Parties

During my week at home, I popped into Olivia's 2nd birthday party. She actually likes me now so I didn't get much time to sit down. She seemed to have a good time and all (adults and children) alike seemed knackered by then end. I also got to catch up with some others friends I haven't seen in ages which was great.

Birthday cake.

Happy little birthday girl.

We also went out for a meal for mom's retirement.

Christmas Visits

I have been enjoying being home, though most days I have to do some work. I even got my first (and not the last) job rejection yesterday. Merry Christmas. (Seriously it was nice to be told - some don't even bother - but they could have waited!) Still it is nice to be with family. Even though my family is officially nuts. (Love them!)

Dad with a car seatbelt protector on his headphones

The past weekend we have been doing the family visits. Saturday we went to see my aunt, uncle and cousins, Emma and Andrew, and Emma's son, who is very cute. On Sunday we went to see My Aunt Shirley and Uncle Terry who are like God parents I guess (though I was never christened).

Then we stopped by my Aunty Sue and Uncle Trevor's (probably my favorite aunt and uncle) for a chat and glass of wine. They had taken some of my Uncle Roy's Christmas decorations when he passed away earlier this year, much to my Uncles despair. My Aunty Ann (Roy's wife) always when crazy as Christmas. My Aunt Sue loves them! They definitely cover all tastes.

Flashing snowman

Some were nice. But honestly the multiple decapitated Santa heads freaked me out a bit. Then we found out you can put batteries in them. Though I was a little curious, thankfully they didn't have the right size batteries. Because I think if the eyes lit up, I would have been out of there so fast!

Floating Santa head. <Shudder>

 Last night some more cousins came around, and Paul and fiancee brought their little baby around! Oliver is only 7 weeks old and was very cute. And then they showed the Santa suit. Adorable! And he snores! For some reason I didn't think babies snored but he sounds like a kitten purring! So cute!

Baby Santa

 Happily he woke up on his own. (Me and Marie were getting impatient waiting!)

Waking up in a new place

Marie gave him his bottle (after a little bit a panic - he is so small and wriggly!)

"Where's my food?)

Happy now.

Little bit of post dinner dancing.

I did get a snuggle. He is so sweet. But once Mom got a hold of him, no one else was going to get a look in. There were a few hints about grandkids, where I had to change the conversation quickly. He was cute but he did start crying for a while. And then they were talking about the mount of sleep they were getting. Not ready for that!

Having a good around

More dancing with his mom, Jen and my dad.

Mom very happy with an equally happy sleeping Oliver.

It was nice to catch up with them as it's been long time since I have seen most of my cousins. But my time at home is going too quickly. :-(

Eva's 5th Birthday

Saturday was Eva's 5th Birthday and she invited me to her "Frozen" birthday party at Romp 'N' Roll.  It was joint birthday party for Eva and her friend Luie who was turning 3.

Eva's favorite person, Elsa

There were about 20 kids, from age 1 to 8. Romp 'N' Roll is a gymnastic area where basically the kids can go wild. And they did!

Swinging

climbing                                              

hugging her best friend                                                 

jumping                                

Sliding with Ann-Marie

At one point, three of the girls were being princesses in their castle, when the big bad wolf (aka. Steve) invaded. The ensuing mayhem really was his own fault!

Attaching the princesses

"Are you going to help me?"

"Nope"

There were a few tears throughout the event (I was honestly expecting a lot more!) but mostly they just had fun. Some of the kids had no fear and were leaping between things like monkeys! Scaring parents each time!

They had great fun with the little parachute and wool balls which they basically shook and threw.

                                         

                                         

Then it was back to chaos for a time...

Hiding

Monkeys

There is no way this could go wrong                                              

... before time for food and cake.

The birthday kids shared a Frozen cake and everyone seemed to really enjoy their treats.

Birthday boy

Birthday girl, blowing out the candles

Cake!

Then it was back into the play room. Personally I was amazed this didn't end with a LOT of puke. But I guess the kids had stronger stomachs than I thought as thankfully that didn't happen. Of course, with sugar in their systems, the mayhem was magnified.

Cuddles with mom and dad.

Then the helpers organized a snowball fight, girls vs. boys, with soft toys. (Again no way THAT could go wrong!)

Snowball fight, pre-injury

Eva got hit in the eye :-( and started screaming. I don't think there was a winner to the fight.
Then there was a bear hunt, which most of the kids go into.

Inventive way down the bridge

Looking for the bear - Eva looking a bit bemused.                                    

Totally unimpressed kid!

I was exhausted by this point! Luckily all that was left was dancing with the bubble machine and getting goody bags.

It was a very tiring 2 hours! By the end I think most of the kids were over-stimulated and either hyped up or over-due for a nap. But I think for the most part Eva enjoyed herself and she liked her presents.
I spent the rest of the night and weekend working, except for a Skype home to catch up with my parents who have been on holiday so there was a lot to catch up on. My life is pretty much work at the moment. But I have a weekend away planned soon so hopefully I'll get a break then. :-) 

Musical Bike Parade

Friday was the grand opening of college avenue. This road has been dug up so many times since I first arrived here and now it's finished! Well, almost. They started digging part of it up again on Thursday but I guess was done enough to have the opening. When I first got down there, nothing was happening. So I sat in the sun for a bit. Then the steel band started which was fun.

Blacksburg steel band.

Super cute!

I got a little bored so decided to get some food. As I was waiting, the parade started so as soon as I got my food, I dashed outside with my camera. I missed some but the ones I saw were really cool.

lie down bicycle.

Harley style bike (and rider)

Sesame street bike.

My favorite 

Mayor of Blacksburg

Mayors (bored) grandkids and his ride.

French style.

I didn't stick around for the speeches. I was really hungry and while taking photos, the stick on my shiskabob broke making eating it tricky. But it was worth the trip downtown. :-)