Christmas Kick-Off

Yesterday was the first Sunday of Advent and we kicked it off with cinnamon rolls and the first stocking gifts of the year.

Parker got a Spiderman watch (that I can't figure out how to set.). Esme got a new Barbie and math activity book.

Jimmy got a massage gun which he's been talking about getting for a while.  These were all Black Friday finds at Menards.

This was the first year in ages that I finished all of the new patches before the Christmas season began. Esme chose a grilled cheese sandwich and Parker got a fidget spinner.  I chose our church logo since I joined the governing board this year, and Jimmy has a silhouette of a man running.

Esme started working on the math book right away and it's already done!  I love her love for learning.

Thanksgiving #2

Thanksgiving #2 started early, like 3:45am early.  My dad and I met at Fleet Farm at 4:30 for some shopping and to continue our stuffed animal tradition.  This year it was a red panda, just like Mei Mei from Turning Red!  They always stay pretty hip to trends, so it was not a surprise.  Esme initially named her Goffa, which is the manufacturer name on the tag.  This evolved to Gova, then finally Gola.  She's joined Pascal as constant companions.  Grandpa Buxton named his Firefox because it's a nickname for the red panda and was the inspiration for Mozilla Firefox browser's name.

After a few hours at home, we made our way to Grandpa and Nana Buxton's house.  The kids took a dip in the hot tub while I helped finish preparing lunch.

Since we just had a Thanksgiving style meal for my grandma's visit, my mom went the Italian route with chicken alfredo and lasagna.

Our nephew, Jameson, recently got a therapy helmet, so I brought my vinyl and silhouette to cut some decals for him.  Since the Huskers were playing, we turned it in to a Nebraska helmet, Go Big Red!

We started the pool tournament after lunch in hopes we could finish before 3:00 kick off.

I got to take a rest with Jameson in the hammock after I was the first eliminated.

Jaxxon took a rest with grandpa.

Grandma and Nana ended up in the final with Grandpa taking home the victory just in time for the game to start.

We brought dessert of pumpkin pie and cherry cheesecake cookies, which are now a Buxton holiday staple.

One more late afternoon dip in the hot tub for the kids.  I even joined them for a little bit.  It was so relaxing, I could have fallen asleep in there.

Happy Thanksgiving again!

Thanksgiving #1 - Herrmann Family

We drove up to Two Harbors on Thanksgiving Day to celebrate with Jimmy's family.

We were tasked with bringing the pecan pie, and Jimmy knocked it out of the park.

Julie made a huge spread with turkey and all the sides.

Izzy helped Esme put the finishing touches on the chocolate pie.  Esme asked about this pie on the drive up and we had to text Julie to make sure it was available.

Apple and pumpkin joined the party for a PtP (people to pie) ratio of 2.75:1.

A Herrmann holiday wouldn't be complete without some board game battles.  This was Esme's first time playing Mouse Trap and it took me back to my childhood.  She beat Paul and uncle Dave straight up and got a little help to finish off Julie.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Beyond 100 Parks #109 - Aquila Park - St. Louis Park, MN

I totally forgot to post this s couple weeks ago, so here it is back dated.  It was the warmest day we'd seen in a while, so we grabbed our boots and headed to one of Jimmy's childhood parks in St. Louis Park.

Key Features

This was a pretty simple structure, but had several favorites still.

I waffled between 6 and 7 for this one, but multiple spinners pushed it up to 7.

Grandpa's Birthday Dinner

We gathered on Monday night to celebrate Grandpa Buxton's birthday.  We met up at a new restaurant in Rogers that my sister-in-law, Kelsey, works at.  R Social on Main is kind of an upscale sports bar.  My mom reserved the social booth which seats up to 12.  It was the perfect sport for all of us to squeeze in.

Kelsey and I ordered the same cocktail without realizing it, great minds think alike!  It was the Ginger Rogers, with gin, grapefruit juice, fresh lime, simple syrup, and ginger beer.  It was so tasty!  We shared some birria nachos and creole deviled eggs to start and I started snacking on Esme's french fries before our food came.

By the time my smokehouse burger came, I was nearly full and ended up taking the whole thing home. It made for a delicious lunch on Tuesday.

Jimmy got the curry rice bowl and gave it rave reviews.  We will definitely come back here again!

Happy Birthday Grandpa!