Oma and Opa came after Christmas and they came bearing gifts....boxes of gifts. They could have brought nothing and we would have been just as excited but the girls did have fun playing with all their fun new things. I should say that my mom (if you didn't already know) is a yard sale connoisseur, if you will, and finds so many fun things during the summer when she goes "shopping" every weekend. We get the good end of the "deal" though and don't mind in the least!
walkie-talkies (and a playhouse if you hadn't already seen it--one for the outside too)
boots...our girls LOVE boots!
a cookie set
a precious tea set
and lots of books!
and games too.
A Lutz family tradition is going to our dear friends (the Brazzales) for Christmas Cioppino (an Italian seafood soup). They had the dinner before my parents came and brought leftover broth with them. It was still delicious the second time around. Ernie Brazzale sure knows what he's doing and we miss our family times with them!
Last year we spent 2 hours in line for this light show in Kansas City. This year we went on Dec 30th and drove right in without waiting. Note to self for next year :)
Then we drove through an area of town called "Christmas Card Lane."
This one was funny. Merry Christmas to you too, Bob.
The girls were treated to an afternoon at Play Bounce Jump here in town. They ran and played and ran and played and then went home and took a nice long nap :)
Uncle Ben got the girls scooters which are a huge hit and will continue to be when the weather gets warmer. When the house is clean enough (on occasion) they get to ride them through the living room too. :)
Watching TV with Opa.
and resting with Oma.
My awesome dad and my awesome husband making our favorite family meal...strudels. So good. Merry Christmas to me...I may have gain 10 pounds but at least those pounds was super enjoyable.
For some reason when my parents come we fail to get any family pictures. This is the only one we have of all of us...around the table about to eat too much. The giant cross on the wall behind us was my Christmas present from them and I love it...need to rearrange the rest to fit now.
Ok, so the last of these pictures is of the Steamboat Arabia Museum. If you live here and haven't been GO! and maybe skip this part so you can be surprised when you do. If you don't live here then continue and be impressed!
The Arabia was a steamboat that carried people and cargo up the Missouri River from St. Louis. In 1856 it caught a snag (or down tree) and sank. No one died but the cargo (it carried for general stores) and personal belongings went down with it. Over time the river changed course and so finding it was even harder. In the 1980s a family from the area figured out where it was (in the middle of some corn field) and dug it up and opened this museum. IT WAS AMAZING.
This is the only part of the boat they hauled up. Because they didn't have anyplace to house the rest of it, they cut this end off and let the rest go back under the corn field. Kind of sad. Even the water wheels were all broken up. The one in the picture above was recreated.
Buttons and beads.
And dishes and canisters and glasses and silverware and and and and and.....
tools...
medicine and toiletries and pill boxes with pills inside...
thimbles and clothes and eye glasses and coats
and shoes and boots and bags
and door knobs and keys and pipes and hardware
This is the snag...or part of it
and bottles of canned fruit and canned pickles and champagne and and and and
and more dishes. The items on the top and bottom shelf of this picture came from the first barrel they pulled from the boat. They knew that all their hard work and money was going to pay off if this was in the first barrel.
It was great. I didn't take a picture of everything and they are still working on cleaning and sorting more stuff. Only 2/3 of the stuff is on display. So crazy. Maybe we should try and find a buried treasure somewhere :) Again, we hope your Christmas was Merry and Bright! Love to you all.
PS Thank you Oma and Opa and Nana and Papa (and everyone else) for all the wonderful gifts. We love you to pieces!
No comments:
Post a Comment