Christmas Parade

We just got back from the Festival of Lights parade. It was brr cold (47F) but we still had a really nice time. We got there about an hour and a half early and got our seats and then went off to explore. We checked out everyone lining up hit the jackpot at one float. Anthony got to turn on the ferris wheel and then sit in the train car.

Random note: I used Ghiradelli Sweet Ground Chocolate to make tasty beverage (aka hot chocolate) for Bob and I to enjoy during the parade. It was yummy!

Courtney's Birthday Party

Today was Courtney's party at Pump It Up Junior. It was a cold rainy day outside, perfect for spending an hour and a half inside jumping.

I so love watching the two of them play together, they are just so sweet. The kids lined up to go into the party room. Courtney's sister held her hand and then Courtney looked around to find Anthony to hold her other hand. They were nearly inseparable at the party, including squeezing into a cozy coupe together.

On a slightly related note, these parties are SO much easier now that Anthony was older. I was able to pretty much let him loose in the party room to let him play.

Anthony's Cousins Come to Visit

My sister and her family are here visiting for Thanksgiving. As we went around the table yesterday and said what we were most thankful for, Andrea said that she was thankful that she didn't have to host Thanksgiving and I said I was most thankful that I was able to celebrate the holiday with family and not having to travel!

They've had a nice visit. We've taken several trips to the park by tricycle and scooter and today we went to Happy Hollow for a visit. We had a nice time, but it was REALLY cold.

This afternoon afer nap we headed to the mall for pictures with Santa. We had naively hoped that by that time the early shoppers would have headed home. Yeah, that's a funny one. On top of that, we arrived just as Santa took an hour long break. We took advantage of the Christmas decorations and got some nice shots of the boys together.

The best part of the trip has been watching them play together. They've all gotten along so well and Anthony had the best bath he's ever had. I know he's really going to miss his cousins when they leave tomorrow.

Shutterfly Photo Cards

Now that I've got my Christmas cards ordered, I'm dumping my post touting how great Shutterfly products are.

(I do think they're great, but they're expensive and I'm done commercializing little dude's blog.)

Its Potty Time

I may be jinxing things, but Anthony tinkled in the potty seven times and pooped once today.

One poop accident, but that's it.

Not bad considering a week ago he refused to sit on the potty.
We'll see how things go tomorrow!

Tree Climbing

The last of the weekend storms passed through by noon and we had a glorious afternoon. We took advantage of the nice weather and headed over to the park. Everything dried pretty quickly and Anthony's pants took care of the rest.

There were a few big kids playing in this tree at the edge of the park. Of course, Anthony HAD to follow them. He was able to get about 5 or 6 feet up.

While I'm not sure I'm comfortable with tree climbing, I WANT to be comfortable with tree climbing!

A Visit from Digger

Anthony's preschool class dog Digger is visiting us for the weekend. Anthony is really enjoying having him here; he pushes Digger around in the stroller, has Digger sit with us at the table and will bring him along on all our activities this weekend.

I anticipate tears on Tuesday when Digger moves on to visit the next child.

A Fun Filled Saturday

Daddy was away Thursday though Saturday at his airplane show (with Robert's Daddy), so we joined forces on Saturday to have lots of fun without them!

In the morning we introduced the Claire and Robert to Happy Hollow. I couldn't believe they'd never gone. We drove separately and while we waited for them to arrive, Anthony and I went on the roller coaster FIVE times, including twice in a row because there was no line.

Claire and Robert's first ride of the day was the "Frog Hopper". Basically it pulls you up and then drops you down bit by bit. Anthony had never been on it before as I'd thought you had to be 42". Nope, it was only 36", and as you can see, he had a ball.

The rest of the day was a typical day at Happy Hollow; we watched the puppet show, fed the goats and played in the lemur playground. Check out the picture of the leaping lemur at the bottom of the page.

After we got home (and had a short nap), Anthony's pal C from daycare came over and they had a wonderful time playing together. Anthony and C have been daycare friends since he was 9 months old.

After C left, we played with Claire and Robert until the Daddies came home, just in time for dinner.

Unfortunately, our Sunday was no where near as fun. Anthony woke up with an upset stomach. By afternoon he was feeling much better, though.

Still trying to Trick-or-Treat

Andrea gave Anthony this cute little pilot costume for his birthday. Bob noticed immediately that the wings on the jacket are actually parachute wings. He thinks that if he got into an airplane and the pilot was wearing parachute wings he'd just turn around and get off.

On a semi-related note, Anthony is still trying to go trick-or-treating and yesterday actually suceeded. The house around the corner has its Christmas lights up already. (Cue eye-rolling.) After we got home we went for a walk to see them. Anthony immediately ran up to the door and some random guy opened it and asked if we needed anything. I started to apologize and tell him that we were admiring the lights and that Anthony was still trying to trick-or-treat. Next thing I knew we were walking home, Snicker bar in hand.

"Daddy fits inside"

I have no idea how Bob managed to squeeze himself into Anthony's little clubhouse.

Anthony is in there too!

Admiring his Candy

Bob and I totally cracked up when Anthony started recreating a ritual from our childhood--the admiring of the candy. Yes, he dumped his bag out and went through it repeatedly to see EXACTLY what loot he had.

On a related note, there was an interesting article in Newsweek talking about why kids pick the candy they do. It really helped explain to me Anthony's fascination with lollipops!