Mommy, Matt, & Santa!

There were a few Christmas celebrations around town a couple of weeks ago, so I narrowed it down and decided to try one with Matt by ourselves. We left Jonathan & Nick at home and headed out for our "special fieldtrip". He wasn't sure what to expect, but I think he had a good time!

Casa Romantica, a local cultural center and beautiful building situated overlooking the coast, had a caroling, tree lighting, and Christmas display. We went to see what it was all about. Matt quickly found the room with the train, and stayed there for a while. We went back to that room twice and were able to get away with a quick "goodnight, trains" on the last one.

It is amazing what a train can do to a boy! He was just so amazed and entertained.

Not so entertaing, and a bit scary, was Santa. We waited in the short line and I tried to get a photo, but I had to jump in for interference. Santa even had to dole out a lollipop to try to get Matt to come closer to him. This was supposed to be our warm up for his Christmas program at school and Santa's visit there.

Wagon Rides & Christmas Lights

Our neighborhood goes crazy for Christmas lights. We have a neighbor who rents a cherry picker and helps out the neighbors by putting up lights with them or for them. We opted for the "for them" option, especially since our trip to Texas and Oklahoma conflicted with the dates the lights would be put up. It was great to leave town without lights and come back to Christmas lights on the house!

Since the lights and decorations are fun to look at, we often head for an evening walk in the wagon. The boys can get a bit feisty at times, and often end up in chaotic laughter by the end of the walk, but they seem to enjoy the craziness.

I tried to get our lights in the picture, but the boys weren't looking at the camera if I went that far away to get our lights in the shot. Oh well!

Here they are on our sidewalk with the neighbors' house in the background.

Disneyland!!!

We've been trying to plan a weekday to head to Disneyland for some time now, and we finally were able to make it out there! We took a Friday and just headed out the door right when we got everyone dressed. Matt had been doing great with his potty training, so we tried to convince him that it was a reward and celebration for that. He tried to convince us that it was "probably for my birthday", since his birthday celebration lasted so long. He hadn't had a party in at least a week, so I don't know why he would have thought it was for his birthday!

While Jonathan and I were taking a pit stop, the boys found Goofy!

A partial family photo on Main Street.

The first ride the boys tried was the rockets. Matt decided early on that he wanted it high, so pictures were a bit difficult from the ground. Here they are getting ready to ride.

This was the best shot I got. They are actually in the frame, and at least Nick is looking at the camera!

Here they boys are waiting in line for the Buzz Lightyear ride.

They were shooting lots of "Zs" with their guns, while Jonathan and I just sat and went along for the ride.

The best part of the park for us was the "Finding Nemo" submarine ride. We waited about 30 minutes in line and it was worth it. There were a few scary parts, with loud music and noise, but since Matt loves the movie, he was not too scared.

Here's one of the scenes we saw from the submarine. The scenery was amazing and the movie clips were great!

More scenery before we got to the movie parts.

The scuba diver that gets Nemo.

Here we are on the submarine. Jonathan couldn't keep his hands off the window.

Last stop, Toon Town. Matt finally got to drive the trolley car. We were approaching whiny, tired, overstimulation time once we got to Toon Town, so the visit was quick.

He sneaked into the car when no one was looking. He seemed to love all the big cartoon vehicles.

We went in Mickey's house right before we left.

The gopher was great. It kept popping up while Matt wasn't looking!

Playing Mickey's piano was the last stop in his house.

I rushed us to go before the Christmas festivities were over at Disneyland, and since we went during the day, we were limited on what we could see. The line at the Small World was too long to wait in with 2 tired boys and 2 tired parents, so we missed those decorations. By the time we got to where Santa was, we were headed to the tram. Oh well! We had a blast and saw a bit of Christmas on Main Street. I can't imagine what it is like at night right now. I heard it's amazing. One day when the kids aren't in bed by 8 we'll discover that. For now, a quick 4 hour visit was enough for all of us!

Back to Dallas

We headed back to Dallas to wind down and get ready to fly back home the next morning. While we were gone Granny & Grandpa started getting out some Christmas decorations so Matt could see them before we left.

Jonathan and Nick came out to see the lights.

Matt loved the "choo choo train" and wouldn't stop trying to touch the lights and asking what everything was on the train.

It was hard to get him back inside after seeing the train.

Thanksgiving in Oklahoma

After a visit in Dallas, we hopped in the car and drove up to Nick's family in Oklahoma. We knew this visit would be a lot different than our last one since Jonathan was crawling! We were on our toes the whole time!

Nana pulled out a horse for the boys to play on while we were there. Now all of the cousins have had turns with the horse! Jonathan LOVED it!

Can't believe how much this looks like my baby pictures! (only without the 70s style in the background)

Jonathan got excited about buying snacks!

Abby spent some time entertaining Jonathan. He was a bit too interested in her teeth and reached out to poke!

He's so proud of his mischievous ways!

Abby fed Jonathan dinner, and he tried to help! Amazingly, she was spared in the battle. I need to take some tricks from her because when he looks like this, I am a mess myself!

Matt loved his introduction to air hockey and played the whole time with his cousin Dom when he was over.

Here they are with their audience, Molly. Molly and her buddy Joey were once again friends of Matt's while we were there. He chased them around everywhere and entertained them!

Birthday party #2! This time it was the Trevino cousins who came to dinner. Notice the Mater hats. Matt was so excited!

Here's everyone smiling for the camera, with Jonathan distracted by Nana's necklace!

Matt played his new video game that Nana & Pawpaw gave him. He loves it!

We went out back and played with some Tonka trucks one day while Jonathan was sleeping and everyone else was working. Matt had a blast moving around rocks!

Matt showed his friends Molly and Joey his new train.

Jonathan was playing with Nana and I tried to capture it, but they spotted me!

Matt shows off his new train to his Pawpaw!

I guess he was trying to teach Pawpaw how it works.

Here's the train. He told me he wanted a picture of his train!

Jonathan and Matt with Pawpaw!

While Nana was sneaking into the picture, Matt was trying to sneak out. He STILL won't smile for the camera. One day...

While Nick was helping Pawpaw get some Christmas lights in the yard, the boys and I decided to end our walk and just play out front with them.

They were both looking at the camera for this one, but Matt decided that smiling wasn't as fun as tearing up leaves and trying to throw them on me!

Closer to smiling, but more like bug catching in this shot!

Mr. Personality!

He got so excited about "climbing" the tree!

Abby told me to "go sit down and I'll watch Jonathan", so I took advantage and sent Nick in to take a few pictures of the kids. They seemed to enjoy their parent free time. They are all such great kids!