It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Our Christmas Card pic this year!

Since Thanksgiving, we've been having lots of fun getting into the Holiday Spirit.  I have a strict policy on not decorating, wrapping, or listening to carols before Turkey Day... but the day after is open season!  So far, we have: paid a visit to Santa, picked and decorated our Christmas tree, built a gingerbread train, greeted Buddy (our Elf on the Shelf), baked Christmas cookies, hung icicle lights outside, went to the Livermore Holiday Parade, made cinnamon ornaments, gone for several trips around the neighborhood to look at Christmas lights and even took a day off work to "play Santa" (minus Andrew, of course).  Whew!  No wonder I'm exhausted... or maybe that's due to being 35 weeks pregnant... either way, we've been enjoying the season and embracing the festivities! 

 I was really tempted to try and do a humorous holiday card with this one instead.

Picking out the perfect tree.

There was a neat old truck parked in the middle of the lot. 

This family farm had peacocks, an Indian Village, and Santa's workshop...  quite the eclectic mix.

Mike hard at work.

Andrew and Pop starting to build "Andrew's" Gingerbread train.



Andrew actually didn't do too much of this project at all... but the adults sure had fun!

Our beautiful tree and Buddy the Elf with a surprise for Andrew!

Andrew got Christmas PJs, an Advent Calendar, his Elf on the Shelf book, and Twas The Night Before Christmas (from Gram and Pop).

We froze our tushies off at the Livermore holiday parade... but it just wouldn't have been right to be warm... right?

Baking Christmas Cookies with Gram - all that was missing was Aunt Amanda and an Italian Margarita.

So, there's a funny story behind the next shot.  The weekend after Gram and Pop left, I decided to make cinnamon ornaments with Andrew (thanks to Pinterest).  The recipe called for 2 cups of cinnamon, so Mike  picked up a huge bag of cinnamon from our local grocery store for only a couple dollars (do NOT buy cinnamon in one of those big McCormick jars if you have access to bulk bins!).  I carried the bag over to Andrew, explaining that we were going to make ornaments out of cinnamon and applesauce and they would smell really good.  I held up the bag for Andrew and said, "Here, smell the cinnamon."  And, for some reason, Andrew thought he should take a bite out of the bag instead.  The look on his face when he had a mouth full of cinnamon proved that was all the "punishment" he needed for making such a big mess (we were both covered in it from head to toe - this was actually a staged shot after rinsing out Andrew's mouth and cleaning ourselves up).  Mike couldn't believe that I found this whole episode so amusing (instead of being frustrated at the mess and Andrew's inexplicable actions), but I don't think I'll ever forget the look on Andrew's cinnamon covered face - I hadn't laughed that hard in awhile.

Andrew had his own bowl of cinnamon and applesauce for eating after deciding cinnamon alone wasn't quite his thing.

The finished product!

Happy Thanksgiving!



We were grateful this Thanksgiving that Gram and Pop headed out to CA again this year to keep us company for the holiday.  As usual, Andrew loved having visitors and was very excited to see Gram and Pop.  Below are a bunch of pictures that captured some of the Pre-Turkey Day fun we had during their visit. 

 

The Saturday before Thanksgiving, we headed to Treasure Island (off the Bay Bridge on the way to San Fran) and came across a flea market that had "snow" for the kids to play in... it really wasn't very impressive, but Andrew had fun throwing a snowball or two.

He's throwing Leftie.

Very interesting sculpture!

City Skyline

(We missed you Amanda!)

After Treasure Island, we went to Berkeley for lunch and then back to the trains we rode last year at a nearby Regional Park.  Between Pop and Andrew, I don't know who enjoyed the trains more (although you'll have to take my word for it, because these pics don't make it look like Andrew enjoyed himself as much as he really did)!

They were not expecting the steam to release here!

On Sunday, we headed out to Del Valle Regional Park for a short hike and then headed to our favorite winery - Bent Creek.  Minus Andrew falling backwards on a chair and crashing his head against the pavement (and me not being able to drink away the anxiety that caused afterwards), it was a really nice afternoon to get outside and enjoy the sun and our company.

 

Can you find Mike and Andrew?  Yes, he walked all the way down and up carrying Andrew!

And he climbed a tree with him too!

Pics at the winery - loved the light.. not so much the expressions I was capturing!

The day before Thanksgiving, Mike and I took off work, and the group of us piled into the car for a trip to San Francisco to visit the California Academy of Science for their holiday exhibits.  They had snow falling from the ceiling, shows about penguins and live reindeer. 

Some outside fun before our big turkey dinner:

I forgot to take a picture of our pretty table setting before we sat down... so just pretend our napkins are folded!  Happy Thanksgiving!