Christmas 2011 Part 2!

I have kind of a unique situation in that I often have to celebrate holidays in several places, with several different batches of my family...while I sometimes find this difficult both in scheduling things, and in general when it comes to feeling a bit fragmented in regards to family events, everyone does a pretty good job of making it all feel equally festive and connected in its own way....I appreciate that!

Which leads us to the second part of our Christmas celebration at Gramma Mindy's!!

Once again, there were a lot of presents to be had! I had a lot of fun unwrapping yet another series of presents, and got a lot of fun stuff. Here I am opening a new book, and next to that is a coat hanger that I am very excited to hang up!

In addition to those, and many other fun things, I finally got myself a Thomas train engine set!! All the times I had played with the Thomas train engine set at Barnes and Noble or Sears, I was always excited about the prospect of getting my own Thomas train set....the tracks are made of solid wood, and the train cars are made of metal and plastic...it's very well put together! I got the tracks and water tower from Mom and Dad, and Gramma Mindy got me a lot of the cars...she got me Thomas himself, in addition to a bunch of other cars...

I had a lot of fun playing at Gramma Mindy's with all of my new stuff!

One of the things I got was a soccer goal and ball....since soccer and living rooms don't really go together, JustRichy and I took it outside to check it out!

We set up the goal in the corner of Gramma Mindy's deck (Check out that view!!) and Just Richy and I played a short game of soccer. I was the goalie, and did my best to stop the ball from getting in...however, it was a bit chilly out, and I think I ended up focusing on keeping warm moreso than blocking the goal...

Richy sunk a couple shots, and I realized that I'm gonna have to spend the warmer months of spring practicing for the next time he and I go head to head!

As always, I got myself some more Legos! I can never have enough of these things! They are just the right balance of allowing you to use your imagination to create things, while also containing elements like cars, people, and decorations that help augment your designs by making them into something more closely approximating the real-world equivalent. I like that I can make a race track that looks just like a race track, or one that belongs in outer space....it's my choice!! 

Richy and I had a great time keeping warm, and seeing just how far we could take the Legos...it was a blast!

Just when you think this blog can't get any more celebratory....next up is my birthday!!! That's right...even though I am sooooo far behind, I haven't forgotten!

Christmas 2011 Part 1

As always, because of our crazy schedule, we had several distinct celebrations in regards to Christmas. The first leg was at Gramma Debbie and Grandpa's house....

Since my Aunt Amy and Uncle Steve are currently living with Gramma Debbie for the time being, my cousin Nicholas was kind enough to share his space with me... 

...and I was kind enough to plop his pacifier back in whenever it fell out...I thought it was a pretty decent arrangement...

Gramma and Grandpa has a nice tree set up, with some pretty ornaments, and best of all...PRESENTS underneath! (On the left is Aunt Amy and Uncle Steve's cat Caspurr....I got my eye on him...)

Dad's friend Mike stopped by, and he made the mistake of doing something fun that I liked...namely, he picked me up in the chair I was sitting in, and spun me around over his head...I then had him repeat this move no less than 19 times. It was a lot of fun!

Later on, when everyone else arrived, we did our annual FakeChristmas where Dad's family exchanges gifts with us, and vice versa....I got to open a lot of really fun stuff...

I fancy myself a present connoisseur, so I don't like to rush anything...I find a present that looks intriguing, I size it up, open it, and then take my time to enjoy the spoils that lie beneath the lovely wrapping paper...

I got a lot of really great stuff, and had a lot of fun hanging out with everyone...some highlights of the day were:

A big book from the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse...it should keep me entertained for ages!

A new plate, cup, and bowl set featuring...THE TOY STORY CHARACTERS!!! I thought the combo of all three items was really great, and it should make lunchtime fun!

Continuing the Toy Story theme, I got myself some Buzz Lightyear pajamas! 

I was confused at first....the pajamas look like this from the front:

And so the first, logical, question I asked was: Where is Buzz's head? Where are his hands? Dad laughed and told me that MY head and hands would act as Buzz's head, effectively dressing me up as Buzz Lightyear! How COOL is that!? And they were also super cozy! To this day, I ask for these pajamas at bedtime as my first request for which ones I want to wear...I LOVE these things!

