The Walnut Room

We made it to Macy's by 10:00 AM and went straight to the Walnut Room to see about getting a reservation & pager (last year the line was wrapped around the store, people waiting to get in).  Incredibly enough, there was a table open... in a super-bonus spot... RIGHT NEXT TO THE TREE!   

The whole dining experience lasted about 2 hours... and was so fun and memorable.  The Fairy Princess visits each of the tables, sprinkling "fairy dust" (glitter) on your head while she tells you to make a wish.  It was really sweet and the girls LOVED it!  Mom must have gotten slipped some ecstasy again.... just like last year, feeling as if she were literally in heaven... mouth agape... and oohing and aahing at everything.  Typical Mom.  :)   

Dulaney put it best when she said, "This is the best day of my whole life." 

The Tree was OUT OF CONTROL!  This is the view from my seat.  

Aerial view of the tree.  

 Admiring the gorgeous-ness of the spectacular tree... and drinking a "Poinsetta" (Champagne with Cranberry juice)

 Mom... making her wish!

My GORGEOUS Niece (Dulaney) & the Fairy Princess

That Fairy Princess was hysterical... no joke!  Probably could use a little Prozac.

A little over-excitement over the Fairy Princess & her magical fairy dust! 

Someone is missing from this pic!!!   

Such a good girl...

Talk about great seats!  And look at little Ava at the head of the table!  :)

My Sister Steph & Mom  

Mom & I

My Sister (Steph) and her daughter Dulaney Jean

Look at Laney's cute Snowman dessert... so adorable!

"Puh-lease!  No pictures!"

  

We DO have fun... no denying that!

Little splashers

The kissing cousins had their first bath together!!  They were so cute!!  Ava was super excited... splashing like crazy.  It's safe to say that after the bath, more water was OUTSIDE the tub than inside.  So much fun!

Little wrestlers

Just us girls

On night one of our girly-get-together, we all put on our Christmas jammies and had a dance party in Ava's room. It was so fun... we were all laughing hysterically. At one point, Ava climbed on top of Dulaney and pinned her down... only to laugh and drool all over sweet lil' Laney! 

 Sweet Laney was reading "Pat the Bunny" to Ava

Book club 

 Dance Party!

 Get down!

 I like to move-it, move-it!

Snow day!!!

The girls (my Mom, Sis & Niece) arrived yesterday morning (seems like weeks ago, considering all of the things we accomplished during their visit!!!). We had the BEST time... and have vowed to make this an annual tradition, going forward. I picked them up at the train station in Naperville (appears to be about 1 minute closer to our house than the La Grange station... which also means we get to spend more time with one another!). I picked them up and we went to the house for them to get "comfy" and then we were off to shop. We were in search of snow suits for the girls (for Ava & Dulaney... not us, silly) and the accessories to make the perfect snowman.

We searched Target head to toe and tried to be creative for our Mr Snowman. This is what we came up with for the poor guy's features:

Carrots= nose (duh!), Oreos= eyes, licorice bites= mouth

Next task was to dress the girls.  How could it be possible that they could become even MORE adorable?!  Well... it happened.  Here are some pics of the sweeties:

She looks like a pink Michelin Man!

Look at my beautiful Niece, Dulaney Jean! 

There couldn't possibly be a CUTER pic than this.  Nuff said.  

Snow bunnies!

Easy on the carrot, Steph.... 

We did it!!!

VICTORY!!!!

"Not so sure about this white stuff, Mom."

The Gilbert Boys

Say "NO!" to crack

 

Steph & Laney

 

Ava & Mommy, exploring the property

The Heathens 

Good times at Hogwarts