Christmas in Missouri, part Peetz

After partying at Aunt Cindy's on Saturday, we stayed at Grandma Ross's house, talking with Grandma and Grandpa, my Uncle Ed, as well as my cousin Aaron and his wife Kelli. Professor Isaac impressed them all with his knowledge of dinosaurs. Consummate teasing professional Uncle Ed spent about an hour telling Isaac about the pet triceratops he and Aunt Brenda were keeping across the street. Grandma Ross, brave soul that she is, read him a bedtime story from his new book about ice age animals.

The next day we visited Grandma Peetz to open presents and hang out. She got Isaac and Jacob each a Christmas ornament. Aunt Joy did the same.



Having spent Christmas at home this year, we got an inordinate sense of enjoyment out of our small ornament collection, so we were all glad to get more. Our tree is not bare, but lacks the appropriate barrage of meaningful ornaments. We continued our tradition of letting the boys pick out their own each year. This year Isaac picked out a plastic crystal-looking snowman. Jacob picked out Homer Simpson tangled in Christmas lights. And now we have four more lovingly handpicked ones for our tree next year.

Of course eventually we all turned to the bubble wrap that came with the ornaments.



But that was before we opened presents! Grandma Peetz knows her some Isaac and bought him this huuuuuuuge Crayola art supplies suitcase, as well as two different-sized sketch pads. We use these things every day. She bought Jacob a vehicle hauler truck, which was also an enormous hit. Aunt Joy and Uncle Darryl got them two Thomas books, a Cars bop bag, and a Lite Brite.

We spent a lot of our visit outside, where we hadn't been for about two weeks. Daddy had taken a turn for the worse during our brief stay in Missouri, but the boys and I were feeling better from our week-long colds (though that didn't last). Isaac celebrated his liberation by running up Grandma's hill, and then rolling down it. Repeat until exhaustion sets in.




Jacob, meanwhile, would not let the new truck out of his sight.



Isaac was a total trip with all the folks from Missouri. I wish we could see everyone more than once a year, mostly because I always worry the boys will forget them by the time we see them next. But not Professor Isaac. As soon as we stepped in to Grandma Peetz's house, he grabbed her by the hand and led her around the house, no joke. "So, Grandma, how are you doing today? Can you show me around your house? What do you like to do in that room? Which bed do you sleep in?" She answered all his questions, laughing at her great-grandson, Mr. Personality.