Holiday Happenings 2012

 

One of our favorite outings during the holidays is to go to Snowflake Lane in Bellevue.  Every night at 7pm a bunch of ‘wooden soldiers/drummers’ stand up on podiums and perform several songs while other characters roam the sidewalks for photos and hand out lollipops.

We got there plenty early this year, but unfortunately, we chose very poorly in terms of where to stand.  It was a rare clear Saturday night with no rain – and the crowds came out in full force.  We were standing by one of the entrances to the mall, and we got soooo squished. 

Of course, they make it ‘snow’ every night too.  Caelan was impressed. 

It has also been a tradition for us to go to the fire house in our neighborhood, although this year was a little different.  The year Caelan was born we went in to thank the guys who were with the ambulance and helped get me to Overlake in time to give birth – with 6min to spare!  Last year we went to the new Issaquah fire station at the invitation of the fire chief that Sean sometimes runs into at the gym.  This year, we bought a couple of toys to donate but missed the fire truck when it patrolled the neighborhood.   We decided to hand deliver our donation, and Brennan lucked out in getting a tour of some of the vehicles.  

I also really enjoy going to Garden d’Lights at the Bellevue Botanical Gardens.  The kids and I went while papa enjoyed a few hours of peace and quiet and football.  Caelan loved it and kept saying “Wow!” and “Oh my goshhhhh!”

 

Every year we make Spiced Pecans (recipe used as party favors during our wedding) and give our neighbors a holiday gift of pecans and 1/2 lb of coffee.  The following pictures show the kids ready to deliver our packages. 

We shared some holiday cheer with the Hoffman’s which included mulled wine, chicken tortilla soup, and the Polar Express. 

Ewan (1 1/2), Cassidy (6), Brennan (5 1/2), & Caelan (2).  Best of friends, and cuddled on the couch for the show. 

 

We had a minor ‘snow event’ occur in Issaquah the night before Brennan’s last day of school before winter break.  Yes, with this skiff of snow they delayed school by 2hours, which meant school was cancelled for AM kindergarteners.  Bummer.  Brennan and Sean had this snowman put together before 9am that morning, though.  

Caelan supervised….with her hands in her pockets (the girl just loves pockets…funny kid).  She wanted no part of the whole deal and refused to stand next to brother for a picture. 

You can see that the snow did not last long at all……this was the snowman that afternoon. 

And, this is him the next morning.  Still standing, but barely! 

Great Wolf Lodge–December 2012

One of our favorite ‘staycation’ spots is the Great Wolf Lodge in Grand Mound, WA.  It is a resort/indoor water park just south of Olympia, so it takes us less than 2hours to get there.  The kids of course, love it.  Brennan’s school was closed for Parent/Teacher conferences for 3 days.  We ended up getting our conference scheduled on the first day, so we ‘headed to the lodge’ for the last two days. 

We usually arrive about noon, check into our room, get lunch and then hit the water park.  We take a break for dinner and then go to the storytime show in the lobby at 8pm.

This is day 2……Brennan conquered his fear of going on the waterslides under ‘the big dumper.’  I think he went on those waterslides by himself 100 times. 

I love this action shot I got of Brennan. 

After 2 days of no nap, Caelan is a little bit of a zombie on Day 2. 

Brennan convinced Sean to stay later than normal on Day 2 in order to catch the storytime show in the lobby again.  He was absolutely AMAZED by the fact that they made it ‘snow’ in the lobby, and desperately wanted to see it again.  We made a deal with him that he had to be in his jammies with teeth brushed and ready to get in the car as soon as it was done, and he agreed.  We left GWL at 8:30pm, and pulled into the garage at home at 10pm.  Both kids were asleep by 8:45pm and transitioned to their own beds once we got home without problem.  Phew…..

December 2012–Major Catch-UP

 

Yikes.  I am way behind on updating my blog.  We had such a wonderful holiday season, though.  The extra week between Thanksgiving (& Caelan’s birthday) and Christmas was an added blessing and left us with many weekends to deck our halls, watch Christmas movies, share holiday cheer with friends, and I even got our Christmas cards sent out before New Years.  Today was New Years Day and we took down the tree.  Brennan and I were both very “blue”, and Caelan screamed “no” when I started to take off the lights. 

So, we’ll start off with the Microsoft Family Christmas party that was the first week of December.  This is an AMAZING holiday party – each room has a theme – this year the overall theme was board games – so there was a room with the game Clue, Candy Land, etc.  lots of food, drinks, and lots of activities for kids. 

I, of course, have a lot of fun dressing up my baby girl – she was glowing in holiday spirit for the party. 

Of course, Brennan is getting a balloon sword with holster……

These pictures were taken the following morning.  Nothing says ‘holiday spirit’ like two cute kids in their Santa jammies & a balloon sword, huh? 

After our morning ‘modeling’ session, we headed out to the Christmas Tree lot.  This is the same lot we’ve been going to for at least 5yrs. 

Good friend, Jenny Pastore, joined us to get a tree for her house too.