Christmas in Muskegon

We just got back from a whirlwind trip to Michigan for Christmas with Ryan's parents.

Here are a few pictures from the trip:

The four generation Dulinski photo


Ian playing with Grandpa Gary


Ryan putting together Ian's toy


Grandpa Steve and Grandma Brenda opening presents


Ian opening his robot from Grandpa Steve and Grandma Brenda. Ian named the robot "Bob".

Christmas Day in Lake Geneva

After christmas at our house, we traveled to Mom and Dad's house in Lake Geneva. Everyone was there - Matt, Erin and the kids, Kirsten and Billy, my grandma. Here are a few pictures from the party.

Me and Paige

Ian with Great-Grandma Johnson

Kirsten and Gracie

Grandpa playing "dollies" with Sophia

Sophia and Paige opening presents

Grandma and Paige

The cookie spread

Our first family attempt at a gingerbread house. Not too bad!

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning at our house - chaos in paper! Santa was generous with a marble drop building set. Will have to post pictures once we set it up. Check out the morning craziness!

Christmas Tree Decorating

Wow! I can't believe how fast Christmas is coming this year! I don't feel prepared yet. Cookies to bake, presents to wrap, cards to send. Yikes! Well, one item on the to do list is done. We bought Christmas trees this past weekend. Yes - trees plural. We have a fraser fir in the living room with the family ornaments on it and the presents will go there.



Then we have a balsam upstairs in the computer room which Ian decorated with all of his ornaments - both handmade and family presents to him since his birth.




My snowman collection:

Thanksgiving

We had a nice relaxing Thanksgiving over at my Mom and Dad's house in Lake Geneva. Ian and I went over Wed. evening so I could get a cut and color from Kirsten at her salon. Ryan joined us on Thursday morning. Matt, Erin, and the girls came over on Thursday as well. We had a nice Thanksgiving and we all spent the night Thursday so we could Christmas shop early Friday. I am all done with Christmas shopping except for one person! Sorry we don't have any pictures as I forgot to charge my camera battery before going there. Oh well!

Ian's 6th Birthday Party

Ian had his 6th Birthday Party on Sunday. Grandpa Steve and Grandma Brenda stayed the night before the party so we could spend some time with them. Grandma and Grandpa Johnson, Great-Grandma Johnson, Uncle Matt, Aunt Erin, Aunt Kirsten, Billy, and cousins Sophia and Paige came on Sunday for Ian's party.

Ian's birthday party was a Spongebob party. Spongebob is Ian's favorite t.v. show. Ian enjoyed playing with everyone and opening the presents (Geotrax, clothes, computer games) He also had lots of fun playing ball with all of the guys after the party.

The birthday "spread"



Grandma Johnson made number six cookies in honor of the day



Ian's Spongebob cake



Ian blowing out the candles



Presents!



Grandma Johnson and Cousin Paige



Uncle Matt, Aunt Erin, Cousins Sophia and Paige

Trick or Treating

Sorry it has been so long since I last wrote. We have been pretty busy with Ian's 6th birthday party. Here are the photos from this Halloween:

Ian Trick or Treating



Our Pumpkins

Halloween Party

Yesterday was Ian's Halloween party at school. It was at night and all of the children were supposed to dress up. Ian went as Woody (that is his Halloween costume this year). There was a magic show which Ian liked and a haunted house which we didn't even attempt to go to. There was also trick or treating in the gym. We met a few of Ian's classmates and he seemed to have a good time. Boy was it crowded! Halloween night at school is very popular!

Here a two pictures of Ian in his costume before the party:

Pumpkin Time!

Last weekend we went and bought pumpkins. The weather was perfect - sunny but with enough of a chill that it feels like Halloween. We got lots of pumpkins. Ryan has three all to himself. I am going to paint a white pumpkin this year. Ian is going to paint one and carve the other. He couldn't decide which was better. We also bought gourds and a gray "Cinderella" pumpkin just for decoration.



The pumpkin patch that we go to has displays of popular kid movies and tv done with pumpkins. There are displays of Wizard of Oz, Shrek, Toy Story, Little Einsteins, Winnie the Pooh, etc. Very cute. There is also a petting zoo which Ian likes. He likes to feed the goats and watch them fight over the food.




Can you guess who this is?



Answer: Harry Potter (my favorite!)

Fall Diddley

Two weekends ago, Ian and I went to Fall Diddley with Mom and Grandma Johnson. Fall Diddley is a big craft fair with mostly Halloween and Christmas crafts over at the Boone County Fairgrounds.

Ian didn't complain about all of the walking (probably because it was way less than Disney!) but it was pretty chilly in the morning. We had to buy a sweatshirt for him because he didn't have enough layers on. Bad Mommy!

It was nice to visit with Mom and Grandma. I didn't buy too much stuff but that's okay. I did get one person done for Christmas. Not saying who!

Ian trying a corn dog - perfect fair food!

Disney Trip - Day Seven

On our last day, we decided to ride a few of our favorites before we go to the aiport. We went to Epcot to ride Soarin' again and then rode the monorail over to the Magic Kingdom to get one last frozen lemonade (my favorite) and ride Aladdin's Magic Carpet ride. The crowds were awful everywhere and it rained off and on the whole time. The weekends are crazy at the parks! Swimming in the pool would have been better I think, but it was our last day. I think Ian enjoyed riding the monorails the best!

Overall, the trip was great and it could only have been better by being in a cooler time of the year. I think next time should be in Nov, Dec, or Jan. Cooler would have made the vacation perfect. Still all in all, a great vacation!

Talk to you again soon!

Disney Trip - Day Six

We started day six by having breakfast in our hotel's lobby restaurant. They like to play around with the guests. When I asked for ketchup, they yelled ketchup and this is what happened:



After breakfast, we spent the morning shopping for souvenirs at Downtown Disney. It rained off and on throughout the day. Ryan took a picture of this baby lizard at the shops. There were so many of these little guys running around.



We then went back to Disney MGM Studios to see Lights, Motor, Action, stunt show and to have dinner at Mama Melrose's with seats at the fireworks after. Ian really loved the stunt show. Dinner was good too. Unfortunately, it started to pour right before the fireworks. When we saw the lightning, we decided to skip the show and just go back to the hotel. That makes two fireworks shows called because of rain. Sigh.

When we came back to the hotel, we found some cute towel creations: