Snowcation!

We had a huge snow storm pretty early this year! After our first week back at school we woke up Saturday morning to between 6 - 8 inches of snow!

It was also super cold, but we bundled up and braved the weather to get some sledding in!

Layers are key. I always wear my running tights with a pair of soccer socks. Just one of their many uses :). 

Our first morning out in the snow one of our neighbors who does landscaping was already scrapping the roads for us. Simmer down now! We like not being able to go anywhere for a few days!

Here's Finley's snow angel. 

And proof how deep the snow was!

All weekend long we sledded, watched movies, played board games, and ate yummy warm foods. 

After all the traveling and hustle and bustle of the holidays it was nice to just stay home for the whole weekend. 

The bad news was that since it was so cold it took forever for the snow to melt! Even though it snowed Saturday morning, the kids were out of school for several days and didn't go back until Thursday! By that time we were going stir crazy and so ready to get back into our routine. Thursday and Friday ended up being gorgeous days with highs in the 60s and 70s. Yep. That's NC for ya! I am glad we had one good snow, but I am already looking forward to warmer weather and spring!

Christmas in Myrtle Beach

After a few days in Chapel Hill we packed up and headed south to Myrtle Beach. David's sister Tami and her family were in town visiting Grammie & Abuelo. We were very excited to see them and meet our sweet niece Piper for the first time!

We had another "Christmas" with the Beans and opened up more presents!

Sweet little Piper is such a calm and happy baby. 

I had an awful cold the entire time we were in MB so I wasn't able to hold and snuggle her :(. 

One morning we headed out to the beach to have some family pictures taken. 

It is amazing to me how well these two get along together. 

The immediately fall right in and pick up where they left off.

Who is this cute couple?

We enjoyed a nice picnic and walk on the beach.

And here are a few of the good family shots.

It is so hard to get everyone looking when you have so many people!

Luckily we got a few good ones!

One night Grammie and Abuelo treated us to the pirate show!

Finley and Gabi had fun getting all decked out for the show!

The next day we headed over to the Wonderworks Museum.

It is that iconic upside down building at Broadway at the Beach.

To enter you have to walk through this tunnel that spins! It totally threw me off. I couldn't walk through it without feeling sick. I had to close my eyes! We all really enjoyed the soccer shoot out station. 

The kids learned about electricity.

And had fun playing with bubbles. 

Those are some cute astronauts! A few of their favorite activities at the museum were the roller coaster simulator and laser tag. If only we didn't have to wait so long for a turn on each of those!

 

Grammie insisted on a picture with our Christmas socks.

And pajamas!

We had such a nice visit with the Beans! I know Finley wishes he could see his cousins more often, but we hope to make a trip out to Seattle to visit them this summer! And hopefully this time I won't be so sick!

Christmas 2016

Even though we forgot to put out milk and cookies for Santa, he still had a big surprise in store for Christmas morning!

A cute little owl made a special delivery with tickets to Harry Potter World for February!

Finley is very excited and can't wait to go! 

Santa even put a few Harry Potter treats in Finley's stocking to go along with the gift. 

And of course he sent us some swag to wear/use on our adventures!

Since Grammie & Abuelo live in Myrtle Beach now they spent the night with us so that they could have Christmas morning with us. Finley enjoyed getting up super early to open up all his gifts (5:30 am!). 

This chapter book was a book Finley had finished reading that my mom gave him. Finley knew that David wanted to read it so he wrapped it up and gave it to him for Christmas! So thoughtful of him!

Jammy pictures in front of the tree!

Since Christmas fell on a Sunday this year we wanted to get all of the presents and stockings done before church. 

Luckily the early wake up call allowed us to do just that and make it to church on time! 

After church we headed over to Chapel Hill to have Christmas with my family. 

Michelle and I now have matching red leggings courtesy of Emma! 

But poor Donovan felt a little left out!

We enjoyed our favorite Christmas brunch which consisted of breakfast burritos and potatoes. Delish!

Here is Pop Pop sporting his new fedora that Michelle gave him. 

Mimi and Pop Pop spoiled Finley with all kinds of soccer gear!

Dad got everyone glasses that help you get ready to go to sleep at night. 

Even Hannah Banana got some! Ha ha ha. 

An exciting gift was a bigger soccer goal from Mimi and Pop Pop. 

Luckily it wasn't too cold so we could try it out right away!

I love getting to spend time with my family!

Pete and Dolly were able to join us for Christmas too. 

And of course Uncle Michael was here too! Here is the whole Dorrance/Harris clan. 

Mimi gave this adorable book for Finley about a little boy who loses his name. 

And it turns that his name is Finley! So cute!

We were fortunate enough to spend a few days after Christmas in Chapel Hill! We played games, watched movies, hung out, and of course played soccer. Only one casualty occurred during the soccer game when Uncle Pete hurt his hamstring! Hopefully he will be on the mend soon. Finley was so thrilled because in the last game he scored a hat trick! Way to go little Messi! 

We had a wonderful Christmas with family in Chapel Hill, but there is still more to come, next stop Myrtle Beach!