Here are some of the activities we did:
Grammy and Riley made sugar cookies! And Riley got to lick the batter... for the first time, ever. She was excited by it for the first few licks, then she said, 'this is yucky!' and put the beater in the sink. Good girl (but not 'my' girl, on this one)!
We took Riley roller skating, for the first time! We went to the rink where I grew up skating and where my mom and dad grew up skating. Back then, though, it was called "Latrobe Roller Garden", and rollerblades were NOT available. I decided to stick with tradition, and rent the quad skates. Not sure I'd do that again... quite a shock, from being a street skater in NYC for years, much more recently! Papa even showed up, on skates, and joined us. What a great surprise! Took both of us a few times around the rink to get our bearings. They've remodeled the rink a bit, but the skating area itself is still exactly the same. I hope Riley gets to bring her wee ones to this rink one day.
Here's Ri, with 'her' kitty, Maggie, watching The Polar Express. Which, by the way, she asked to watch 5 times a day.
Then, we went tubing at Seven Springs with everyone.... Sarah and baby Katie (well, they stayed in the lodge...), Beth and Nic and Will, Briana and Sam and Alex... Wow, what a rush! The tubes flew so fast down the hill, that Riley's went airborne over the first bump. Thank God Russell and I were holding onto her tube (and each other's). Riley was laughing her ass off the entire time, and kept begging to go 'by meself!'. NOT!!
Whoa... a scene from 'A Christmas Story'...
And oops, sorry Alex... hehehe!
Christmas morning. Santa was very good to Riley, and to all of us adults, as well! Grammy made an amazing dinner, as always, and the house was so warm and full of love.
And Christmas night. We went to the Crispins' house. Always nice to see them, and their family keeps growing! Sarah has new little Katie, and Kelly's pregnant again! Hopefully one of the Crispins will email me the photos we took at their house... hint, hint!
Daddy and Riley had a big day of fun in the snow. What a workout! I think they traveled the entire 2 acres of the mostly-flat yard. Russell was sore for days after this adventure!
Snowman building was not far behind... I have video of that, which I'll post later, but for now, here is Mr. Snowman today, after yet another week of snow! Hilarious!
We went to Beth's to watch a Steeler game just before we came home. Riley LOVES playing with Nic and Will. And they all love hiding from Mimi. And snuggling with her, too.
Here are Beth and me at the Steeler game. It was freezing, so we spent most of the game in the clubhouse. Woo-hoo! We're pretty fancy. That's a perk of being good friends with the coach...
Not to forget, here is the Princess Bedroom my mom and dad put together for Riley prior to our arrival. They went all-out, and she absolutely loved it, even though she kept ending up in bed with me and Russell. I'm sure next time, she'll get used to sleeping by herself there.
And now, I'm ready for bed!
Look for videos on this page at a later date... I'll let you know when.
