New Years 2012

The plan was to stay home on New Years Eve. Jim and I thought we'd put the kids to bed a tad early, have a late steak dinner - just the two of us - and possibly stay up to midnight to ring in the new year.

That plan completely derailed on Saturday morning.

Jim's entire family usually heads up north to the cabin every new years. Sometimes we go. Sometimes we don't. It all depends on Jim's schedule. Even though it was possible for Jim to lay down an extra vacation day we figured it was extremely risky to drive 4 hours into the north woods with a toddler and a newborn. Eli isn't exactly the most well behaved kid when confined to a car seat and we had no idea how Gabriella would handle the long trek. Not to mention the fact that SEVENTEEN people would be sleeping under the same roof...if Gabriella decided to scream in the middle of the night, so. help. me. God.

Anyway, after a few phone calls from Jim's family we decided to just be spontaneous and make the trip. To many of you this is no big deal. But to us....to completely pack up our entire existence for three days within one hour is pretty much living life on the edge! But we figured it's not often we'd have the chance to do such a thing. I don't work, Jim was able to take a day off and it's not like the kids had to be at school or anything. So, at 10:30 am on Saturday we made the decision and by noon we were on the road. Jim's family didn't know we were coming, we had just enough diapers to last us through the weekend and we didn't even pack food! Like I said...life on the edge.

Wanna hear the most awesome, amazing news ever? Eli and Gabriella were complete angels on the drive up there. It was almost eerie how perfectly content they both were. I give major props to the Rockabye Baby CD's we took out from the library. Ever hear of these? They are lullabye renditions from popular bands. We played Coldplay, the Beatles, Journey, Radiohead, Bob Marley, Queen and Elvis. They are kind of hilarious but totally manage to keep kids in some hypnotic trance.

The weekend was pretty much what you'd expect from a house full of ten adults and seven children. Lots of noise, tons of food and happy, crazy kids running around every waking moment. Eli certainly had a blast and that alone made me glad we took our chances.

Our first night....let the chaos begin.



Clearly this kid was excited.



Just a heads up...these two will be trouble together one day. Eli is a miniature Gavin and Jim and I can only imagine what the future holds for these two risk takers.



But to be completely honest, it may have been chaotic but at least it was ORGANIZED chaos :)







Sadly, no one made it to midnight and we were all in our respective rooms by 10:30. Eli and Gabriella slept extremely well considering the fact that they were out of their element. Eli has a track record of sleeping HORRIBLY up at the cabin. Last time we were up there, we actually put his pack 'n play in a walk in closet because it's nearly impossible for him to sleep in the same room as us. But this time...I don't know what happened...the four of us were able to snooze within 3 feet of one another.

The next morning, Jim and I decided to head into town to grab some food and milk. There are deer fenced in at Crandon's city hall so we obviously had to make the stop for Eli, lest we be labeled the World's Worst Parents.





It was freakin' cold while I took these photos, fyi...







Eli didn't show too much excitment over the animals but when it was time to go, he definitely didn't want to leave.



Back at the cabin, Jim took Eli for a quick sled ride but let me tell you guys, it was so cold and windy, I kind of wanted to die.

At least we got to try out the snow suit for the first time.



Ok, so it's kind of too cutesy for my taste but that's what you get when you buy off the clearance rack.



At least it kept my kid warm.



Tears yet again that the fun has to end.



Since it was vacay and Eli was taking a nap, I decided it was the perfect opportunity to snuggle with little G for a couple of hours. But first we took advantage of the awesome natural light in the basement. Dream studio, for sure! [Dear God, Please give me a space like this one day!]







I think Gabriella and I slept close to two hours next to the fire place. That might have been only the second or third time I have ever napped with my baby girl and let me tell you, it was much needed.

We drove home on Monday and again, perfect, happy children graced our presence. [Who are you and what have you done with my kids?]

Anyway, our new years eve weekend was short and sweet up at the family cabin. Definitely not a planned trip but considering the fact that we literally threw everything in the car at a moment's notice, it couldn't have gone any better.

Now let's just hope these sweet, angelic children show up when we fly down to Florida next month!