Edventureland

I love this place.  It is like 20 field trips in one.  We played hockey, visited a farm/grocery store/fire station/construction site/both poles, and took advantage of all their face-hole-photo-ops.  Did my child throw a fit each time we moved to a new section? Yes!  Did he steal an egg from the chicken coupe? Yes!  Did he have a good time checking everything out with his good buddy? You bet!

Pretty sure this broom isn't part of the educational activities intended in the wind power inventor station, but he is ever the servant.

Christmas Day

1. A quick morning snuggle to wake up Dad.

2. Stocking loot.

3. The stealing of a truffle.

4. Sweet new ride for the barnyard friends.

1.2.

3.4.

He will ironically use these to dirty up the house.
Then we went to Meemaw and Gramp's House to hang out with the Ninja Turtles.

Christmas Eve

We went to Anderson on Christmas Eve.  Had a delicious Louisianian boil, crab legs and all.  We also watched a few Christmas classics with some pretty good company.

We made it home for some peppermint shakes and the reading of the Grinch.  Silas liked the glowing blue light on the laptop a little too much and shut us down about page four.  We were up and running again for the finale so as not to be left up in the air about the state of the Grinch's heart.  Meemaw and Gramps came over for some cards at which I lost terribly.  And then it was off to bed for the only night of the year I am excited to be looking at an early morning.

♪ Grandma Cain is Coming to Town ♪

We are all fans and she is quite the teacher!  Under her tutelage Silas is showing some improvement in ball handling, coin identifying, and pat-a-caking.  However, he cannot yet count to five as promised.  He was spoiled rotten true to word.

Ho Ho Hosed

I am always torn between the need to be original and the joy that I find in being part of the parenting culture.  There is something nice about knowing we are all basically the same.  We want to give our kids experiences and document them over-zealously.  Normal parenting things are still a thrill.  I want to buy every "World's Best Dad" item I see.  (Daron does not feel the same, so I refrain.)  It is the delight of my life to see my baby grow and experience the world.  Sometimes I get a little sad that I can't find anything unique to do for him. I think it is more apparent that "there is nothing new under the sun" when a very traditional holiday comes around.  Is that good or bad?  Hand print ornaments, check!  Picture with a bow on his head, check!  Cookie making, check!  Seeing Santa... holy cow, everywhere charges an arm and a leg.  How did I not know this?  

I kept thinking there would be an opportunity to see Santa where he will be perfectly round with a real beard in a magical chair and it would be free to snap away as many pictures as we liked.  The days went on and that Santa never surfaced.  Could I miss out on the most Christmasy thing a parent can do for their child? Two days out, I started to get nervous.  Should I have paid 20 bucks to stand in line for an hour and get one print of my son with a stranger that was a little on the scrawny side?  Once Christmas is over, I'm out of luck...in grade school they will all be comparing their one year old Santa shots (because I am sure children do these things) and Silas will be out of the loop.  Deprived. A Christmas Scrooge.  

I am not going to lie, I visited three locations in one day trying to get a picture. (With an 83 year old granny in tow.) I became more desperate with each subsequent attempt.  The first stop at the mall took up most of our walking stamina, but it was early in the day and I couldn't commit to the too-long-of-a-line and still wasn't buying that a picture should be so pricey. 

The second was the zoo, which had been ruled out originally due to the lack of animals at night and the lack of interest in light displays from one particular one-year-old. But if I am paying $20 for one print, I might as well pay $10 and get into the zoo lights.  My plan was brilliant.  I would get in on regular admission right before they kicked on the lights with my visitor pass for free!  Then I would make a bee-line for Santa and be first in line to take my own picture (allowed!) and get back to the car before my grandmother freezes in the cold where she insists on waiting.  No luck there, closed for rain. 

The last stop was a chintzy strip mall Santa in a terrible warehouse room they barely attempted to decorate.  I still couldn't pay for a shot, but at least my son would get to see Santa.  "What, this scratchy looking man in a ridiculous outfit? Let me ball my eyes out," he said.  We left.  Daron was relieved because I had commissioned him to covertly take pictures and he was visibly sweating before we even entered the "workshop".  

So I will have no pictures with St. Nick.  I've decided I can live with it.  If anyone ever thinks of something unique to do for the holidays, please go ahead and put it on Pinterest so that I (and the rest of the world) can jump on board in being original. Now stay tuned for no less than three classic-mom-recap-of-Christmas posts.  

 Silas with a less intimidating reindeer and Daron's sneaky camera work.

Family Photos

Who is this two foot tall grumpy old man emerging from the woods?

The Big Parade

We accidentally went to a Christmas parade this weekend.  Doesn't it look like we get out and make the most of the holiday season though?!  We were actually having family photos taken at the same location.  I think I saw and subsequently offended 20 people I knew on our dash to make our time slot and navigate through the lookers on.  It was a much better show than this photo of the spectators would indicate. (The parade, not me running through the crowd.)

 

This might be our only shot of Santa this year.

Struggling with the idea of licking (but not liking) an ice cream cone.

Sneeze