the Penguin House the first year because of the two large ceramic penguins that sit all year around on the mantle. The following year, we each received a smaller penguin figurine, which represents each member of the family.

While together, we spend the weekend visiting, exchanging gifts and of course eating constantly! It has snowed every year we've been there and we decided to bring a sled this year for Logan (as opposed to the makeshift box we turned into a sled last year). Unfortunately, the snow was a bit iced over and Logan hated the noise because it was so loud. So, he walked with the rest of us like a big boy.
We thought he'd have fun exploring in the snow, but were clearly wrong as you can see...

While he wasn't a fan of sitting in the snow, he loved sitting on the penguin door mat munching on a huge icicle - real safe, huh? He was pretty upset when we told him it was time to head inside.
My mom will be 50! the day after Christmas and we threw her a SURPRISE party while were there! If you know my mom, this was a huge task planning a party without her knowing! It was a success though! :)
It was really fun opening presents with Logan this year. He of course wasn't lacking in the gift receiving department and it isn't even Christmas yet!

For the first time, we built a gingerbread house too, which Logan received earlier in the week from his Great Grandad Ernie and GiGi Vi. We had a great time decorating eating it and it was a festive centerpiece for Christmas dinner!

The boys even built us a cute little snowman! We had fun changing his hat and accessories throughout the weekend.

And here's our cutie pushing around one of his favorite gifts of the weekend - a popper lawn mower. Loud and obnoxious; easy to push and durable - the perfect gift for our little toddler!


2 comments:

Alli Garlich said...

so cute, Sara! What do your shirts say in that pic with your mom? We have those same "Bear Bum" jammies and so stinkin cute!

Sara said...

The shirts say "Halfway to the Smucker's Jar!" because my mom loves the Smucker's Jar thing on the the Today show and is always talking about it...it seemed appropriate for her! :)