Merry Christmas 2014

The Batter family has a tradition of seafood on Christmas eve - we Bunch are happy to continue on with the tradition. Daddy made a ridiculously yummy seafood stew - seriously, I scored a keeper for his culinary skills alone!

Some snapper? Yes, please!

We watched "Santa Clause is coming to Town" for the 30th time this season (no freakin' joke - I can quote the movie from start to finish and so can the children...) and then continued with the Eimers family tradition of unwrapping 1 gift on Christmas Eve. Emma chose the biggest present under the tree and Ben went the conservative route - go figure!

Seriously, hurry up and take the picture!!!

Why yes, that is a $25 dollar stuffed animal (*sigh*) but it is all she talked about for months! Ben got a card game about the United States which we promptly opened up and played. As the game is for 8 and up, it required some manipulation of the rules for Ben to understand, which lead to tension for about 3 minutes between Mom and Dad, but in the spirit of Christmas, Dad zipped it and chose to follow Mom's rules which is really a good life lesson in general (what? I'm OLDER, I have more experience!!).

"Best Christmas Eve ever!" exclaimed Ben.

The kids went to bed around 9 with limited resistance. Abuelita worked her charms and told them stories until they fell asleep. Santa arrived promptly after and Mommy was in bed by 10:30. Unfortunately Mommy and Daddy did not sleep well, I'm not sure if we were waiting to hear a kid sneaking into the living room, or the seafood soup was swimming in my belly, but the kids woke us up at 7:30am and I am feeling sleep deprived! They ran out into the living room and did NOT wait for me and started tearing into their gifts from Santa. This is the only morning madness shot I got and it's all blurry. :)

Ben = star wars lego, Em = walkie talkies

Santa and Abuelita were very generous and that is just Christmas #1. We still have Christmas #2 and #3 on Sat and Sun in PA! Ben received black dress shoes from Abuelita along with a nice outfit. I was VERY surprised when he put the shoes on and wore them all morning with his pajamas. Our creature of habit kid (he wears the same sneakers EVERY DAY) is growing up!

I'm styling!

Ben did not hesitate to dive into lego project #1.

No time for smiles! Build! Build! Build!

He also LOVED the Magformers - hint hint (birthday coming soon) - and has been building non-stop all day.

Don't let this pic fool you - I'M HAPPY!

Emma did not hesitate to dive into her crafts (of course, with her beanie boos watching). She has already completed this cupcake pillow and has moved onto the rainbow pillow.

Why, yes, I was just crying - but we won't talk about that!

Look at sleepy Mommy. I can sleep in 2015, right???

love me this bunch...

What to do?

The kids have been waking up at 7am - Ben's wakes first and because they are sharing the fold out sofa, he wakes Emma up early. Oi! That gives us 14 hours to fill with fun each day!

Emma decided to go to "Midnight Mass" at 5pm with Abuelita tonight in her new dress.

Beauties!

She also decided to wear the shirt Gramma Lou got for Ben as Ben is embarrassed to wear it - he thinks his friends will make fun of him. It's way too small for her, but that didn't stop her today!

Yes, Emma, you are Awesome!

It wouldn't be Christmas without building a Gingerbread house with Abuelita. I was surprised at how patient they were in letting the frosting dry before decorating the roof.

Can I give you a big sticky hug and kiss?

They each got to decorate one side of the roof. Can you guess whose side is whose? Proof positive of their personalities!!

the Boy? the girl?

You guessed it! Ben's is much more precise.

The candies have been disappearing fast. I couldn't figure out why...

Then I caught this on video surveillance.

Good thing there is a whole lot of this park fun happening in order to burn off the sugar calories!! I've been very proud of Ben at the park. He goes right up to other kids and asks them to play making new friends quite easily. There were some hard core games of freeze tag and hide and seek happening in the 85 degree heat. Go Florida!

We've been practicing NFL Play 60. :)

Benisms

Ben says the funniest things - I wish I wrote them down like I used to... Way to many are escaping my brain without me sharing them with the world. I caught a few and sent them to daddy:

I'm hoping for 90.

He has a point:

You know you just said it out loud!

