Dallas Christmas Part 3 (Making Our Days Merry & Bright)

We had a full two weeks in Dallas and so were able to fit in lots of fun things during our stay, mostly with family because friends are often just as busy during this time. There were many puzzles, the short-lived chocolate house, NYE disc golf and donuts with Greg & Jack, and a day at Crayola. 

With grandma and Sophie's help we finished this 1000 piece in about 3 hours!

First experience with a a Magic Puzzle (surprise twist at the end)

Sophie did a 300 piece and Davey did a 100 piece, both all by themselves

This one was so pretty and probably my favorite build over the break

Chill time with Papa

Sophie and Davey got these little craft planters for Christmas, but Davey's had an accident and fell off the counter losing some seeds, so it looked a little sparse compared to Sophie's. He was upset until we told him the dinosaurs had probably just eaten some of his plants :)

The infamous chocolate house. Grandma helped Sophie build it from Hershey bars instead of gingerbread and apparently it tasted as good as it looked because we later found it eaten down to the foundation.

Griffin's pack n play was a little too close to Papa's desk during nap - oops!

The disc golf crew! It was a fun outing to end our year. Except for Davey. His team tied for first and he wanted a solo victory, hence the crying. 

Griffin could care less about frisbee but was happy that Trixie was there to watch and follow

First visit to Hurts Donuts

We brought them to a park so we could eat and play

Play doh at 7 am was Griffin's way to ring in the New Year

During our stay we also made a trip out to Tyler to help Aunt Liz move into her new home! The kids were not helpful at all, but did enjoy finding random places to hide while the adults moved stuff around.

We bought tickets to visit Crayola but they were unexpectedly closed 👎👎 The kids were so sad. However! We hung around long enough to catch an employee who refunded our tickets and also gave us free passes to come back later, so it worked out okay in the end!

Some fun on our return visit (that was free!)

Christmas in Seattle - Cabin Fun

During our Christmas trip we were able to spend a few nights up at the cabin in Snoqualmie pass. Dave and I used to spend a lot of time up at the cabin while we were living in Seattle, before we had kids. I have great memories of weekends up there doing puzzles, reading books, playing games, taking hikes in the summer and skiing in the winter. Being there with kids is a totally different experience, one that is quite the opposite of peaceful and quiet. I will admit there were a few moments I wish I could have made them vanish for a short time, but this season of toddlers, yelling, and mess will pass.

The kids did have a blast. We drove up in the dark the first time and put the kids right to bed, and when Davey woke up in the morning he was so surprised by the snow and kept calling everyone over to go look out the window. We took them sledding in the driveway and ate lots of fresh snow cones while we were up there. Living in Texas they will probably not see tons of snow, so I'm sure our Christmas trips to the cabin will be something they look forward to in the future!

Enjoying the beautiful scenery as we drove up the pass

Arriving at the cabin

Playing cowboys in the loft

Adventuring out into the snow

Sledding in the driveway

Two happy kids, and one kid who did not want to take a photo

On our second trip Sophie went up a day before us so she could spend one last night with Anne, who was leaving in the morning. They played games, ate snow cones, and then had a sleepover in the queen bed. 

My mom watched the kids while Dave and I went snowshoeing in the woods behind the neighborhood. I had forgotten how fun it was and had a great time!! We also went with Brodie and his two dogs and it was fun to watch them bound through the deep powder. 

With my Charlie

We did a little photoshoot with Charlie and Briggen. They were so confused about what was going on, but sat through it very patiently :)

Snow cones!! One of my favorite treats that I look forward to every time we visit. My personal favorite is a blackberry/peach combo.

With my mom and sister in our matching flannels. We look tired because it's New Year's and we are too old to stay up until midnight :)

On New Year's day we went skiing in the morning. There wasn't any new snow, but the conditions were still good and after not skiing for a couple years due to babies, I was just fine it wasn't a big powder day. 

I also got a puzzle done while we were up there

We let these munchkins take a bath together. Even though Charlie has slimmed down a lot, he's still got some chunk in his thighs. 

Farewell cabin - we wish we could have stayed longer!

The BIGGEST Puzzle Ever

I received a 3000 piece puzzle for my birthday from Liz. This was double the size of the largest puzzle I'd ever done and I swear the box weighed about 5 pounds. We started right after the Thanksgiving meal was cleaned up, and then finished exactly one week later, during which we had to eat at the bar because this puzzle covered the entire surface of our kitchen table. 

Because it was so large, we had very little room to work and found the best way make progress was to sortsimilar pieces into bowls/pans so we could take those "projects" elsewhere to have more room to work. Dave was the master organizer, and then I would take his collections, assemble the pieces, and then reinsert them into the puzzle. The kids were also surprisingly good a leaving the puzzle alone, although Davey would often stop by and hook a few pieces into random places, which we would later undo. 

After it was complete I left it out for two more days to admire, and then we broke it up again. It would have been a fun one to mount and frame, but the kits I looked at for a puzzle this large were super expensive! To make things easier for next time (if there is a next time) we put the pieces away into a few different gallon ziploc bags so we can work on it just one section at a time. 

The initial dump

All finished!

Some close up shots... one of the hardest parts of this puzzle was trying to figure out the scale. Things that looked right next to each other on the box would end up being four or five pieces apart. 

The elephants (aka massive grey blobs) were the most challenging and the section we saved for last, but they sure look pretty put together!

Charlie enjoyed swimming in the pieces after we first dumped it out. This could be why a couple came up missing at the end...

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6 - so close

Day 7 - All finished!! As you can see, our table was just barely big enough!