Crowded bed

Kyle and his monkey pile

Emily and her jungle

A monkey and a pilgrim

It's December 31st and Kyle's monkey costume has made it's way out. Emily put on her pilgrim dress from Auntie Judy and Grandma Sondra. Grandma Sondra made the dress for Judy back when Judy was a little girl. And Judy gave it to Emily last time we were in Milwaukee. Kyle and Emily got all dressed up to have a tea party with their animals and Emily's fairies. 

Kyle and Emily's play

For the past 2 days, Kyle and Emily have been working hard to set up a play. Emily recently played the Littlest Pet Shop game on iPad which we think inspired the play. She and Kyle wrote a story, set the pet shops up and made scenes and props for their play. It was sweet to see them work together so nicely and put on a creative little play. 

Emily's turn reading the lines while Kyle mans the  characters

Kyle manning the characters

Now Kyle reads and Emily mans the characters

Take a bow!

First haircut

Aaron got his first haircut today. He was looking pretty shaggy so we took him down the street to the kiddie haircut place that just moved into the neighborhood (2 years ago). He was fine until he took a look at the lady cutting his hair. (You'll see where he discovers her in the pictures below.) She had a big snowcap on and at least 2 highly visible piercings on her face. Not the softest, kid friendly kind of look. He screamed bloody murder with giant tears for 95% of the haircut. Just when he would stop crying, he would look at her and start wailing again. He sure does look dapper with his cleaned up do though. And you can bet that Kyle and Emily got the "you will not pierce anything but your ears"(for Emily, no piercings for Kyle) lecture. 

Sooo tired

Kyle's loves

Kyle's loves: Miko, milk and games. A snack too. And a monkey shirt. He really only needs his tennis racket and then these are truly Kyle's loves. 

Trading places

Aaron was baffled

Zoo night

Tonight we headed over to the San Diego zoo for their Jungle Bells display. Just a few lights at the front of the park so we took the gondola ride for an aerial view of any more lights (which there weren't). We saw some baby jaguars, an elephant, and a monkey but that was about it since the animal displays were otherwise dark. 

Balloon parade

While Jeff worked and Aaron took his morning nap, Kyle, Emily and I rode our bikes downtown to see the Big Bay Balloon parade. It was pretty cool and very windy this year. But, the parade still went on. And then we rode home for a good 6 mile morning ride. It was good to get out and get some exercise and see a parade on top of it. 

Food hawk

Aaron needs a haircut. Aaron needs to keep his hands out of his hair while he eats. Aaron got a foodhawk one day courtesy of his breakfast. 

Chili

"Are you crazy, you fed a baby chili?!"  - Mr. Mom with Michael Keaton

Yes, we did! And he loved it.

Christmas Day

On Christmas Eve, the kids were super excited for Santa to come. For the first time in recorded history, Kyle said he was tired and needed to go to bed by 7:30pm! So the kids went to bed by 7:30. Thankfully they don't do super early morning so we didn't get little feet in our room until 7:30am. And then the kids went downstairs to see if Santa had come. They were pretty excited that he did decide to stop here. 

Kyle with his Duke sweatshirt from Addison

Aaron with the front of his walking toy from Trevor

Emily with her hula hoop from Santa

Santa also brought Emily a mat to practice her gymnastics on. She and Kyle put it to use right away as a side for their fort. 

Aaron Claus saying Merry Christmas from the fort. 

Christmas Eve

We were in San Diego this year for Christmas Eve so we cooked up a nice meal. We made deviled eggs, corn chowder, stone crab claws with Joe's sauce, and a salad. Topped off with some champagne and sparkling juice, it was a great meal together. 

Ice skating

We went down to Horton Plaza for ice skating again this year. Only this year, without a pregnant belly, I got to ice skate with the kids. Jeff graciously (and very willingly) skipped going out on the ice and hung out with Aaron on the sidelines. The kids and I skated together after they did a little skating with the skating officials. I tried helping both at once which was quite cumbersome while they get their bearings so thankfully the officials helped each of them out for a few laps and then they were good to go. They only took a few falls, though those falls were on the slushy end of the ice - I supposed 60+ degrees and ice will have some slush - but they brushed it off quickly and wanted to keep on skating. 

Emily skating with one of the officials (Emily in the pink jacket)

Kyle skating with me

Garrison Street lights

We went to Garrison Street again this year to see their amazing light display. That block of houses sure is something else come holiday time - so very festive. The pictures below are in front of the most lighted house.

Crystal mining

For Hanukkah, Emily got a crystal mining kit. She loves shiny rocks and precious metals so this seemed a great fit for her. She had a great time carving out the jewels from the rock. And Kyle enjoyed helping her too. It was very messy business though. But several hours of concentrated effort to extract the jewels. 

Happy Hanukkah

Happy Hanukkah! We celebrated a bit late this year so that we could all be together for Hanukkah. On our final night, we had our friends over to celebrate with us. We had a big, fun, crowded dinner of pork (kosher of course!) brisket, salad and beet latkes to round out the holiday.