A friend of ours asked Ben what his middle was. He thought about it for a few seconds and offered up, "Jamin"! Hahahahahahahahaha. 

Home for the holidays?

When we moved into the bungalow I was excited to have the space to put up a large Christmas tree and announced we would be spending Christmas in our own home this year to start making our own traditions. Then in early November I realized that our Christmas tradition is to be with family (!) and booked our flights to Florida. :)

Turns out, Florida is warm in Winter! Who knew? It was 84 and sunny when we landed yesterday, unlike the 32 degrees we left behind on the island. We took the earliest flight of the day (it's non-stop, my best friend when traveling with children) so we had to be up at 5am. The kiddos were giddy with lack of sleep and said the funniest things.

Ben told the flight attendant who greeted us as we were boarding that he didn't the the taking off part of flying. She assured him many people feel that way but the pilot was very good at what he does. I am happy to announce he did the take off part quite well, but really needs to practice his landing part! We hit the ground so hard we bounced and I was sure we were going to run out of runway we were going so fast and the brakes were working overtime.

We got settled at Abuelita's house and went out to explore and enjoy the 84 degrees.

Aren't I just the perfect model for 84 degree weather?

We walked to the local park (7 minutes) and they played SO NICELY together - such a rare treat. There was all kinds of animal rescue adventuring going on (thank you wild kratts) and they were mad when I announced we needed to get back to the house to see Grandpop.

The return walk took 12 minutes...go figure.

We had a yummy daddy dinner and snuggled in to watch some tv. The kids crashed with no fight and slept through the night - Ben being the first one up this morning at 7am - surprise surprise.

Abuelitas make great snuggle buddies

Santa's Workshop

Every year the first weekend in December our village hosts the Dickens Festival. You are thrown back in time with characters walking around town in vintage dress singing Christmas Carols and acting fabulously sassy with their British accents. It is always a great time - the only downfall being people come from everywhere to see it and the port gets crowded! We got rained out Friday night and all day yesterday so we were stuck at the indoor activities. Friday night was the lighting of the Hall of Trees (beautiful) and the Frozen sing-a-long complete with a visit from Anna and Elsa - which attracted every kid on Long Island in a very small space. E&B were crowded and cranky and tired and annoyed and the "sing-a-long" was actually karaoke with a three song rotation. OI! We escaped that nightmare and snuggled in at home watching Christmas movies instead. My kind of night!

Today the sun came out so we braved the 40 degree weather with crazy cold wind chills and waited in line outside to see Santa's workshop at the festival and visit with Santa himself. E&B did a great job practicing patience - did I mention wind chill factors in the negatives??

I hope Santa recognizes me under all these layers!

Once inside the tiny building built in 1755 (that is how old our Village is!!!) we warmed up a bit and enjoyed looking at all the displays.

Can I eat that giant Candy Cane?

Then the big moment came! Santa! And can you say "WOW"?  This guy was the real deal! They walked right up to him and he said, "Hi, Emma. Hi, Ben. Nice to see you again!" Wait. WHAT? HOW DID HE KNOW THEIR NAMES??? I'm totally freaked out! HE IS REAL, PEOPLE!

I sure am real!

Ben talked the guys ears off. He was so patient listening to Ben. Then he chatted with Emma about her list and our Elf, Elfelina. This picture makes me so HAPPY.

"I want three Lego Star Wars..."

Emma did an amazing job not interrupting Ben as she usually does! We need Christmas and visits with Santa more times each year! ;)

Veteran's Day

Here on the Island we honor our Veteran's in a very special way - we go to the dentist because we have the day off from school!

Kidding! But Em did go to the dentist and got a great review. She got her first set of xrays and was a total stud while the dentist (who happens to be the mama of one of her friends) cleaned away.

Yes, I am wearing snow boots and it is 65 degrees out.

Ben is Veteran obsessed. If he sees a guy in uniform or a plane flying in the sky (think air force), he asks if the person is a veteran. He is always very grateful for them - they obviously spent a solid amount of time learning about Veteran's Day in Kindergarten!!

Emma's class made these "quilt pieces" for Veteran's Day:

"A hero in my life is my Grandpa because he fought in the Army."

