Happy New Year 2013!!!!

We had a fabulous New Year's Eve! 

We started the day off by visiting the Sloothaaks at their hotel in Schaumburg before they left to head back to Michigan. 

 

Can never have too many photos of us! 

The boys were ready to party all day! 

They loved wearing these hats and tooting these noise makers! They wore themselves out and took great naps that afternoon. While they napped, I got all of our stuff organized and packed and watched Soaps with my Mom. It was a nice relaxing afternoon before our fun, late night! 

We started the night out with a little bowling! 

Grandpa is a great bowler. He helped Heath. Hopefully his good bowling skills rub off on our boys. Grandpa bowled a 160 something that night. 

Everyone took turns loving on this guy between frames. 

Nolan does such a great job. He uses bumpers of course, but he just chucks the ball down the lane. He gets SO EXCITED every time the pins fall! 

Snacks are a must when bowling! Popcorn and pop! 

Nolan cheering on Grandpa! 

Bowling Ball Baby

Grandpa and Heath bowled the last few frames without the ramp and actually did better! 

Can you guess who bought our boys these fun shirts?! They looked super cute in them! 

I had to bowl on the kids lane with bumpers, but I actually did very well, only touching the bumpers twice! I bowled over 100, the best I have in a long time! 

It was a fun way to start the night!  

When we got home, Auntie had a fun night of surprises planned for the boys! 

We did a "fake New Years" and popped a balloon each hour- "9 p.m.", "10 p.m.", "11 p.m." and "12 a.m." 2013! Each balloon had a slip of paper inside with a fun activity written on it for the boys to do! They took turns popping the balloons to find out what they would do. 

9 p.m.=candy cane creations

We warmed them up in the oven and molded them into shapes. 

After candy canes, we paused the activities to have a Chinese take out feast! Yum! 

10 p.m.=silly sludge

{fabric softener, clear glue, and food coloring}

Nolan dove right in and had a blast! 

Heath said "no never" to the silly sludge at first. It was "dirty" in his opinion. But after much prompting he decided to give it a try and actually ended up having fun! 

11 p.m.=color and shape BINGO with Skittles to mark the spots! It was super fun. Even the adults got in on the action. Bob, my sister's boyfriend and Nolan tied for the win! Heath did not quite understand the concept of waiting until you win to eat the Skittles. He kept eating one for every shape/color he matched. Silly sweet tooth! 

After BINGO we played a bit until "midnight"! 

Grandpa and Brooksie sang and danced to New Years songs. 

And then it was time to pop the final balloon! The boys had so much fun ringing in the New Year! 

After the boys went to bed, us adults played Apples to Apples, watched the ball drop, and laughed at the terrible Chicago New Years broadcast! We kissed each other happy new year and hit the hay at approximately 12:25 a.m.! 

We had to wake up bright and early to say our sad goodbyes and drive to O'Hare. 

The boys all did great during our travel again and were exhausted and ready for LONG naps when we got home! Even Mark and I took naps that afternoon after unpacking and trying to organize all the boys new toys! 

Wow! That was a lot of blogging. Traveling is exhausting and includes tired boys, tantrums, back talk, and all the usual naughty little boy behavior, but it is so worth it! We had so much fun! We ate the best food- Lou Malnati's deep dish pizza, Portillos hamburgers, Nana's hotdogs, Italian beef and more. All of my Chicago favs! We saw so many great people, but sadly, not everyone we would have hoped to see. We made so many fun memories. And laughed. And laughed and laughed! We love our Chicago family so much! And as always we dream of a day when we can all live close! 

Thank you family for the best Christmas vacation! Thank you for loving us, and especially our boys so much! We miss you already!