Christmas morning

After all the excitement of Christmas Eve, it was difficult to get the boys to sleep back at the hotel so Christmas morning came a little too soon.  We packed up and checked out of the hotel so we could get over to Granny's for presents!  Lee and Cassandra and the kids had to leave mid-morning to catch their flight but the kids didn't need any encouragement to rip right into their gifts.  Everyone got exactly what was on their lists; I guess that means that we were all good this year!  (At least while Santa was watching.)

I apologize for the poor nature of the pictures.  Apparently, the only person who knows how to pose with presents is Corinne because everyone else just digs in without ever looking up at the camera.  Maybe Corinne can give the boys lessons for next year.  Thanks, Granny, for all of our great gifts!

"I guess I'll eat a muffin if Granny doesn't have any breakfast crackers."

Too soon, we had to say goodbye to the Missouri Rashmans.  They headed for the airport while we stayed at Granny's and played with our new toys.  Then we headed over to Joan's house for her awesome brunch of tenderloin sandwiches, smoked salmon, croissants, fruit, and fancy cheese (yay, more crackers for Ben!).  This was our last stop on our trip and we ended with a bang in the form of a temper tantrum from Dan.  I wish we could have stayed at Joan's a little longer but it was time to go when Dan melted down.  Thank you, everyone in Buffalo, for a fantastic Christmas 2011!

One second away from total collapse.

And that's it for 2011!  The boys both have ear infections and pinkeye, so my New Year's Eve will be spent on the couch while they sleep.  See you in 2012!

Christmas Eve at Granny's

Keeping with tradition, Mary Ellen hosted Christmas Eve at her home for the extended family.  By my count, one of her two brothers and five of her six sisters were there.  (One brother lives in Colorado and one sister was sick.)  Add in the spouses, children, and grandchildren and the result was one full, loud, happy party.  The decor was beautiful, the food was delicious, and the company was great!  The get-togethers in Buffalo are pretty different from those in Oklahoma with my mom's family; there, the loudest we get is at a hotly contested Scrabble session.  Not better or worse, just different!

Dan and Ben had a great time, running up and down the stairs, playing with cars and trucks from Zach's childhood, stealing food from any table at their level.  They loved opening their gift exchange present and just being around lots of people who can't get enough of them.

After the real presents were exchanged, we had a Yankee Swap (aka Dirty Santa aka White Elephant) gift exchange.  You know, where someone opens a present, the next person can either open a new one or steal that one, and so on.  We contributed some gas station wine-in-a-cup from a Virginia rest stop and we came out with a fancy painted Vegas wine glass.  Win!

Love these old Buffalo houses!

How embarrassing--they all wore striped sweaters.

Back with the crackers, I see. 

Lay off the crackers, Ben!

Moving on to desserts.  Good man.

And with this toy, Ben's lifetime hammer experience eclipses his father's.

Thanks for a great Christmas Eve, extended Rashman-Doerr family!

Christmas Eve morning

Once again, Dan had a rough start to the day.  As best we can figure since neither of us were in the room with him, Dan was playing with a dump truck, one of those friction-powered toys that you pull back and then let go.  Well, apparently he forgot to let go and he went along for the ride, rug-burning his shoulder, cheek, eyelid (!) and forehead on the hotel carpet.  Poor guy.  So all the pictures from here out will have the injury prominently displayed.

After that excitement, we headed over to Anna's new house for a brunch.  Anna is Zach's cousin and is engaged to Steve.  We hadn't been to their house before and they weren't able to make it to Mary Ellen's for Christmas Eve so I'm really glad that we had a chance to hang out with them at their place.  Dan loved playing with all of Steve's daughters' toys, but I'm not sure they enjoyed watching him dump their carefully decorated dollhouse and Barbie plane all over the floor.  Boys play by destroying, which explains why my house looks the way it does.  Sorry, girls!

This kid never met a cracker he didn't like.

Bowling at Voelker's

It's become a tradition to get the whole gang together for a bowling date at Voelker's, another must-see Buffalo institution.  This year was the first time that Dan and Ben have joined in on the fun.  Well, Dan joined in and bowled while Ben mostly just ate popcorn and tried to slide down the lanes.  I think we had four lanes altogether and lots of hands to corral the boys when they tried to make their escape.  This is one activity that will be much more fun in the future when they can really get into it!  Dan and I did have almost identical scores, but, c'mon, anyone can bowl an 80 with a ball ramp and gutter bumpers.  I did it all on my own.

Not quite back to normal after his rough morning at the bouncy house place 

Nothing better for an upset stomach than buttery popcorn!

Happy birthday, Davis!

Lucky Davis--he turned 3 on the 23rd so he had a birthday party right in the middle of all the Christmas fun!  It was at a bouncy house place, which would have been heaven for Dan, except he wasn't feeling too well and vomited right in the middle of the party.  Poor guy--no wonder he didn't want to do anything except play with the trains and ride the carousel.  Dan, Ben, Davis, and Corinne were joined by Jack and Charlie, the children of Zach's cousin, Sally.  Jack just turned 4 and Charlie is about a month and a half older than Ben.

After bouncing like maniacs, it was time for pizza and cake.  Dan had recovered enough by this point to eat a little bit, but he still wasn't feeling 100%.  We didn't stay too long after Davis opened his presents because we were all ready for hotel naps after an exciting morning.