December 2020 - Part 3

December 2020 - Part 3

A few days after we arrived in NY the kids were sent an elf from the north pole. This was the first year they had an elf. They were both SO excited to find the elf every morning. Kylie would wake up really early because she was so excited. I wasn't able to take pictures of the elf everyday but I did get a picture of a few of them. 

One morning we all went out and made Snowman's. Jeremy and Kylie were a team and Grandma, Blake and I were another team. There was so much snow that it was tricky to make a snowman but we figured it out. We only had one official snowman kit so we got creative on our second snowman and I was lucky to have Blake on my team because he used his Minecraft skills to finish the snowman. The kids also made snow angels. We made the snowman right in time because the next day it started raining and most of the snow melted within the next few days. 

Another morning we took family pictures. The kids were not a fan so it was a little stressful and we weren't able to get as many as I would have liked but we were able to get some good ones. 

Grandma and Grandpa's puppy "Chip" turned 1 while we were in NY so we had a paw patrol party to celebrate. The kids thought it was fun and we had cake. Kylie loved it and made a mess as usual. :) 

Kylie and Blake wore matching jogging suits with Grandpa! We had to take a picture. 

On Christmas eve we watched Polar Express, opened a present (pajamas), and read The Night Before Christmas. The kids went to bed pretty easily as they were excited for Santa to come! 

The kids woke up around 7am on Christmas morning which was really nice because Kylie had been waking up between 4am and 5am almost every morning. I let them open their stocks while we waiting for everyone to come down stairs. We usually open stockings at the end so it was fun to mix it up this year. The kids started with the presents from Santa. Kylie received a high chair and wagon for her bitty baby, money, stuffed mickey mouse, and a paw patrol tower. Blake received a drone, digital camera, money, telescope, nerf gun, and watch. Jeremy and I got them a few other gifts. We had to keep it light to make sure we had enough space to bring back home. We gave Kylie a few Barbie toys, Peppa pig toys, mickey mouse clubhouse camper van and magnets. We gave Blake some Roblox toys and robux. switch games, magnets, and a space book. Jeremy and I didn't exchange too many gifts this year. Jeremy is really hard to buy for because he usually buys what he wants so I feel like I'm buying things he really doesn't really want or need. We decided that we would each get a few things that we wanted within November and December. Jeremy picked a nice drone, Traeger grill, and new monitors. I picked a robot vacuum and mop. Jeremy surprised me with a TV for our bedroom and an apple watch. I'm loving the TV to watch football on. We only had one TV that I could watch the games on and that was in the living room. It was always hard to get to watch the game with minimal distractions being in the living room.

We took a break from presents to have Christmas breakfast. It was very yummy!

After a few hours we opened presents from Grandma and Grandpa Krass. They also opened their presents from us. Grandma and Grandpa nailed the kids presents this year! Blake received a huge Mario cart hot wheels track and a marble run set. Kylie received a Peppa pig family house and a beauty station kit. I tried telling them they couldn't open them because we weren't sure we would have space to bring them home and as you would imagine that didn't go well. They absolutely loved their presents! We were also surprised with our own "snowman" made out of presents. They looked like decorations but turned out to be made out of some of our Christmas presents. They were so cute and such a fun idea! We were definitely spoiled by Grandma and Grandpa!

On our last full day in NY the kids mostly played with toys and I packed up the suitcases. Grandma, Kylie, and I snuck away to do a little shopping and then I treated the girls to pedicures. It was Kylie's first time getting a pedicure at a nail salon and she did really well. She ended up getting a manicure and pedicure. It was fun to end the trip with a little treat. 

Our flight home went pretty smoothly. We left NY at 6am which was really early but our flight was probably on 1/2 full or less. Our next flight out of Chicago was completely full. The kids did really well which was really nice. Jeremy and Kylie sat together and Blake and I sat together. We both took naps and watched TV. 

On New Years Eve, Jeremy and Blake went to a Firework shop and picked out some fireworks to do in the backyard. The kids loved it! They were helping Jeremy light them and were really into it this year. Kylie was a little scared of the loud fireworks but by the end she was doing better. We did have one incident where Kylie touched her sparker stick after it went out and burned her hand. We quickly took care of it and she was good to go. She handled it really well. The kids tried so hard to stay up till midnight but didn't make it. Kylie was first to fall asleep around 10pm on the coach and Blake fell asleep around 11pm. Jeremy and I stayed up and had crumble cookies and non-alcoholic bubbly.