I can’t believe it’s 2014! Shouldn’t we be on a space odyssey or something? We rang in the new year at my friend Tara’s house. Well, more specifically, the eastern time zone new year. Since Los Angeles is three hours behind New York, we can watch the ball drop live and it isn’t completely wrecking our kids to let them stay up.

As usual, the kids had no problem entertaining themselves.

the new year gang
James was taking a cat nap…not to be confused with Reilly the Cat.

When James woke up, he was ready to party.

my new year kiss

I made poppers for the kids, and there were a lot of options to make as much noise as possible.

ready to party

The kids counted down to midnight (9pm) while holding cups of sparkling cider. Annie declared the cider, “Good, but spicy.” She’s not into carbonation.

new year's countdown

Then we all ran outside to throw pop-its and pull champagne poppers and yell, “Happy New Year!” and again, make as much noise as possible.

There were other ways to have fun, too.

super safe
Mike kept his arm fully extended but I kept yelling, “Too close, too close!” until he handed the sparkler off to someone else. I’m fun at parties!

Baby Cait showed James her new trick (kissing), and then it was time to go home.

a kiss from baby cait

Back at our house, Annie balked at going to bed. “Mommy, I really, really want to stay up until Real New Year with you! Please Mommy? We can cuddle on the couch and talk about resolutions and maybe sing songs.”

I mean…I’m not made of stone!

But five minutes later….

couldn't hang
“Mommy, I’m just going to rest my eyes for a minute here next to Jamesie.”

Mike was also asleep at “Real New Year,” so I kissed Rigby at midnight. That girl can always hang.

Next week, it’s back to regular life: preschool and gymnastics start again, and we can resume our regular schedule. As nice as it’s been to not have to be anywhere, I am really looking forward to things being back to normal. Three weeks of fun have made a three-year-old who is very ready for routine again!

Happy New Year, everyone!