Wednesday morning we went down to Kenosha to take the Jelly Belly tour. We were a little disappointed to find out that this is not a factory, but just a distribution center. But the tour was fun---we rode on a little train and watched videos all about Jelly Bellies. And when the tour was over, we all got a little bag of Jelly Bellies. And then.....we got to shop in the store! You can also sample any flavor of Jelly Belly that you want. We went home with enough candy to put us all on a sugar high for quite a while! I especially liked the Belly Flops---the ones that are irregular shapes and sizes. A lot of them are bigger than normal, which is fine with me. (For some reason I do not have any pictures of this outing---not sure why.) A stop at McDonald's for lunch completed our outing for the day.
Wednesday evening was pie-making time. And I had a helper this year! I think that Jeremiah shows real promise as a pie maker. And maybe if he does, Adam will finally get his favorite kinds of pie!! :) (Rhubarb, sour cream raisin and Kentucky Derby Pie are not in my repertoire!)
The rolling pin that he's using was mine as a child, and my kids played with it, too. I guess maybe that qualifies it as an antique!
We had 10 people at our table for Thanksgiving dinner. Abby and Neil had driven up on Wednesday afternoon, and Ben arrived around noon on Thursday, and soon after that Karen and Juan got here.
It was a pretty relaxed day---lots of eating, some football watching, and a rather competitive game of Scattergories in the evening.
Once Thanksgiving was over, Christmas was next on our agenda. Friday evening was our Christmas Eve. We've established some traditions over the years--some of them are more "strict" than others. One thing we've done for a few years now is to go out for lunch at a nice restaurant on that day. This year we went to Parkside 23. There was also some last-minute shopping being done, some people went to a movie in the afternoon, and some of us hung around the house and got things ready for our evening celebration. And that is one tradition that is pretty strictly observed---we always have a meal of appetizer type foods, and the menu really doesn't vary much from year to year.
I guess I caught Neil taking a bite of something. :)
And then it was time to open presents. This year we were on Facetime with Matt and Cheryl's family while we opened gifts, so I probably didn't take quite as many pictures as I sometimes do. We were busy passing the i-pad around and trying not to make them seasick with all the movement, etc. Of course, Jeremiah was pretty much the star of the show when it came to gift-opening. Rachel got some great video of him which really shows his excitement---check her blog for that. I just got a few still pictures.
. I think this is the army tank that he ALWAYS wanted!
This tow truck does all kinds of amazing things!
Here it is in operation.
Everyone else also got gifts, but there is no photo documentation of that. Sorry!
Abby and Neil were there.
And so were Ben and Adam.
Playing "Rivers, roads and rails."
Since Friday was our Christmas Eve, that means that Saturday was our Christmas morning. And that means....Stockings! It also has come to mean....Wigwam socks! Oh, and it also means.....Butterhorns! (and cinnamon rolls, too)
I think Jeremiah is playing with the bubble wrap that was around his Christmas ornament. I'll have to keep that in mind for next year---bubble wrap is a hit!
After stockings, Abby, Neil, Rachel and I left for Cedarburg, leaving the others to fend for themselves. We knew they wouldn't starve, with all the leftovers from Thanksgiving. We enjoyed some shopping and a yummy lunch at Cream and Crepe Cafe. We hit all our favorite spots, ending up at Amy's for some sweets of course.
While we were gone Jeremiah and Adam spent some time out in the snow. They managed to scrape up enough for a small snowman, but I didn't get a picture of it. I did however get a picture earlier of Jeremiah working hard to shovel all the snow off our whole yard! He really likes Grandpa's snow shovel!
Saturday evening we went over to Brassers for pizza. We had originally planned to meet them at Panera (where else?) for supper, but JoAnne thought it might be nicer to just be at their house for pizza. And it certainly was a lot nicer! Jeremiah had a great time with Uncle Lew's special toys---all of which he remembered from last year. And it's a lot nicer to visit in a home than in a restaurant.
Chillin' out on Uncle Lew's chair
Neil got the official "OK" from Uncle Lew to marry Abby!
The pizza party kind of marked the end of our family week-end. Ben left right from their house to go back to Chicago, and Abby and Neil left soon after we got home that evening.
A good-bye picture with Jeremiah.
We still had Adam, Rachel, Jeremiah and Molly with us for one more night. They left for home right after breakfast (pancakes, of course!) on Sunday morning. Oh my, the house seemed so quiet after they were all gone. :(