Apparently he fought in the army with a chainsaw which is quite humorous as he is a lumberjack by trade...

Pumpkin bday party

Em's friend, Sienna had her October birthday party at a farm / winery. It was such a great idea! The farm was having it's usual weekend opening, complete with a DJ and bouncy houses anyways - why not have a birthday party on the side! The kids bounced away, did face painting, took a hayride out to the pumpkin patch for picking, decorated pumpkins, wandered through the best corn maze ever (!) and had a blast. Best part? Siblings welcome... :)

Our ride out into the fields.

Which way do I go??

It was the first real chilly Autumn day but we were doing plenty of running around to keep us toasty.

An "Ussie" with my boy.

Cool face paint! Don't you dare touch my extra cupcake - it's for Daddy!

It was impossible to keep track of this group in the maze but we didn't lose anyone in the end!!!

My friend grabbed this pic. I NEED THIS FILTER!! Beautiful girlies.

The boy on the left is in Ben's class. On more than one occasion I have mistaken him for Ben! They are the exact same height, have the same haircut and build. From behind they are twins! (Coincidence they are standing next to twins...) This was such a fun way to spend an afternoon!

Sweet 5 year olds.

Halloween 2014

Halloween was super quick and fun. The weather leading up to the big night was warm and Autumn amazing and we were very grateful we didn't need heavy coats to keep us warm while trick or treating. 

Em was the very popular Elsa and Ben was the popular to him, Boba Fett. Both were very excited to wear their costumes all day at school. 

The school does a fun parade of grades in the early afternoon, then the classes have mini craft parties afterwards. We had a blast with Ben's class - look, mom made it into a photo!!

I LOVE this pic of Ben and sweet Lilly. They are sooooo genuinely happy!

Ben and Samuel - his best bud going on three years straight. Might have something to do with the fact that Em and his sister are BFFs and we really like the parents and therefore hang out lots. 

Ben's class. I think Olaf just may be my favorite. Shhhhh. Don't tell Boba Fett. 

Em and BFF Anna. We went trick or treating after school with them and it was good fun. 15 minutes in, Ben had that "look" on his face. He needed to poop but didn't want to miss out on the fun. He held it for a few more houses and finally agreed he and I could leave and come back. Luckily another family we were with lived nearby and left the front door unlocked. We raced to their house, Ben took care of business and we were back in the candy business within minutes. Ahhhhh, the joys of parenthood!

Costa Rica Part 1

I'm going to have to report on Costa Rica in a few sessions. Mostly because we have so many pics to share and I can't upload them all at once and surely also because it was such an amazing trip that I want to savor all the details before they turn into fleeting memories. Ben still references the trip a few times a week and we have been home over a month. Emma and I have gotten along so much better since returning - I'll explain that one more later...

So... Dun dun dunnnnn, Costa Rica! Pura Vida! The locals say Pura Vida as a Hawaiian would say "Aloha!" but also in many other instances. Have a bad day? Pura Vida! Get married? Pura Vida! The direct translation is "pure life" and I love it's many meanings.

We had five days to enjoy Costa Rica and wanted to make the most of the daylight, so we chose the earliest flight out of JFK to get us into CR by lunch. The kids got up at 3 am with little resistance and happily hopped into the car to the airport. I thought they might fall back to sleep during the hour ride there - NOPE! Wide awake any bushy tailed. We parked at our favorite long term car parking and hopped on the shuttle bus to the Delta terminal. We had a quick connection in Atlanta before arriving at our destination.

Lack of sleep delirious smiles.

I think I'll start with "Retry".

Remember back in the day when I used to pack 50 things for each kid to do to occupy them on the airplane for long flights? Not anymore! All we need is an iPad and an old iPhone loaded with apps and airplane life is good. Both kids were studs the entire flights.

Our company arranged bus transportation for us from the airport to the resort. It was a "work" trip after all! The ride through the jungle past many single room houses and dilapidated schoolhouses is always a sobering reminder of how good we have it in the USA. The kids stared out the windows and we asked them questions about what they were seeing. The countryside is lush green tropics, lots of vegetation. I think Em really "got it" as we compared the schools to her school.

