Meeting Santa

Last night we went to a local tree lighting at a fancy inn. We got to have cookies and hot chocolate, sing carols, and meet Santa!

It was so much fun watching the kids wait for Santa and sing Christmas carols - another one of those long-awaited parent moments.

Here comes Santa Claus!

This was the first year the kids were excited to see Santa, and weren't scared of him. They waited in line fairly patiently, and then were a little shy when it came time to actually go talk to him.

They whispered what they wanted: Abby = jaguar (from Dora the Explorer, not a car); Zoey = princess/mermaid; Lucas = not sure.

Jason snuck this picture while the professional was taking his - the pro one turned out pretty funny.

Another holiday tradition checked off the list!

Christmas Tree Farm

This year we chose a different Christmas tree farm to get our tree - it was a little closer to us, and it had "baa baas".

First, we saw cows. The kids stood there and "moo"ed at them for several minutes.

Then it was time to feed and pet the baa baas.

Finally we got to walk around and look for a tree. Zoey tried to find the biggest one.

But Jason redirected them.

He had some helpers to saw it down.

And then it was time for hot chocolate and candy canes!

We went out to lunch afterwards (note the tutu over jeans, and the jammie shirt with pants)

Once we got it home and set up, Uncle Peter came over to help decorate the tree (note the tutu over jammie pants).

It was a fun day - one of our favorite ways to start the Christmas season!

Let's Go Hoos!

This weekend was Family Day for UVA Men's Basketball. That meant that kids got in the game for $5 each. Not the case for their parents, but we got seats way up high so it wasn't too expensive. It was quite an adventure and the kids did great throughout. Really made me realize how much easier outings are now, at 3 1/2 years old, than they were a year ago.

Free parking was far away, so we rode a shuttle bus to and from the game. No pics of the ride to the game - the bus was crowded and we had to stand. Here's a pic of them waiting for dad to buy tickets outside the arena.

After a long climb we made it to our seats. They were amazed by the view.

Lucas insisted we get snacks, and when he came with me to the snack counter he of course he insisted we get three snacks "for me and my sisters". As we approached our seats with our goodies he shouted "hey sisters, I've got snacks for you!"

Our shuttle bus ride on the way back. We stayed through halftime and then left because they were getting restless and hungry. The kids enjoyed having the bus to themselves.

Blurry pic b/c the bus was moving, but love this smirk. We're seeing a lot of it these days.

After the game we went to a pizza place that was surprisingly kid friendly. They brought out globs of dough for the kids to play with, along with the usual crayons & paper, and cute plastic cups with lids and straws. Unfortunately, the girls decided they weren't hungry and Jason and I had to rush through our food. We've gotten used to being able to finish our meals at restaurants so this was a reminder that the kids aren't always eager to eat.

Overall, it was a fun family outing. Another activity to cross off our list of "things we wanted to do when we had kids". It was tiring though - we don't need to do it again this year!

Halloween 2013

This year we decided to do traditional trick-or-treating in a neighborhood, rather than go to the Lawn at UVa. The Lawn can get kind of chaotic and crowded, and the grown-ups just weren't up for it this year. So, since our neighborhood isn't great for nighttime walking, we went to our friends' neighborhood to do ToTing. The neighborhood had a little parade around the block, and then a family hosted pizza and snacks in their backyard, and then ToTing began.

Before I post those pictures though, I need to explain the costume sagas. Lucas decided early on that he wanted to be a fireman. Easy enough, since we already had a costume in our dress-up collection thanks to Grandma Di. Then the girls decided they wanted to be police officers/other rescue workers in order to match Lucas. Awesome. I scoured the internet and our consignment stores, asked to borrow things from friends, and eventually came up with several rescue-worker themed outfits.

Then, the girls started saying they wanted to be a ladybug (Zoey) and Abby Cadabby (Abby). Ok, still no problem. We had both of those on hand too. On Halloween morning, the kids wore their costumes to school. Here's what they ended up with:

Abby head w/butterfly wings

Monster fireman

Construction worker

The final ensemble

Then, since my parents were out of town, Jason picked them up from school (a rare treat!) and they played outside all afternoon:

I left work early and came home to help get them dressed. Dawdling and many outfit changes ensued. None of them ended up wearing what they said they were going to.

Lucas the dragon. Yes, same costume as 2 years ago. Barely fits over his head anymore.

Abby the butterfly. At first she was going to wear Elmo, which explains the red pants. Then at the last minute she decided butterfly.

Zoey the ladybug, except she wouldn't wear the red tutu that came with the wings because it is "scratchy" and she did not want to wear the antennae headband either. That pink tutu was worn by Abby at their first birthday party. It still fits.

The kids learned the routine pretty quickly.

I was so proud of them for going up to the door and talking to people. They didn't even need us to go with them after the first few houses.

At Amanda & Jason's house, with kids Molly and Will, counting candy and resting before going home.

Counting...

...and sorting.

It made us so happy to see them having such a good time. Another long-awaited parenting moment. They all said they had fun, and they were obsessed with eating their candy. Zoey said it was a little "scary" - mostly being in the dark, and having to talk to the people at the houses. Turns out that getting candy is a pretty great incentive for getting past shyness, though!

To wrap up, here's a link to our past 3 years of Halloween. They're growing so fast!
Halloweens Past