Express Christmas

Lola's first Christmas proved to be a busy one! We traveled to Illinois for a long weekend with family & friends. Our first stop was in Downers Grove to visit my Dad & Joni. Dad made an excellent pasta dinner, we opened presents & relaxed. On Saturday afternoon we traveled to Utica where we met up with Ethan, Celia, Emma & Grace. The kids spent the next couple of days swimming at the water park at Grand Bear Lodge and having a ton of fun at the indoor amusement park! (I did not take any photos of that because I was too busy enjoying the lazy river and going down scary water slides!) We had a fun holiday celebration with my Mom & Chuck as well as the rest of the Illinois family.







It's clear by the photo below that Lola and her twin cousin Celia absolutly love dressing alike. They were SO EXCITED to be together for the holiday!


The morning of Christmas Eve we met up with family friends and had lunch at Starved Rock Lodge. This is has been an annual celebration for over 10 years. Below is the group photo. See if you can spot the twin cousins!


We drove home on Christmas Eve and had to hurry up and open gifts the that Santa left while we were gone becuase we had to get Ian back to his Mom's by 9pm! He scored a ton of loot from Santa and was so excited!


And finally... a relaxing day at home! Christmas Day! Lola had a great day and loved opening her gifts! We had a nice dinner with Mom & Chuck, Lola even ate Christmas dinner! On her menu: ham, mashed potatoes, asparagus, corn casserole & cranberry sauce! She ate a plate full! Her first Christmas was a busy one and a perfect one!