Christmas Part V and More From Ohio

Oh, we had such a great time in Ohio. I have so missed the kids!! And it was especially great being with them and my own son all playing together. The cousins were terrific with Andrew. Of course, they all wanted to hold him. Brennan kept saying that he wanted to hold A.J. and that he was "tall"...meaning big enough to hold him by himself. Brennan even offered up his blankie and to help change his diaper. Cara loved holding him and walking him around. Emma wanted to take baths with him and wanted to sleep with us too. Anyhow, let's start from the beginning.

When we landed in Columbus and walked out towards baggage claim, I saw Emma peeping out looking for us. Aunt Anh Thu let Andrew hold him even though he hadn't seen her in two months. We proceeded to get our luggage and then embarked upon the hour plus car ride to Centerville. Andrew cried as he was tired and promptly fell asleep several minutes later. Emma was really good about playing with him and trying to keep him happy.

We made it to Centerville and quickly found Cara and Brennan. The girls were so excited to have A.J. (all my sister's family pretty much call him A.J.) open his Christmas presents. We didn't want to let them down so we let him. He did okay opening them, but he was more intrigued by their Christmas tree as it was not barricaded as ours was at home. For Christmas dinner, Rick and Anh Thu made a yummy turducken.

We passed most the time at the Armstrongs just playing with the kids. Cara, Emma, and Brennan love them some shoulders rides especially on Uncle James and Uncle Anh Tuan. Brennan made it known that he did NOT like NiNi to provide him his shoulder rides. :( No fair! Anh Thu also showed us two new games, Rummikub and Shanghai. These provided hours of enjoyment and laughter. The kids also received Rock Band 2 for their Wii. This also provided additional hours of enjoyment and laughter. Cara and Emma were great at vocals; and Brennan wasn't too bad at the drums for a 3 year old! James was really good at the guitar while I wasn't too sucky at the drums. Rick and Anh Tuan were pretty sweet on the guitar and drums respectively.

On Saturday, the weather was nice; and we decided to take Cara and Brennan outside to play (Emma went grocery shopping with Ngoai and Anh Thu). James and I watched Cara while she rode her new bike from Santa and Brennan played with his new batting helper from Uncle Anh Tuan and us. Then, we thought about taking Andrew to the neighborhood playground. When we got there, we found it to be pretty wet and muddy. So, then we all walked down to the pond--Andrew really loved looking at the ducks! Too bad we didn't know we were going to go to the pond or we would have brought bread out to feed them. Andrew probably would have gotten a kick out of having all the ducks come closer to us.

On Sunday, Rick and Anh Thu took us to Perfect North for some skiing and snowboarding. Cara and Emma were great on the bunny slopes; and Brennan had a great time going down the hill with Rick. Then, James, Anh Tuan, Rick, and Cara went to go on some harder runs while Anh Thu, Emma, Brennan, Andrew, and I stayed and played in the snow. Andrew really liked to have the snow in his hands. He tried to eat it once, but gave up that idea rather quickly thankfully. I think he just liked feeling the cold. Later, it was my turn to hit the slopes with Coach Anh Tuan. Cara and Rick went down first. That girl is a natural skier!! It was weird being on a board again; and it showed as I fell quite a bit. I make the disclaimer that I sometimes fall on purpose so I don't crash into people. I am not very good at steering the board; that's what I was trying to work on. But the day was not a waste. I finally was able to get off the lift without eating it!! When we were in Tahoe last year, all the times I went up on the lift, I fell every time. So, this was a feat in itself for me. Anyhow, I can't wait to go again and try to work on my balance. Hopefully, we can take Drew when he is older and ready to learn how to ski.

After we got back from the slopes, Anh Thu and Rick got ready for this anniversary dinner as Sunday marked their 12th wedding anniversary. So, we took care of the kids, which was easy. We even had all the kids in bed (though not sleeping yet) by the time the parental units returned home. But Happy Anniversary again, Rick and Anh Thu! And here is to many more!!

Sadly, Monday was the day we were all going home. Ngoai cooked pho; and my sister invited one of her friends and her family over for lunch. Then, we all packed and got ready for our flights. We had to split into two cars since Papa, Ngoai, and Anh Tuan had a later flight than we did. It was sad saying bye to Cara and Emma. I hate saying bye to them. They get these sad faces; and it makes me want to cry. Andrew was sweet enough to give them both goodbye kisses.

Rick and Brennan took us to the airport. Brennan was cute playing with Andrew. Then, Andrew got tired and fell asleep. Brennan even urged Andrew to suck his thumb to help him sleep since Brennan sucks his thumb to sleep. I think I confused Brennan when I told him that Andrew doesn't suck his thumb because Brennan retorted "all babies suck their thumbs."

We made it back home without problems. Andrew once again impressed us with his behavior on both flights and the long layover in St. Louis. He barely fussed when he got tired and fell asleep. I am starting to wonder if we should start flying to San Antonio and Austin! Ha ha!

It's good to be home, but I miss all the kids already. Armstrongs, thank you for having us and everything you did. We love you so very much!!

There are lots of pictures from our trip so I put them all in a slideshow. Erin, I hope you don't mind, but I used your slideshow song as one of mine too.