New Year's Eve Photoshoot

Children's Museum of the East End

One of the fun things we did while we were in the Hampton's was to take Larkin to the Children's Museum of the East End. It was so much fun. Here's a sneak peak inside the museum, with Larkin as your guide!

There's a map room as soon as you walk in off the lobby. There was even a fresco map so here's Larkin pointing up to the "sky".

Our first big stop inside the museum was at the fruit stand. They had great veggies and fruits that the kids could play with and they had funny jokes on the wall that really did made me chuckle. For example... "What kind of flower wouldn't fit in a vase?".... Ta Da.. the answer is "Cauliflower" of course!

Larkin's favorite fruit from the stand were the bananas. "Nanana" as she calls them. And I am not exaggerating when I tell you that she carried that banana around with her for half of the museum!

One of the coolest things was the air ball booth. A tunnel of air blows up and it will float balls in the air. Larkin loved it as the pics so clearly show (and so did us adults). The color of the pics is strange because the booth had colored glass in it. Super cool air booth.

Here are a couple of cute pics of Larkin and her momma playing some instruments!

Dede and Grandpa Bud had fun watching Larkin in the museum too. We had a fun photoshoot in the "library" and Grandpa Bud even put on a puppet show for Larkin!

There's a cool room with a ride on a slide, giant balls, swings, and climbing blocks. Larkin kept saying "wow" and "whoa" as she went from one toy to another.

Aye, matey! Piratesse Larkin commanded her ship with her...banana! This cutie pie LOVED the children's museum and can't wait to go back!

Horsing Around

What's more fun for kids than playing? Here are some of the great pics we have of the kids playing over the Christmas holiday.

My sister's basement playroom is filled with fun toys for the kids. This jumpy ball bounce has many more uses than you'd think... the kids never got tired of it. It did create a good bit of static and Larkin's hair often stood on its end! Here are some pics of her and Gavin enjoying some time on the jumpy bounce-o-lene.

The school house acts more as a general store here and all of the kids enjoyed time controlling the cash register and providing "food" to paying customers. There's even a gas pump on the side!

Gavin received 2 toy swords for Christmas and Larkin - who clearly thought all of the boys' toys were hers too - made us wonder if she was a reincarnated samerai sword fighter! Without anybody showing her, she seemed to know just what to do with the swords. Here are a couple of pics of her showing her stuff.

Here are some cute pics of Larkin with her favorite men... Daddy and Grandpa Bud. Isn't it cute how they are brushing and drying her hair after a bath! So caring and loving.

Time on the floor... Grandpa Bud likes to lie on the floor with the kids! Think about all you can do.... wrestle, look at one another, do a cross-word puzzle... the list goes on and on.

The MOGU! This is a family tradition... wearing a MOGU pillow on your head. Don't ask. But we love it!

And of course, a pic of our Pups-a-cola! This bean bag chair is not Sera's dog bed, but she loved it so much that everyone was generous enough to share it with her from time to time. Doesn't she look so snug and comfy? We might have to get one for her some day.

Playing in the Snow

The Hampton's received ~2.5 feet of snow just a day or so before we arrived. And since it stayed so cold, a lot of it didn't melt for most of the week and a half we were there! While we spent most of the time indoors, we did venture out for some good fun in the snow.

First... the best shot... the whole family and our anatomically-correct Mr. and Mrs. Snowman!

Here are a few pics of Larkin playing in the snow. She learned how to make a snow ball and seemed to prefer holding it in her bare hand. (There was a lot of mittens on and off) :) And be sure to check out the video of Brian spinning Larkin on the sled - she goes fast and she loves it!

Sera wasn't sure where/how she was supposed to go to the bathroom at first, but she soon found out how to squat in the deep snow. And eventually the short-haired African dog came to love the snow and couldn't wait to be let outside for a romp!

Gavin, Grandpa Bud, and Greg spent some long hours outside building a seriously impressive ice fort. It was literally as tall as Gavin and froze solid... it might be up for weeks!

Finally, here are some pictures of Larkin and Sera during a few of our romps in the snow, as it finally started to melt. Notice what Larkin is wearing around her neck as a scarf (and yes, this was her doing)... it's Sera's toy double-headed snake! They are such sweethearts... I'm a blessed momma.

Toy Vehicles

The kids' favorite Christmas gifts this year were... vehicles, of all types! Here's a look at the kids and their wheels.

Gavin got his electric Jeep and I think Larkin thinks that she got it too! Gavin was very gracious and took Larkin on a bunch of rides, although they couldn't go far because they were stuck inside (since there were 2.5 feet of snow outside)!



Here Larkin is going for a ride on another gift that's not hers... Luke got a huge dump truck from Grandpa Bud and Larkin thought it was supposed to be riden! She stripped down, put on Luke's Super Bunny cape and went for a ride back and forth across the kitchen floor. Check out the cute video of her ride below.

And, of course, the Plasma Car! The kids made laps around the house and they even started "racing"! And every now and then, they had obstacles in their path... like the Grandpa Bud bridge.

Then, when they had enough of racing, they jumped on together. How sweet is it to see Larkin bonding with some of the loving men in her life? Really, you've got to try these Plasma cars!