The Clinton Clan

My parent's Christmas gift this year was a trip to New York. (We're so spoiled!) We left the morning after Christmas and came back New Year's Eve. New York is not exactly a kid-friendly vacation, but our kids were awesome! Cliff and I went to New York for our first anniversary. So its been four years since we were there last. This time around it was more crowded and we also had two little girls in tow. But we made sure to stop at all the fun places we did the last time we were there.

Clinton Castle in Battery Park


Ellis Island Ferry for a drive-by view of Lady Liberty


The Tree at Rockerfeller


Horse Drawn Carriage around Central Park


M&M Store at Times Square


Waiting for Subways (Anjali reminds me of Ralphie from Christmas story when he has his snowsuit on and can't move his arms, hehe)


Pretzels from the guy on the corner



Here's some pics from our trip 4 years ago to compare.

Baby #3 is coming! My worst symptom so far has been EXTREME fatigue. We are due mid June and will find out soon the sex of the baby! Here's the ultrasound picture from last week. Top picture is profile. Bottom is alien baby. We're super excited!

We had a fun morning opening presents with the girls. Lots of movies, books, and princess stuff.
You gotta love the Bed Head!

We spent the afternoon at my Granny's house. My mom, dad, sister and brother were there. As well as, Uncle Ernie, Veronika, and Grandpa. Then we came home and packed for our big trip!

I don't know how we managed to not get any pictures of Lacy that night! But here's Anjali, showing us that she is also musically inclined like her sister. Lacy's the singer, Anjali's the dancer :)

Here's a picture of Cliff goofing off with his cousins...the real reason we go to any family function!

The last day of school before break Lacy's class had a pajama day and Christmas party.

That evening was the school Christmas program. Here's Lacy waiting for her big debut...(and of course the only girl in the whole school who has the same dress happens to be sitting right next to her...grrrrr!!)

Here's Lacy singing with her class. They were so quiet AND they were holding jingle bells, we could barely hear them... and the song was over in 5 seconds. At least she looked darn cute!

Lacy has EVERY disney princess barbie doll and much much more disney paraphenelia. Those Disney marketing people are freaking geniuses!

The one year mark has come and gone for Anjali and she still shows no interest in walking. But to make up for it, she is a complete fiend when it comes to climbing. I was upstairs when I heard water running...I peeked into the girls bathroom to find Anjali sitting in the sink and Lacy 'giving sister a bath' in the dark no less!

On the upside, at least they weren't fighting!

Lacy loves birthdays, but especially when its her own! We started the celebrations out by bringing cupcakes to her class the Friday before her birthday. They gave her a cute little birthday crown and everyone sang.

The next day (Saturday) was Lacy's actual birthday and her birthday party! We made it an "Under the Sea" theme birthday party because she has too many little boys for friends to make it just an Ariel/Little Mermaid party ;) We reserved the park next door to our complex and rented a Little Mermaid bounce house. We bbq-ed up some burgers and dogs and had cake. All the kids left with goody bags and either a princess tiara or a pirates vest to wear home. It was a little chilly, but at least it wasn't raining!

After the party, Lacy opened all of her loot! Boy did that girl get spoiled! She had so many presents that she didn't even get upset when Anjali started touching and trying to open up some of the toys. After naps, we went to Red Robin for dinner.

On Sunday, we had a porch party birthday celebration with Cliff's aunts and grandparents in Norwalk. This is the cake I made for Lacy. Not bad huh, I had been watching a lot of "Ace of Cakes" for my inspiration.

The tradition continues--we had Thanksgiving in Big Bear--and all of Cliff's siblings and families were able to make it!

Cliff's Dad (aka Grandpa Clinton) is quite the host. Aside from supplying room and board, he's extended himself to entertainment. He coordinated a fun hayride for the fam! We snuggled under blankets as we rode down quiet residential streets . Cliff sang loudly occasionally joined by others in the group. (Not me of course...;)


While we were there, Cliff took us to the "lightning tree" by the old cabin. It was a fun little walk and there were some cute picture opportunities along the way.


Here's Lacy exploring the new deck that Grandpa Clinton's been building/working on...I like how Lacy has to touch everything. She reminds me of Mr. Monk (does anyone watch that show?).


Anjali enjoyed playing with the the truck and the train. She was intrigued by the dogs. And she made sure to get her Grandpa bonding time in too!