There were any more gifts, and after a protracted session, I opened them all...it was truly a great FakeChristmas. Dad even said that it felt more Christmassy than usual, and everyone does a great job of making it feel like Christmas, no matter what day it is....I always enjoy hanging out with everyone, and it's such a nice holiday....even though it happened a few days before December 25th. :-)

Zoo Lights 2011!

I am home sick with an ear infection (with a side order of everyone's favorite...pink eye!) so I figured I would continue the momentum I had with the blog by taking you through the highlights of this year's Zoo Lights!

Just like last year, the event was free and held at The National Zoo. We met up with Mom (who was coming from work) and started our journey around the beautiful lights...

Before we started our walk, we stopped by the vistors center, where they had a HUGE train set built in the main auditorium...

There were lots of tiny figures dotting the landscape, and so much to look at....there was Elmo, and Cookie Monster, and Buzz Lightyear....so many fun things to see, and details that you might miss if you weren't looking closely.

I didn't want to miss anything, so I made sure to look closely....

There were several different trains running on the numerous tracks, and one of them was a Thomas train!

As you probably expected (if you know anything about Thomas) he was moving pretty fast, so it was hard to get a good picture of him, but this is the best Dad could do...Thomas' eyes even moved back and forth while he zipped around the track. It was really neat!

After our stop at the train, we ventured forth out into the Zoo...Mom and I walked ahead, flanked on either side by all of the gorgeous light displays. Sometimes you didn't even know where to look, since there was so much going  on!

It was inevitable that I would want to be picked up at some point, and Mom got the first shift. We walked past all of the trees that were lit up for the event, and while we were looking, Mom did a great job of keeping me warm!

I wanted to make sure Dad didn't feel left out, so I let him carry me around for awhile, and we took pictures in front of some trees that were done up for the event. As you can see, as evidenced by all the smiling (and I promise that Mom was smiling behind the camera) we were having a great time!

We came upon this elephant statue that was all lit up for the occasion...I became curious, of course, about this avant garde statue...where were his eyes? Where was his mouth? I saw the shape of an elephant, but did I truly see an elephant? I can't say, really....but regardless, it was a beautiful display....

Some of the houses for animals were open for us to visit, but unfortunately, a lot of the animals were asleep when we got their. We did our best to keep quiet and not disturb them, but we still walked around to check out the displays...

Every now and again, we'd find a really cool little creature to check out. Dad was nice enough to carry me around (Even though he and Mom had specifically said they wanted me to walk around...suckers) and though he would never admit it, he also may have engaged in some dancing around when it came time to see the dancing lights...

We went back outside after the brief trip into the small mammal house to check out some more lights, and we came upon some that looked animated, which was always a fun sight to see. The way the lights worked, it looked like the fish was actually jumping out of the water, and landing back in with a splash. It was really cool!

Several spots featured trees with "dancing lights" meaning they played music while the lights flashed on and off in sequence...it was fun to watch and listen to, and I even convinced my parents to dance around with me for a little while...whoo hoo!

As the night wore on, I started to get a little punchy, and ditched my hat...it also took no less than 200 attempts for Mom to get the picture of me below...

Christmas 2011: Holiday Party at Daycare!

As you will see in the next week or two of "Catch-up" posts, I have had a busy, crazy couple of weeks! It has felt like one big, long amazing party! So, without further ado...let's get you all caught up on my wild ride through the holidays, shall we!?

Today...I look back at my awesome party at daycare!

Each year it seems to get better and better, and this year was no exception. There was a lot of good food (which, and this blew Dad's mind, I actually ate a lot of) and lots of people showed up!

The Beanstalks teachers participated and were kind enough to give us presents, too!

It turned out to be a book about some mice that were building snowmen! It was fun AND topical! (The snowmen...NOT the mice!) I was very excited, and I have had Mom and Dad read this to me a lot already!

We got to do a gift exchange with our classmates again, and this year my friend Billy got me a puzzle set with several puzzles, including a bus and a race car! I kept asking if I could open it at the party because I was so excited, but Dad advised against it, in an effort to keep all of the small pieces from getting lost....I DID however show it off to whoever would look! Once I got home, I quickly put them together, and can't wait to take them apart and do it again!

I got Billy (my friend on the other side of my gift exchange) a PlayMobile figure with a dune buggy, that he actually opened right at the party because he was so excited. I guess we know each other well enough to get each other some awesome gifts!!

