Holiday Magic at the Zoo!

Last Saturday we decided to take advantage of the warm day and head to the zoo for their Holiday Magic Christmas lights. We left mid-afternoon hoping to beat the crowds, but I'm not even sure this is possible, ever- at this time of year, we have yet to find the trick, although we could have left a tad earlier, we just didn't because the kids were playing SO nicely the two of them and we were loving it and soaking it up! Anyway, we finally got there around 3:45ish and got super lucky with parking- no complaints there! We enjoyed a warm fun night for a few hours filled with animals (checking them out with magnifying glasses and the new very exciting telescopes, too!), lights, crafting, and playing, and just having a great time together!

First stop- meerkats!

Baby snow leopard all curled up with momma!

Annabel LOVED this penguin light!

The kids had fun making these doves!

Watering the plants is another must-do!

Annabel was SO excited to spot this "A" while watering plants!

Daniel came to join us in watering plants, too!

Annabel HAD to show Daniel the "A" she found! I love Daniel's arm around her- so sweet.

Playing in the sand!

Annabel really wanted to ride the merry-go-round, too- and both kids even got to ride their favorite animals, the penguin and lion, even in spite of how busy it was!

A Winter Trip to the Park!

Last Friday, just days after Christmas, Daniel had the idea to go to the park...so we did! It was a warmish day, sunny, blue skies and just a really wonderful day to be outside getting fresh air! We bundled the kids up in their snowsuits and boots for the little bit of snow left that they would encounter, plus it was all slushy and wet, too. Then we trekked, and I do mean trekked- a slow trek of a walk but oh so fun!- our way to the park near our house. The kids loved making snow tracks, sliding their feet along the sidewalks, stomping in the snow, picking up the snow, climbing the few snow drifts we saw, and so on. It was a fun experience to just walk in the snow and take our time with absolutely no agenda other than ending up at the park. And once at the park- the first thing Annabel did was swing "up SKY, Daddy!" and the first thing Daniel did was climb up the monkey bars and go down the slide made super slippery and super fun by the snow! Once the kids discovered how fun the slides were they did this over and over again! It was so cute! We had a great time at the park on this winter day!

Christmas Day at Grandma Cheryl's!

After enjoying our Christmas morning, just the 4 of us, opening presents, enjoying our cinnamon roll breakfast tradition, playing with new toys and games, we got all dressed up and headed to Grandma Cheryl's house for the day. The kids were very ready to see what presents would be found under her tree. They already knew that Annabel's presents were wrapped with Dora wrapping paper and Daniel's were wrapped with Planes wrapping paper from their visit the previous weekend...and knowing this just made it all the more exciting!

We got there around 12:30ish and enjoyed a yummy brunch, though I'm not sure how much eating was actually done by my kids since I didn't hear Daniel stop talking once (just like at Thanksgiving!). After that we cleaned up dishes while the kids played in the basement and then it was present time. I was impressed that they were so patient. First came the stockings- more fun checking out stocking loot! And then came the basically free-for-all unwrapping party with all 4 kids- Daniel, Annabel, Bella, and Kaleb opening presents all at the same time! Talk about chaos! I did manage to slow Daniel down (because he was unwrapping at breakneck speed!) so he would look and see who his presents were from and then thank those people for his gifts- he did a really good job of this after his initial buzz. Annabel was just working hard to make sure she got every. single. little. tiny. bit. of wrapping paper off of her presents, so she wasn't quite the tornado Daniel was- it was so sweet actually. I have a video, too! She would just keep pulling bits and bits off and only when all the bits were off would she announce what her present was- it was too funny! The presents were all unwrapped pretty quickly! It's amazing how fast a pile of presents can be torn open! Only after that did we move on to the adults' presents and somewhere in there, Brian and Amelia and the kids had to leave to go see the rest of their family. Then we finished the adults' presents, with my two kids helping to pass things out and help us open our presents. Of course we had to start opening and playing with the kids' new toys after that! Daniel LOVED his new Scooby Doo game and Annabel LOVED her new Minnie Mouse memory game. We ate some more food and some treats of course and played some more and then around 6:30 we headed home. Annabel fell asleep on the way home and stayed asleep through changing her dress and then straight through to 8:00ish the next morning! I was shocked, but clearly, she'd had a few fun busy days!!

We all had a great Christmas! The kids each did mention on Christmas Day that there were one or two things they didn't get, but those things haven't been mentioned too much since, though Annabel is very aware that her birthday is now coming up in a few months. Daniel was super excited to receive a gift card from my Aunt Kathy for Toys R Us (thank you Aunt Kathy!!!) and we've already been shopping to buy another fun new Scooby Doo toy- a Pirate Fort that he's played with nonstop for the past couple days. He'd had his eye on this and it was the perfect thing to use the gift card to chip in for!

Now, a week later, we're still playing with and exploring tons of new toys, reading books a million times each (Annabel has three huge favorites- 10 Little Penguins (a pop up book), A Day with No Crayons, and A Day at the Zoo which features penguins pandas and meerkats), building lots of Legos, playing games over and over (Shopping Cart Dash and Hold On Scooby Doo are a few we've got on repeat!), dressing up ourselves (we've got one bona fide firefighter/emergency man here!), dressing up magnetic dolls (Annabel got a big set of those little wooden dress up dolls and clothes and such- she loves it- the baby is of course her favorite to dress up!) and I could go on and on. Clearly, we're having fun!

