January Snapshots

After a busy holiday season, we stayed closed to home for the month of January this year.  The winter days were filled with visits with friends and activities around Alameda.  Here are a few snapshots of some fun family and friends moments:

Making cupcakes with pal Tasha

Roll Tide!  Alabama wins again!

Menehune men and ice cream with PopPop at Trader Vic's

"Ice skating" at the Little Ice Rink

Christmas Highlights 2012

Since Thomas and I were in Europe most of the beginning of December, Christmas came very quickly this year!  We had just enough time for my usual baking projects for all of our secretaries and paralegals a work, a playgroup Christmas potluck, and a visit to Alameda's Santa Claus. 

The playgroup Christmas cuties.

Thomas reading 'Twas the Night Before Christmas to the playgroup kids.

Then it was off to Alabama for another Christmas on the road!  We had a blast hanging with the Neelands and Virginia had a chance to see several of her second cousins for the first time in more than a year.  Virginia spent much of the trip loving on Uncle Dave - a strategy she used, in part, to gain access to the chocolate game on his tablet.

Showing Dave how the Chocolate Game is played!

Bundled up for Zoo Lights at the Montgomery Zoo.

Christmas with cozy things.

Kids' table for Christmas dinner with cousin Brice.

Uncle Dave, Aunt Lizzie & Ginger the dog - her favorites!

Applying her new makeup on Christmas eve.

Love for Lizzie and Uncle Dave 

Final goodbyes to Mimi and Papa!

We had a bit of an adventure on the return, as we found ourselves stranded in Dallas overnight the day after a snowstorm had caused delays for days.  But after a few hours sleep in an airport Marriott, we made it home in one piece.  

We did a late Christmas celebration with all the Harveys in California a few days later.  Virginia was surprised to find that GayGay apparently told Santa that she had been extra good this year, as he had dropped off a blue Mini Cooper at our house while we were away.  Virginia was in love (and managed to almost immediately drive the thing into a tree).

Someone must have been extra good this year!

Back to Bama!

In early June, I decided it was time to brave a solo flight with Virginia back to Alabama to see her Mimi and Papa again.  My high school girlfriends planned a mini-reunion in Birmingham that same weekend, so it was the perfect chance to enjoy a girls weekend and let Mimi and Papa take Virginia for an overnight visit.  Aunt Lizzie flew in from Charlotte as well to lend a hand.

The weekend was a ton of fun... Virginia swam and swam in the baby pool in Mimi's back yard, ate Southern cuisine at Martha's Place, and fed Ginger (my parents' new dog) all day long.  The trip took a bit of a strange and unfortunate turn, however, while I was away in Birmingham for my girls' overnight.  While I was away, Virginia slipped and cut her chin on a wooden decorative garbage can at my parents' house.  Luckily, she was in good hands with Papa's medical connections and they took her to the Baptist ER where they determined that she needed a few stitches.  

But she was too upset to handle getting stitches without me there, so I raced back to Montgomery to nurse her boo boos.  A former schoolmate of mine from Montgomery Academy was the ER doctor who stitched her up.  Virginia was not thrilled when we had to put her in the ER equivalent of a straightjacket to do the actual stitching.  She gave the nurses lots of lip!  Although it was upsetting to see her in pain, we were glad to see that her feisty spirit had definitely not been broken.

Even though the trip involved her first ER visit, we still had a blast with family.  I'm happy to report that Virginia is healing nicely and is well on her way to recovery too...

Silly with Aunt Lizzie:

Virginia went down the slide about 200 times!

Pretending to be shy meeting her first celebrity (Martha Hawkins):

Princess Virginia wearing her tiara from Mimi's grab bag of treats:

Ginger ate more that weekend than she had all year!

A ginger with Ginger!  You can see her little scar and fat lip in this photo:

Virginia stymied our attempts to get a shot with her and Mimi all weekend... this was the best we could do!