For dessert, Dad got me a whoopie pie. Oh...my....goodness. Have you had one of these things? They are beyond delicious....chocolate cake surrounding a delicious cream center....I polished it off in mere minutes, and could have had dozens more if allowed.(Dad wisely limited me to one) It was delicious.

Dad also got to eat a lot of good food (and partook in a whoopie pie of his own, except that his had mint in the cream, which was also apparently delicious) and got to chat up some of the other parents of the kids in the room.

 

After a truly festive evening, we left and met up with Mom so that we could go to....ZOO LIGHTS!

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2011!!!

Just a quick note to wish you all a very Merry Christmas! (If you're not one who celebrates Christmas, then Happy Sunday to you, and I hope you are enjoying YOUR holiday!!)

I am in Connecticut enjoying the holiday with family...Dad is back home in Washington because he had to work, but he is here in spirit, and we celebrated the traditional "FakeChristmas" this past Thursday with Dad's side of the family...we will be seeing him in a few days when Mom, Gramma Mindy and I return home.

Below is the picture of my yearly visit with Santa Claus...I hopped right up on his lap, and was SO excited I could barely talk or sit still...he asked what I wanted for Christmas, and I told him simply "presents"

Like I said...I was pretty excited. Santa was very nice to me, and and we chatted for a minute or two...I said goodbye and Merry Christmas, and he sent me off with one of my favorite things: A candy cane!!

We went back to the Mall a couple days ago, and Dad brought me by so I could wave to Santa and say "hi" again....he was excited to see me and wished me a Merry Christmas again...and I was yet again BEYOND excited to see him.

Wherever you are, and whoever you're with...I'm hoping you have a very Happy Holiday...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

A Birthday Party for my friend Max!

As we get ready for last-minute Christmas stuff (and also, my OWN birthday) I thought I would quickly recap a recent birthday party that I went to for my friend Max

The party was held at a place that had a whole bunch of bounce houses, and though we got there bit late due to an unfortunate convergence of events...I still managed to run around a lot and enjoy myself! At some point I hope to trust bounce houses a little more...I'm still not quite at the point where I can throw myself into one of these things with reckless abandon. It just seems so...reckless to me. 

We got to eat cake and pizza (always my favorite part of the parties we get to go to) and our party hats featured the little alien guys from Toy Story....QUITE cool, I must say...Max had an entire Toy Story-themed party, which is great because I am HUGE into Toy Story right now!

In addition to hanging out with people and having fun, I also got some little goodie bag stuff...though brief, a good time was had by all!

I saw Max recently, and he told me that he has been playing with the play-doh playset that I got him nearly every day since the party...I guess I would consider that gift a "hit" :-)

Christmas Tree With Gramma Mindy and Richy!

Continuing the celebration of the week leading up to Christmas, I get to tell you about getting a Christmas tree for Gramma Mindy!!

Over the Thanksgiving weekend a few weeks ago, I got to go along with Gramma Mindy, Mom and JustRichy to the farm to get the tree....while they had lovely trees out front, I insisted on getting one cut from the ground out in the field.

I'm a purist....sue me!

I ran around the rows of trees, trying to help them find the most perfect one...there were all different sizes and styles of tree....but I finally found the one that I thought best suited Gramma Mindy's living room, both in size and needle-style!

Once we found it, I kept an eye on Richy as he cut down the tree, offering nuggets from my extensive knowledge of tree cutting....luckily, he listened to me, and not only did he emerge with all ten fingers and toes, but it was a marvelous cut which should promote the tree's water absorption pretty well, keeping it alive and kicking all during  the Christmas season!

They tied the tree to the top of our car, and while they did, Gramma Mindy kept an eye on me. We walked around and enjoyed the tree farm...there was even a little river with a peaceful trickle of water to enjoy...it was a clear, lovely day, and we really enjoyed being out there....

After getting the tree taken care of, we went out to Friendly's to get some dinner and dessert. I had a lot of fun playing with JustRichy...

We were quite the goofy pair. He, Buzz Lightyear, and I couldn't help but be excited and giddy about all the fun we were having...we played a modified version of peek-a-boo that included copy-catting...

I even got to share an ice cream sundae...while it was messy, I must say that Friendly's makes a heckuva tasty sundae!!!

I, of course, helped supervise the moving of the tree from the car outside to Gramma Mindy's house. We brought it in, and my supervision helped ensure that it was done safely, effectively, and in a way that honored and celebrated Christmas....

We had so much fun!