Funny story: The day after Christmas, the first thing Daniel wanted to do that day was play movie theater and watch his new Planes movie DVD. We decided to treat the kids to our big screen in the basement, which they didn't even know about. Daniel was very excited to watch his new movie on the big screen. We even popped popcorn, brought it downstairs, curled up under blankets on our couch down there and watched the movie all cozy together. It was so much fun! Annabel was a little over it after she was done eating popcorn, about 20 minutes into it. Daniel lasted a little longer, but then he'd started to wander the basement, too, and begin to play. It was almost too much to watch down there and not play with all the toys- too much going on. At one point, though, the funniest thing happened- the kids realized they could see their shadows on the screen if they stood up there in the front, so then they were just having the most fun jumping and making their shadows move and oh my gosh it was hilarious! We were cracking up! I really didn't see that coming! The whole experience was definitely that- an experience!

Anyway, after nearly a week living and playing in a messy family room, we finally spent a few hours all at once to finally get everything back to normal in my family room and basement and get all the new toys in their new homes (and get rid of or pack some things up while we were at it, too!). This has actually made it that much more fun to check out the new toys- because they are hiding now in their new homes and the kids will rediscover things from time to time each day; I love it.

Now it's time to welcome in the New Year with the freshness I crave...and get started planning Annabel's 3rd birthday! Shall I give myself a break first?! I think so...

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

Daniel and Annabel pose for a picture with Bella and Kaleb! It was pretty interesting trying to get them all to look at the camera at the same time!

Daniel wore the new hat that Grandma Mary Kay made him because then he could be Santa!

And we're off...unwrapping presents in a whirl of crazy fun!!!

Daniel made an ornament for Grandpa Gary, he worked very hard on coloring it in...he was very excited to give it to Grandpa himself. He was so cute about it, too: "Grandpa. You probably never got a present from me before!"

Annabel helped Grandma Cheryl open her present.

The Scooby Doo game was one of the first things we opened and it was such a hit! Daniel and Aunt Christina played the game again and again! Meanwhile, Annabel and I played her Minnie Mouse memory game, also a hit!

Here's a video of Annabel taking care to get every single little bit of wrapping paper off her presents!

Christmas Morning 2013

Finally, the long awaited Christmas morning arrived. Daniel woke up around 7:30, before Annabel, so he and I sat in my bed and read some books while we waited for Annabel- one of my favorite moments of Christmas, snuggling in my bed with my boy waiting and reading, the calm before the crazy. As soon as Annabel was up, at 8:00 (she sleeps later when she doesn't get a nap!!), Daniel put on the fireman outfit he'd received the day before and we all headed downstairs to see what Santa brought. Annabel noticed the little Dora bag (filled with a new Minnie Mouse nightgown) and a PINK! stuffed penguin right away and Daniel was thrilled to see our very own copy of The Jolly Christmas Postman book (this was THE favorite Christmas book I read this year hands down; since we got it from the library, it was a must have for our own collection! Already bought the original for Annabel's birthday, too!) and of course some eye cars just waiting for him right there.

Daniel decided that we would do stockings first and then open presents, so that's what we did. The kids had a lot of fun checking out their very full stockings! I loved it when at one point Annabel finally figured out that she could just turn her stocking upside down and dump everything out! Then we moved on to the presents. And just like Christmas Eve, the kids pretty much just opened everything at the same time as each other, with presents for Ben and me mixed in here and there when they were found. We had a great time and the kids were over the moon with their new presents! We may have spoiled them just a little (or maybe a lot)- but it was oh so fun to watch them unwrap things that were actually ON their lists, even things that were last minute additions, with some surprises mixed in, too! The look on their faces, their sheer joy...that's what I love about Christmas!

Let the fun begin!

Daniel is quite into Spiderman these days, though I have no idea where this came from- probably school! This Spiderman shirt was a hit!

Daniel surveys his stocking loot! He was just too funny wearing his new fireman outfit the whole time we did presents!

See Annabel in the background- dumping her stocking!

Annabel checks out her loot!

This little Santa purse was filled with jewelry for Annabel, which she was so excited to see!

Presents from Santa were wrapped in red!

One of the top things on Daniel's list from very early on- a 40-car car transporter! He was very excited to see that Santa had gotten him this!

Annabel loved the new Minnie toys she got!

Annabel also got her very own copy of A is for Annabelle- she was beyond excited to see this and was literally hugging it- "My own! Not turn (return) at liberry!"

Eye cars!

Daniel helps Daddy open a present!

Such fast unwrapping!

One of Daniel's last minute additions to his Christmas list (and THE toy he plays with the most!) was a set of Scooby Doo "figgers" (figures). Daphne has NOT left his side for the past week basically! And we have now entered the world of having figures hugging and holding hands...oh boy.

Daniel also LOVES his new Spiderman car, though I have yet to see Spiderman actually drive it- it immediately became Daphne's car! For some reason this just cracked me up from the start! I love it.

Annabel has loved playing the games in this giant Dora board game book. Awesome find at a new used book store in our area- a store I could spend hours in- wait, I did already!

So much to play with now!

Matching Christmas jammies! (Annabel did wish she'd gotten a gingerbread MAN set of pajamas- - like the book I guess?- she was pretty perturbed! I tried to hype the girls by showing her they had pretty bows in their hair and hearts on their dress...this helped a little!) Daniel is holding his Spiderman car with Daphne and Fred driving and Annabel is holding her new Minnie comb and mirror set!

All dressed up and ready to go to Grandma Cheryl's now!

Sweetest moment of my morning- BIG hugs, many hugs, and kisses from Annabel and her sweetest, cutest little wish...