Adventuring near and far with our family of four
So I remembered to slather the sunscreen on Tyler’s face today when we went out for a run in the 70 degree sunshine.
But I didn’t anticipate his little pants riding up in the stroller. Hence, this.
Nothing like a little mid-calf sunburn on February 27. Oops!
Tyler is at that stage where he will copy most anything you do, and wants you to copy what’s he’s doing, too. Here are some selfies from the other night when we were snuggling and reading books on the couch too close to bedtime.
Now he’s just being a monkey.
He gets funnier every day!
This year was a Holle year for Christmas, so the 11 of us set up camp at Grandma and Grandpa Holle’s in Tucson. We were fortunate to have mostly decent weather (contrary to popular belief, Tucson is NOT hot and sweaty in December…we were lucky to be outside without a jacket on any given day). We had an amazing time being all together: us from Colorado, the Stumpfs from Nebraska, and Paul & Colleen from Idaho. We cooked delicious meals, visited the Desert Museum and the Children’s Museum, stopped at In and Out (sadly, only once), and drank an entire keg. The kids wore matching Christmas Jammies (thanks, Aunt Laura!) and loved playing with toys from the Holle stash, new toys, each other, and especially Aunt Colleen.
We had a fabulous trip and made lots of fun memories. We even got to stay an extra day–thanks, Southwest Airlines, for canceling so many flights. Also, thanks to Southwest Airlines for losing our BOB and then returning it 5 days later at 11:30 pm…a trip to remember!
As with every family, the holidays were a blur for us this year. Here are a few photos of Tyler enjoying his second Christmas, at home in Colorado.
Tyler was being so stinkin’ cute this day. Our church celebrates Christmas Eve on the Sunday before, so we attended, saw Santa (around the corner from our house on a firetruck!), and opened presents from my side of the family.
Tyler was an angel around the Christmas tree–we didn’t have any broken ornaments or swimming-in-the-reservoir episodes. He had fun opening gifts, playing of course with the paper and ribbons. Thanks for the new toys, books, and clothes Aunt Heidi & Uncle David and Nana & Grandpa! The Wedgits and Richard Scarry books are some of my faves!
Eric and I are fortunate to have very flexible schedules with our jobs. My school district gives us the whole week at Thanksgiving and Eric can take days off/work from home as needed. So, we flew to Chicago on the redeye Monday night.
We enjoyed time with my brother and Heidi and our nephews, Everett and Judd. The adults imbibed, the children frolicked, and Nana & Grandpa were exhausted.
On Tuesday, we visited a local indoor play area. The boys LOVED it and it was so fun to see Tyler seem all grown up running around with older kids and showing no fear on slides and ladders.
Nighttime is a hoot with 3 wound-up boys.
Wednesday we celebrated an unorthodox Thanksgiving! Our flight was leaving Thursday afternoon (literally no cheaper time to fly–$59). So, we cooked our dinner on Wednesday! Heidi and I spent most of our time drinking wine in the kitchen slaving over side dishes while Nana & Grandpa and the daddies played with the boys.
We had so much fun chasing after Everett, Judd, and Tyler. Fortunately we didn’t get too tired, because we had a Turkey Trot to do on Thanksgiving morning!
So glad we were able to all be together for the holiday. Tyler is a mere 5 1/2 weeks older than Judd and we all look forward to them growing up together!
“How do I exchange my dollars for Vermont Money?”–Joey Tribbiani
Way back last year sometime, Eric decided he needed to take a class for work. A 3-day workshop kind of class, offered by a private vendor at a variety of locations around the country. When he told me that Vermont was on the list–in OCTOBER!–I knew all 3 of us would be going. I have ALWAYS wanted to go to the Northeast in the fall. I wanted to experience the whole deal: leaf-peeping, cider donuts, and maple syrup tapping. Ok, I was bummed to learn that the syrup thing doesn’t happen in the fall…but I still wanted Tyler and I to tag along on this trip. So, we went for four days of family vacation before Eric stayed to take his class.
In true Hollewood vacation style, we didn’t waste a minute. From the moment we landed in Burlington, we were on the go. Tyler was a superb traveler and slept all night long in our airbnb–the house had a nursery with a crib, a diaper genie, bath toys, and even a stroller for us to use. Amazing.
Many thanks to our friends who gave us recommendations and suggestions of all the things to see, do, eat, and drink in and around Burlington. We ate at Penny Cluse, American Flatbread, and Vergennes Laundry. We drank at Magic Hat, Fiddlehead, Switchback, Queen City, Zero Gravity, Crop, and Prohibition Pig. We saw Stowe, Ben & Jerry’s, Shelburne Farms, Shelburne Orchards, and rode the ferry to Essex, NY. We ate maple ice cream and bought Tyler a little dinosaur we call his Vermontasaurus.
It was so fun to have Tyler there and see him experience things for the first time. Thinking back now, although it was only 4 months ago, I can hardly believe how much he has changed since then. He was barely starting to walk–wobbly and holding our hands. At 14 months old, he was swimming in size 12 months clothes. And he was still nursing. I miss that baby!