Christmas in Cleveland

Ahhh the Great White North- Cleveland! We had a super fun Christmas with Mimi and Tommy...Avery loved setting out cookies for Santa and going to bed early (that is a definite lie) so that Santa could find his way to Bradgate Lane! Avery was a great girl this year, and she enjoyed opening lots of fun presents from the big guy in the red suit, including games, puzzles, Legos (Duplos), a princess play-dough set, clothes, headlamps for camping with Daddy (very cool), and lots more. She was very gracious and appreciative- so proud of her. Later Avery made a snowman and snow angels with Grandpa Tommy, and then the whole family came over for some Christmas fun- Mimi made a delicious meal and fun was had by all! Avery especially loved playing with Jackson, who was visiting from San Francisco- they led a sing-along and generally ran screaming through the house for 2 hours (a GREAT way to burn off energy!).  :) We made a last minute decision to head home from Cleveland on Christmas night at 10:00, which made for a not-so-fun late night trip home...it had to be done though, because the next day brought a wild blizzard to all of Ohio!! What a merry Christmas!

Avery's Preschool Christmas Show and Pre-Christmas Fun at Nana and Papa's

This was as close to Santa as Avery would get- she's wanted nothing to do with him this season!! :)

Our little performer did a great job at her first Christmas show from Lakeview Preschool.  Her teachers put her front and center because she was a little ham during rehearsals...She did great during the show, but things  started to go awry during "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (who DOESN'T lose their composure during that song?), when Ave became obsessed with the "swishiness" of her pretty Christmas dress.  So cute!

We had Christmas a little early with Nana and Papa since we are going to be driving to Cleveland on Christmas Eve and then there on Christmas morning.  Avery and her cousin Addy received power cars which are hilarious.  Avery was surprisingly awesome at maneuvering the car- we determined that at some point she did achieve a three point turn and successfully parallel-parked near the play kitchen in the basement. Avery was a doll opening her presents- she kept shouting, "This is JUST what I wanted!!!" after everything she opened, even clothes! What a sweetie!