Christmas in Oklahoma

After Christmas morning at our house, we packed up and left for Edmond around lunch time. Griffin usually sleeps at least half of the way, so it is a pretty easy drive. Halfway through, we stopped for gas and a diaper change and let Griffin "test drive" the car. He was very excited, and then became very serious about his job...

 I love this look of concentration...this is what he looks like when he plays with his toys, too.

Christmas is held at Scott and Cherie's house, and it is always a lot of fun. The Orr's waited to Skype with Brandon (on his mission in SLC) until they got there, so we all got to see and chat with him - that was awesome! He got to see Griffin for the first time :)

The nieces and nephews draw names for their gift exchange, as do the adults. Ashley Merkley drew Griffin's name - he got the cutest little OU jacket, very handsome.

He got to sit in the official opening chair, but wasn't so sure about it...

Hugs for Ashely, but more importantly, the piece of paper in his hand...

Griffin picked Shelby's name. and he got her a cozy flannel pj set from Victoria's Secret 

We stayed for a couple of days, and Griffin got to play with and help Daddy and Uncle Scott outside

(The child sure love his Bink...)

Griffin's first Christmas was wonderful. We were so excited for him! He is such a good boy.

Christmas At Home

I have been waiting to post a Christmas blog or two until after I was finished with Disney....finally!

Christmas was so much fun. In addition to being Griffin's very first Christmas, it was an Oklahoma year and we got the best of both worlds. We spent Christmas morning in our home and celebrated with just our little family, driving up to Edmond in the afternoon. I ordered the majority of Griff's presents online - let me just say, that is how everyone should do it. Always. It was easy AND it was Christmas everyday for two weeks leading up the Christmas, due to a package or two arriving each day! I LOVE getting packages and I REALLY LOVE getting Christmas cards. The best.

We spent Christmas Eve at the Krueger's. Jenn made a delicious dinner, and it was nice to sit around and talk. The kids got to open a gift, Emily made some gingerbread men (I could not stop eating them) and we were home and Griffin in bed by 8. Carson had a little remote control car that Griffin was highly entertained by. Carson would drive in circles around him, get it right up close and then zoom it away. This was all fine until Griffin actually got ahold of the car, and then had to give it back so Carson could continue to play with it. 

Oh Dear.

Griff rose at his usual 6am on Christmas morning. He had a scrumptious breakfast of Pears&Cinnamon Oatmeal, but instead of playing with toys and watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (which is usually how it goes) we went to the place with "lots of lights and crinkly things that I want to put in my mouth."

We weren't really sure how Griffin was going to react to presents, and we weren't expecting much...but I swear to you, he understood. No lie. The first package, we tore a little starter hole for him and he was mesmerized by the paper...

And the lights on the tree were extremely distracting...

But then he totally understood that what was inside all the fun paper was the good stuff. It lasted about 3 presents, and then Mommy helped him a lot - so many new toys!

My little Charlie Brown

Whew! That was exhausting!

Disney Wrap Up

Would we do it again? I don't know. Did we have some great times? Yes.

There was some crying (from everyone), lots of laughing, new experiences, and quality family time.

I forgot to mention that there was quite a bit of napping...mostly in our bed. Which is also where Griffin chose to sleep during the night.

Griffin had to nap, usually somewhere in between 3-4 hours, total. Worked for me!

Just waking up

I look dead here, but I assure you I was alive and willing to volunteer to nap with Griffin!

At this point, we thought he was out for the count in his Pack 'n' Play...you would think...

The last night, we decided that Griffin deserved to pick out a toy in remembrance of the trip. Plus, he was so so so good the entire time. It was pretty funny. We went to the store and held up all kinds of things in front of him, waiting for a reaction. 

We definitely got one when we held up his Mickey :)

He was an excellent little traveler, both ways. He loved riding on top of the camera bag. Silly Boy.

Griffin splashing, seeing Mickey, and the time we got to spend all together made the whole trip worth it. Thank you Gram and Grandpa! I am so grateful for my parents - their love and generosity is amazing.

Castaway Cay..Key...Cay

We got off the boat on St. Maarten (Welcome to St. Maarten! Welcome to St. Maarten! Welcome to St. Maarten! {this was the song on the ferry boat, and that is all it said}) and...

 It. Was. Awful.

It was so very hot, no shade to be found. Griffin hated the sand on his toes and hated the ocean. I think it was big and scary. He was bright red, hot, and uncomfortable. And that was after only 30 minutes of getting to the beach. He launched into a major meltdown, and Brian and I tried to quickly pack up and walk back down the beaches, to the line to get on the ferry, to the other side of the island, to the long pier to get through security to get back on to the boat. I carried Griff the whole way, screaming, gasping, and eventually shuddering in his exhausted sleep. Stressed does not even begin to define how I was feeling. 

So, when docked at the beautiful island of St. John....we stayed on the boat. It was fantastic. We went to the splash pad and splashed to Griffin's heart's content because there was nobody else there. We didn't wait in a long line for lunch, because there was none. Griffin and I went back to the room and napped while Brian read up on the empty deck. Good day.

Last time, Castaway Key/Cay was my favorite day, so when the time came to get on the island we went. It was another good day. The entire family staked out a corner of the beach so we were all together.

Griffin hanging out with Grandpa and Uncle Chris, no doubt discussing stocks and Jimmer Fredette.

Having lunch on the beach.

Taking a little snooze. You can't see it, but my phone is blaring I Walk the Line - Johnny Cash

Chilling in his Sun Hut - he looks like Gigantor Baby. He eventually figured out how to bat away the velcroed net keeping him in.

Playing This Little Piggy with Aunt Angelique

The weather was perfect, the company was great - Castaway was the best day for me!

More Disney

Pirate Night was a good night! Beforehand, we went out on one of the decks - there was hardly anyone there, and we were docked at the port. I fed Griffin out there and then we just hung out until dinner. We got a chance private meeting with Pirate Mickey and Minnie (Griffin was in heaven) and some nice, relaxing family time.

My cute little pirate men!

With Jack Sparrow Grandpa (Gram was a Pirate Wench, can't believe I don't have any good pictures of that...)

We had a lot of sleepy pirates that night. Braddock fell asleep, literally mid-sentence. I believe it went something like "Dad, can I............"

The Character Breakfast was also fun. Having missed it the previous cruise to sleep in, no doubt, we had been up and ready for hours by 8am! Given Griffin's infatuation of the life-sized creatures, we couldn't miss it.

Griffin thought Minnie was his girlfriend. Obviously she had the dame feelings.

Disney, Day...I Don't Know

The next few posts will be of the highlights of the cruise. I should have finished my posts about the Disney 

cruise one right after another. I can no longer remember which day was what or what one was which. Overall, it all worked out. It was hard, but the good times and fun memories made it all worth it. 

I think this was the first time Griffin got to meet Mickey Mouse up close. He could not get enough of him! He loves Mickey, and was so excited to see him (notice the full body lunge to get closer). We waited in line for about 20 minutes to meet these characters...let me just say, I never would have thought that I'd wait in line to meet large mascots with unknown people inside them. But it was awesome.

Hudson also enjoyed meeting Mickey and Pluto. I think he was a little nervous at first, but then warmed right up!

Griffin LOVED the little splash pool that they had for little ones! It was funny to see him test it out, reach out and touch the fountains, etc. And he looked so so cute in his little swimsuit and shirt. 

Hey...Dad...What are you drinking? I want some!

After a morning of splashing - cozy in his towel, watching old school Mickey Mouse