Christmas with Ingrid

We finally had Ingrid out for a visit.  We had been trying to take a break from her since the last visit went so poorly... and every time she tried to come visit something happened.  We were all really sick, Lucy was potty training... something, and honestly it's not like we were trying that hard to make the visit happen.  I figured this visit was going to hold her over until Norah is born... which is just fine with us!  Honestly, overall the visit went very well.  It always is so helpful when Mike comes with her... and we actually like Mike quite a bit so we are always happy to see him.

Cute backpacks

They look so good on them!

Since we didn't get to see them over the holidays we did our present exchange.  And the presents the kids got were really good.  She got the kids their own sized back packs which are really cute.  They came with Dinosaur Train figures to play with and some play doh which will be great for craft time.  Dude got this gear set which is really cool... I think he's going to have a lot of fun with it.  Lucy got this picnic basket with shapes and educational things, which is great, but it does talk and make a lot of obnoxious sounds... but it can be turned off :)  The kids got this stomp rocket thing that they really liked and played with for quite awhile!  Norah got a cute little sleeper and this toy that will most likely be donated... Then, Phyllis got Lucy this rubber donkey you can ride, which honestly, is hilarious and reminds me of Donkey from Shrek.  She got Dude a tablet computer that has games on it which he hasn't really dug into yet, but I'm sure he will love it.  Phyllis did a really good job with the kids presents!

Said donkey.

The visit went well.  There were only a few instances where I thought I might strangle her, but we'll delve into that later.  I'm glad the visit went as well as it did, and it helps because then it doesn't leave such a bad impression for the next time she'll want to visit!  :)

JVG