These aren't all in order of when they actually occurred, but I didn't figure that would matter. One night, we went to a little town called Meadow that has an amazing light display. You get on a train and ride through the lights. Madigan loved it!
I should probably explain why she's dressed like a little Orphan Annie. Mommy didn't think about it getting a LOT colder after the sun went down and we left the house with just a little sweater. So, she's wearing Daddy's coat. And the hat? Well, it was pink and sparkly. That should be enough of an explanation.
We got a family picture made in front of Meadow's little country store. 
And while looking at Christmas lights was fun, the highlight for Madigan was, of course, opening presents on Christmas morning! Here's the pre-present opening picture. 
My sweet kiddos...
As always, we got way too many presents but had a blast sharing Christmas with everyone. 
Ted modeled his new NC State winter hat...
while David sported his festive red suspenders. :)
And Paxton again just hung out and enjoyed the fun!
Madigan got too many presents to mention, but the "big one" was a Princess scooter. Check out this pose - what are we going to do with her?!
Paxton wonders that a lot as well...
Other things we did during the week...The kiddos cuddled with Grandi,
Aunt Kate,
and Gramps.
Madigan and Grandi bonded over some teddy bear stories. 
And Paxton played on Grandi and Gramps' cool toys. 
Here's our standard before-Sunday-morning-church picture. 
One thing we love to do while in N.C. is play NERTZ with Grandi and Kate. Gramps has never played with us despite repeated invitations. Turns out this works out well now that we need someone to watch the kids while we play. :) When we told Paxton that Gramps would be in charge of them, he was a little concerned.
But after some good conversations with Gramps, it was decided that he made a great babysitter!
We also learned that while Gramps won't play games with the grown ups, he enjoys games like Candyland. This worked out well for Madigan. Madigan ended up winning the game, although Gramps was a little confused on why she got two turns to every one of his... :)
On our last day there, Aunt Kate took Madigan to see the Princess and the Frog. This is really the first movie that Madigan has seen in a theater. She was quite excited!
Plus there were fun things in the lobby to play with! This picture turned out a bit blurry, but since Madigan has talked about standing by Alvin and his brothers for 5 solid days now, I had to include it!
A princess movie at a real theater would have been exciting enough, but when you couple that with an outing with just Aunt Kate and getting to wear her sunglasses...well there's just no way to compete!
And even though Kate won't be thrilled with me, I had to post this picture as well. Grandi snapped it after one of our meals. Apparently this is the Bowsman sibling after-dinner pose. :)
We had a wonderful trip and are so glad everything worked out for us to go. Thanks to Grandi, Gramps and Aunt Kate for making it fun and memorable! We love you all!
