New Year's

Happy New Year!!  We had the special treat of getting to celebrate the end of 2011 with my sisters, Katie and Mitzi, my brother-in-law, Robert, and my nieces and nephew, Mary Ann, Rose, and Peter.  Despite various illnesses and an over-whelming lack of sleep, we all had a wonderful time.  In fact, such a great time that we, again, neglected to fully document it with photographs. 

The few pictures we have were taken during a trip to the bowling alley.  The kids had a great time bowling in the dark with with various lights flashing.  Also, Rose attempted to teach the boys a few steps of ballet. 

We spent a lot of time around the house playing games, fighting nerf battles and light saber duels, and dancing.  But, we also ventured out to The Hofbrauhaus in Covington, Kentucky.  On the way back, we took a leisurely stroll through IKEA.  Personally, my favorite outing was a quiet trip to the library where Mary Ann and Will played on the computer while Katie and I read our books in silence.  Dom and Rose had elected to stay home and play with Peter while Molly napped.  Robert and Eric heroically remained behind as well.

On Christmas Eve, we got back from Mass too late to even attempt taking a picture with the kids so I dressed Molly up in the same adorable dress for New Year's Eve and I think we succeeded in getting a nice shot.

Molly is getting a little more difficult to photograph.  The above was one of several attempts.  I know Robert was also trying to get a good shot.  I have a lot of the top of her head. Ah well, at least it is a pretty picture of the dress.

And here we have the happy cousins.  It was a great visit and I know the boys had a wonderful time.  I think my favorite memory is going into the kids' room (all six slept in the same room) and finding Rosie asleep in Will's bed and Mary Ann sleeping in Dom's bed.  I'm sure if Peter and Molly hadn't been barricaded a similar result would have occurred.  It's nice to know that though we live far away, the cousins still have a wonderful friendship!