Getting Caught Up From The Holidays

So we are now in the midst of one of the worst winters in history for the Philadelphia area. I was really annoyed to hear that so far this season, Philadelphia has had more snow than Buffalo!

But in the meantime, despite snow days and time on my hands, I have neglected my blog. No excuse really - just didn't feel like it. So here's a whole LOT of photos from the Christmas holidays.

On Connor's last day of school before Christmas, they had a Poetry Cafe which Patrick and I attended. Connor had Patrick sit on his lap for the performances - which was so cute.

And then look at them when we had to rotate to the next room....
That afternoon, Patrick's friend Marco came over to our house for a play date. Patrick and Marco used to be in the same class at daycare before Marco changed schools. They had a great time playing together.
On Christmas Eve, we baked cookies (and packed for our trip to North Carolina).
And here's Patrick setting out cookies & milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer.
And on Christmas morning, Santa did not disappoint. Here's Aunt Beth, Connor and Patrick holding some of their loot.
Liam and Connor digging in while Grandpa McLaughlin watches on.
Liam and Connor enjoying gifts from Grandma & Grandpa McLaughlin.
Connor happy to get a New England Patriots, Tom Brady jersey. While I may not enjoy the snow in Buffalo, I'm still a Bills fan. So it breaks my heart that my sons like the Patriots!! How did that happen?
More stuff from Grandma & Grandpa (Liam is now in his Patriots / Randy Moss jersey). Adam watching on...
Patrick posing with his Buzz and Woody.
The morning after Christmas we drove 8 hours to North Carolina. It was a little tough getting ready for Christmas and packing for week long trip. But being beach front for the week was worth it. Here's a picture from our deck in the late afternoon - with the moon in full view.
We took the ferry to Ocrakoke Island and the boys bellied up to the bar to eat lunch a local place.
While on Ocracoke we visited one of the Outer Banks light houses.

And then before taking the ferry back to Hatteras Island, we stopped at a beach for some pictures and beach football. Here's Rick & Helen (and Ruby posing for a picture).

And here are the boys playing ball...

And I snapped the picture below on the ferry ride back... again, another nice afternoon appearance from the moon!
Adam and the boys enjoying some hot tub time!
And now Helen gets a turn!
Below is Patrick loving on Ruby...

And the full moon on its way up!
Matthew turned 10 while were were there... Below is Helen, Rick, Andrew and Matthew.
On New Years Eve, Helen and I went for a walk on the beach. This is the pier in Avon - I personally can't imagine walking out on this thing! It looks like it's about to fall down.

A view of the pier from underneath - not looking very safe!

New Years Eve - on the beach...
All in all, spending the last week of 2009 at the beach was a great way to say good-bye to what proved to be a pretty bad year... It was good to end it on a good note with a lot of fun.