We arrived at the hotel and the heat hit us as we waited to check in. It was pretty humid and the locals working the resort were working at local speed, i.e. it took a long time to get our room and the kids were a little stir crazy after being on the plane for so long, then the bus ride, then the humid wait in line. Oh, wait, did I mention Emma didn't fall back to sleep at all??? Ben had about an hour nap on the plane. They were getting a bit "punchy" and at one point Em sat on a glass topped side table and it toppled over making a huge crash in the lobby. Luckily it did not break, but she was terribly embarrassed and cried and cried (and terribly tired...). We finally got into our room and immediately into our swim suits and hit the pool making everyone happy!

Come on, Mom! You can take pictures later!!

I know it sounds crazy, but the kids actually GOT ALONG the entire trip! If I didn't have this picture as a memory I'm not sure I would believe it.

We are family!

They swam the afternoon away. It was the Costa Rican "rainy season" so very cloudy, but we were warned the sun was still strong and to load up on sunscreen. We did a pretty good job - except on poor Em's face. She got fried that first day and had lobster face the entire trip.

Pools, pools, everywhere!

The beach was 2 minutes walk away, but the kids wanted nothing to do with the beach. I'm thinking because we beach it all Summer long on the island and rarely get to swim in pools, they didn't want to get out.

I'm not budging!

Ben, who is Titanic obsessed ever since a friend brought in a Titanic book to school and shared it with Ben, pretended his scuba goggles were the Titanic the ENTIRE TRIP and replayed scenarios with it crashing into the iceberg and sinking to the bottom on the ocean over and over and over. Both of their swimming abilities increased by 100% during this trip from spending 6-8 hours a day in the pool. They were doing flips and swimming in the deeper water and racing to the fountain and back, etc. It was fun to see their confidence grow and to be able to sit back and relax and not have to be on top of them in the water.

Oh, no, an iceberg! Turn quick!

The grounds of the resort were beautifully manicured. Lots of nooks and crannies to explore when they weren't swimming - meaning we didn't explore much because THEY WERE ALWAYS SWIMMING.

I'm the Queen of Costa Rica!

Our suite was on the 4th floor up in the top right corner of this picture.

CHEESE!

The lobby was open air and served fresh papaya juice every morning. It was also the only place with wifi and you only got 90 minutes every day. Once someone from your room logged on, the clock started ticking! Needless to say we had to coordinate our email checking / FB pic uploading between three adults to stay "connected" to the real world.

The poor ladies were constantly mopping! Their biceps were giant!!

This is the view from our room. Ben asked if we could stay in Costa Rica "for ten months" - not sure why 10 was the number, but I liked the way he was thinking!

Waking up to this daily was GOOD.

This is my absolute favorite shot from the trip! I LOVE MY FAMILY! Did I mention Gramma Lou came along? Yep, lucky us! We got to share the journey together.

Good looking bunch.

One of the bars in the resort was sports themed, so we played a little foos ball one evening. I was surprised at how well the kids did.

Kids vs Adults

Pics around the resort:

Fresh coconuts available daily to eat and drink!

We had a lot of time to bond. Daddy showed off his awesome daddying skills and was a fantastic water playmate (especially knowing how he prefers the beach over pools!).

Catch me, Dad!

There was a swim up bar for the thirsty folks. Fresh juices and lots of booze. I was very worried about Ben's food and drink consumption as he is so damned picky, but he did drink the milk (it was the real deal - very think and creamy) and the apple juice (freshly juiced verses the crap we have in bottles here that is just sugary sweet horrificness that he thankfully will not drink). Em drank a lot of water and "virgin smoothies" from the bar.

Hot tub! or actually "Warm Tub" - no extra hot needed here.

The open air hallway to our room:

Jet skis for rent.

We had a two bedroom suite which fit us perfectly. It was very clean and had two bathrooms, too!!

It is also the first all inclusive resort that I have ever been to that had alcohol for the taking IN THE ROOM. Crazy! The frig was stocked with soda and beer, too. I'll have to continue Costa Rica another time as this is all the pics I have at this time... Stay tuned!