Finally..Christmas (Part 1)

Boy, December sure was a whirlwind.  I told myself I wasn't going to over commit when it came to singing, but alas, I ended up having 4 gigs (not including my school concert) and the rehearsals for those gigs.  Four really isn't a lot compared to what I used to do, but with two kiddos, four seemed like a lot.  We had a great Christmas season.  Since we were traveling, we did presents at home on December 20.

Daniel was very excited to see a new car track tower thing!

He really understood presents this year!  Of course, as always we could have done about 2 presents and stopped there.  He just wanted to play with everything right away.

Heidi got some sippy cups in hopes that she'd take milk from them at daycare.

This fishing game was a hit!  It's all he would play for awhile!

Friday, December 21 we took a red eye direct to Dallas.  The good news is that Daniel looooves to watch the movies on the flight.  The bad news is that he didn't fall asleep til the last hour!

My no sleep but we made it to Dallas selfie!

After some naps for the kiddos and coffee for us, we were able to go for a walk to the playground with cousins.

On Sunday, Dec 23, we went to the Dallas Zoo!

After a break for dinner, we went back in the evening for zoo lights.  It was awesome!

The boys did some yoga.

Heidi was cute.

We made and decorated cookies!

Cousins on Christmas Eve!

Christmas Day!

After presents from Santa we headed to Valley View.

Someone may have started a new Christmas tradition - a pinata...as long as Grandma's foot heals!

Okay and this is where the pictures go back to the beginning chronologically.  Just like our East Coast trip, these pictures are out of order.  So back to the beginning we go.

We walked around the Frisco neighborhood to look at lights on Christmas Eve.  I bundled Heidi up!

One of the gifts from Santa Claus.  We were glad he found us in Frisco and also happy he brought small gifts.

Star bread.

Back to Valley View.

Okay, that's part 1.  Part 2 coming another time!

Beach Day!

We spent about 3 hours on the beach in Ka'anapali today.  Definitely the longest we've ever stayed at the beach since kiddos I think.

Daniel and Dad were eager to get in the water!

Heidi had an awesome time playing in the sand and water too.  She (again) ate SO much sand.  She spent a good amount of time in the sand but then was under the tent the rest of the time.

Daniel just played and played and played.  He especially loved when Tom filled his shirt with sand.

Daniel also loved being buried in the sand.  Weirdo.

The key to our long stay?  The tent for shade and snacks!  Hummus and an apple saved the day!

Okay time to shower off all the sand.

Wednesday

Oh hi!  Still haven't done a Christmas post.  Getting there.  This is just another random post.

Just a boy and his 6th puzzle of the morning.  He was only just getting started.

While Daniel played on the playground, Heidi and I sat in the shade and took some pictures and played.

A trip to Costco put these two in the cart next to each other for the first time.  It was adorable.

A successful trip to the clothing/toy exchange landed us with this new toy!

Okay, I know this wagon is not made for transporting kiddos cause they aren't buckled and stuff, but it's so easy and the kids love it.  

Just some random afternoon smiles.

We got Daniel a dry erase maze/tracing book for Christmas.  He loves it and is getting better and better at it.

The celebratory arms after finishing the maze!

Lately

Someday this week I hope to update with all the pictures from our trip to Texas.  I'm afraid I have too much work to do to make that happen tonight.  Instead I'll just post some pictures from the couple of days since we've been back.

This girl is on the move!  Not crawling yet but she can roll, twist, and turn anywhere she'd like to go.  Look out.

She's also interested in everything.  Especially faces!

A failed attempt at going to the pool landed us in a better place, the creek.  The boys spent lots of time picking up rocks and moving them around.

Meanwhile, Heidi and I took pictures and enjoyed the great outdoors.

A finally, a cuddling couch photo.