Merry Christmakah!

It's Christmas morning, the yule log is fired up, and I'm calming myself from my toy induced hyper stage long enough to send out a quick message.

This is my third Christmas and Callie's first, and I'm confident that she will quickly discover what makes this holiday so special; the traditions and the FAMILY.

On behalf of mommy, daddy, baby (but quickly growing) Callie, and myself, we want to wish everyone a very merry Christmas!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

The Monorail to Santa's House

Santa said he had to feed his reindeer - he's in the picture?!
.
.
As promised, another installment of the chronicles of our White Christmas. Last week, daddy took a day off from work so that we could go to downtown Seattle and visit Santa at his house, which is conviently located adjacent to the Nordstrom's Flagship store. The Nordstrom's were the one-time owners of the Seahawks, plus they have pretty nice shoes, so I totally get why Santa built his Seattle vacation home here.
.
.

All dressed up like my hero, Clark W. Griswold
.
.

Pretty sure that I was trying to pull a fast one on mom and dad
.
.

What'd I say? MONORAIL! What's it called? MONORAIL!
.
.

Callie got to ride in her fuzzy-lined bed on the go. No fair!
.
.
To get our fun trip started, we went to the Seattle Center first, and walked around the base of the Space Needle. I don't know if you've all been there or not, but I wouldn't recommend looking straight up when you are under it - you MIGHT fall down. Not that I did, but, you know, just saying it hypothetically could happen.

Rather than deal with all the hustle and bustle of downtown traffic, we decided to take the monorail. Let me tell you, there's nothing on Earth like a genuine, bona fide, electrified, six-car monorail! After a short trip, we arrived downtown for a quick walk over to Santa's house.
.
.

Santa's Seattle Winter Home...
.
.

Callie wasn't sure what to make of the whole experience..
.
.

I'm almost ready for pics. Anything in my nose?
.
.

Let's do this - I have a kitty cat to ask for!
.
.
I must say, Santa's house was pretty nice. Not many people can pull off red carpet from wall to wall, and servants dressed like formal jockeys at the Kentucky Derby, but that Santa - well, he's the Versaci of the Arctic I suppose.

After waiting just a short time, it was our turn to sit with Santa. I was pretty prepared, but I was so worried about Callie that I got nervous when it was time to sit on his lap. Ok, so maybe it was actually me, I don't know. Santa told us that he was gonna go feed his reindeer, but now that I see the pictures I realize he was standing behind the chair, so I hope the reindeer are alright!
.

Pretty comfy chair
.
.

These candy canes are GREAT!
.
.

Seriously, all I want for Christmas is CANDY CANES!
.
.
After the big event, we were all pretty exhausted, so we decided to utilize the return trip of the magical one-rail, and get back to Grammy's house for some naps. I'm still not 100% comfy with Santa, but the presents are still going to work out just fine!

Merry Christmas!
,
,

That was a ROUGH trip/nap!
.
.

Good pictures and stories - I impress me!

Two Turtle Doves and Daddy Cutting Down a Christmas Tree

Well, it's a busy time of year, but it's also a well known fact that December is the most photographed month of the year too, so as such, I of course have some pictures to share. Ok, so I completely made up that stat, but you believed me, right?
.
.

"Teee - are you?" roughly translated = "Tree, where are you

.
.


Maybe it's over there?

.

.


Let's get that REALLY TALL one. We can do that, right dad?.

.

I'm a few holiday events behind as far as this blog is concerned, but I've turned over a new leaf, and decided not to fret about that. Instead, I'll unveil recent happenings in multiple installments, starting with our Christmas tree outing of a couple weekends ago. As many of you already know, we live in an area known as "the Gateway to the North Cascades", so as you can imagine, there's LOTS of trees, and not necessarily trees on LOTS.

Last year, when it was just Mommy, Daddy, and myself, we found a pretty cool christmas tree farm a few miles away, so I told mommy and daddy that we have to take Callie there this year too!
.


I told Callie that she was acting more like "the Grinch"
.
.

Mommy finally convinced Cal-Cals that it would be fun

.

.

It just so happened that the weekend we picked to get a tree was the beginning of a bit of a cold streak in the area, so while I was pretty excited to carry out the weird tradition of placing a recently live tree in our living room, I convinced Callie that we should stall a bit, mostly by way of not taking naps until it was too late to go.

Our plot was successful on Saturday, but once Sunday rolled around, Mom and Dad were onto us and decided to turn it around on us. Once the late afternoon rolled around and I still hadn't taken a nap, they layered on the clothes, loaded us in the car, turned on some John Denver and the Muppets, and off we went into the forest. Well, I think that's what happened anyways. As it turns out, I fell asleep a short 2 minutes from the house, which really just added a little kink to the plans!
.

.

Dad - that tree looks perfect!

.
.


Dad, I think your saw needs MORE POWER!
.
.
Callie and I were both in the early stages of a non-wakeable sleep (take THAT, grammar!), so Mom and Dad had the fun task of lugging us around a muddy Christmas Tree farm, while also looking for the perfect tree. Actually, they decided pretty quickly that it needed to be a family activity (and that daddy couldn't carry me AND a 12 foot Christmas Tree) so they woke us up to pick out the right tree. It was straight out of Christmas Vacation.

Actually, we found a tree that mommy really liked pretty quickly, so after daddy did his best Paul Bunyan impression, it was time to get that tree on the 'Hoe, and get it home. Unfortunately, that task is much more difficult than anticipated, at least for families with 2 small children. While Daddy was lugging the tree around to get it paid for, mommy put Callie and I back in the car, but for some strange reason, we didn't want to cooperate. I don't remember it this way, and I don't completely believe it, but mommy and daddy swear that we were both VERY grumpy and made sure that everyone near us knew that.
.


I don't look grumpy, do I?
.
.

Ok, maybe a LITTLE....

.
.

Mr. Gorbachev, tear down that wa....I mean, Daddy, move that car!
.
.
That really about sums about our whole experience. Mommy let Callie and I help decorate the tree as much as we could, and when she was reaching for stuff at the top, I made sure to say things like "reeeeeeaaach!", or "careful, mom, careful". I'm definitely very helpful in that way.

Callie hasn't admitted to it yet, but I'm pretty sure she thinks that we are weirdos for having a lit tree in our house. I know that she'll understand someday when she is older like me, but for now, she'll just keep giving us those faces that are pretty puzzling..
.



Why the HECK is there a tree in my house?

.
.


THE Tree, in all of it's terrible picture glory!

.
.

In the next few installments, expect to see pictures from upcoming events, or those that have already happened. Potential topics could include:

• A visit to see Santa Claus



• Christmas at Grandpa and Grandma's



• Christmas at Grammy's



• Christmas at Mimi and Papa's



• Grandpa's "Clark Griswoldification" of his neighborhood

Also, she deserves more space than this, but I I'll use what we have for now. For those that have asked, or those that don't know, my grandma-great, known to me as G.G. (Daddy's grandma), has been in the hospital for a couple of weeks now due to some major complications following a routine knee surgery.

G.G. is doing well, and although this will be a life-changing experience for her, she has many,many,many people that love her, and she can count me, Callie, Daddy, and Mommy into the brigades of people that will help her any way we can.

We love you G.G.!

How Old Am I? I'm 2!

Happy Birthday to Me!

.

.

.

.

.

.
That's right - I'm officially a two-year-old, even if mommy and daddy say I've been acting like one for, well, almost 2 years! The last week, which was my birthday week, was tons of fun! On top of simply being spoiled even more than usual all week, I got to have TWO birthday parties with all my closest family. I wonder if that means I get to have THREE parties next year, Four the year after, etc....hmm....

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

On my birthday, which was Friday, my first surprise when I woke up was that daddy took the day off so that he could stay home and play with me! After a little celebration hug, we went downstairs, and the Birthday Bunny, or the Birthday Claus, or the Birthday something had definitely been here over night, because there were balloons and presents EVERYWHERE!

Mommy and Daddy told me that I could open some of my presents, and the first thing I opened was a bunch of Matchbox Cars and a downhill racetrack for them. Well, normally I'd be straight to the next present, but this was COOL! I definitely had to spend at least the next hour playing with it!

.

.

.

.

.

.

After playing for a bit, daddy said he wanted to take me shopping which also gave mommy a chance to rest a bit. We went to a few different toy stores, and I got even more presents, but I didn't have to unwrap these ones! We stopped for milkshakes and a birthday Happy Meal on the way home, and after devouring my lunch, I went straight back to the cars!

Not long after lunch, people started showing up for the birthday party we had at home that night. Nothing quite like a party with Mommy, Daddy, Grammy, Mimi, Papa (and Roxy, aka Baxter, aka Fancy Feast), Grandma, Grandpa, Auntie She-She, Uncle Gregg, Auntie Jess, Emma, Eden, Uncle Jordan and Alyssa, Auntie Maeggie, Auntie Laura, and even Great Papa! Unfortunately, I was too excited all day to take a normal nap, so I ended up taking one late, and was a BIT cranky when everyone first showed up. I bounced back quickly though, and lots of eating, playing, present opening, and more playing ensued!

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Saturday was Birthday Part II. After a pretty relaxing morning and lots more playtime, we loaded up the car and headed south to have a birthday dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. I had never been there before, but you KNOW I was excited to see the animals! While the party had many of the same people as the night before, we also saw a bunch more people this time - always exciting!

Everyone was very excited by the rainforest I think - they have elephants, and MONKEYS! I'm pretty sure they're real too! ooh-ooh--ahh-ahh!

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

After our 3.5 hour dinner party was over, mommy and daddy loaded me and Callie up, and we headed to the nearby newly built ShoWare center in Kent for a Thunderbirds hockey game. Grammy actually organized a large group from her work to go, so we just included ourselves in this - I always love a good hockey game! The game itself didn't turn out so hot, and while it was fun, Callie and I were pretty tired from the day, so it was a short outing. I did get to sit by Auntie She-She and Uncle Will though, which was exciting because it was the first time I had really seen them since they got engaged a couple weeks ago. No pressure guys, but cousins! .

The only thing that could've made my birthday week with all of my awesome family any better was if Auntie Laura could come visit, and guess what? She did! She actually flew up on Wednesday, and stayed with us for 4 or 5 days, so she got to be a part of all of the fun, plus she slept in my bed, which means that I got to sleep with mommy and daddy! So, come back anytime Auntie, and not just because of the bed thing, but that helps!

.

.

.
.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Well, I'm worn out from the festivities, and since tomorrow is Thanksgiving, that means we have a whole new round of events in front of us, including my 3rd Thanksgiving, even though I'm just barely 2! My first thanksgiving was actually my first whole day home from the hospital in 2007 - interesting day, that's for sure, but that's for another time.

Thank you to everyone who made my birthday what it was, I really appreciate it! Goodnight!

.

.