Thanksgiving Fun

Thanksgiving was a lot of fun this year. I can't remember the last time my entire family celebrated Thanksgiving together. As my Mom predicted, it was "beautiful chaos." The three grandchildren were very entertaining and much more interactive with each other. It was so sweet to watch Liam and Micah (just 6 months apart) chase each other around and give each other hugs. Aidan spent the entire weekend playing with the Thomas train set my Dad got from a friend. That boy loves trains more than any other kid I know. The photo below captures his enjoyment quite well...he is too cute. After our delicious feast as a family, we headed to my aunt's house where we saw the rest of my dad's family. It was so nice to see everyone; it had been too long.

Friday involved lots of shopping deals (at 10am; we're not that crazy), dinner with Nana, Ron, and Aunt Tricia, and finally a trip to Christmas Village.  While the tickets are a bit overpriced and the hot chocolate is subpar, the half-million colorful lights, window displays (bizarre creations like "Christmas Beneath the Sea"), and indoor train set bring a smile to every child's face. Micah was the happiest I think I've ever seen him! He was ecstatic about meeting Frosty and Rudolph and he loved peering in all the window displays and proclaiming any words he was able to-- snowman, santa, elf, ball, tree,...  It was quite a night.

our beautiful chef

where's the turkey?

Poppy and the boys watching a train clip on the computer

Liam was very generous with hugs and kisses

Riley family photo

Christmas Village in all its glory

amazing

Micah was very excited to meet Frosty

Sean and Aidan

Dave, in awe of the (bizarre) window displays. Was this one of "Jungle Christmas"?

family photo with Santa

Dave and Caitlin, sporting her new Christmas Village hat

Nana as Rudolpha. Priceless.

indoor model train set

Micah loved peeking through the the face cut-outs

Aunt Tricia

Not so happy about the Rudolph nose. We are terrible.

Last Zoo Trip of 2009

Last Sunday was such a gorgeous day that we decided to drop everything and head to the Philadelphia Zoo for one more visit this year. We even picked up Uncle Jeremy to join in on the fun. Micah was more responsive this time around (last trip was in June), saying a lot of animals' names and reaching out for them. There were a lot less animals outside compared to summertime but we still saw a good variety and enjoyed the much less crowded paths. We ended our time at the zoo in the Avian Center which I think I can say is our favorite attraction at the zoo. It has beautiful walk-through habitats with over 100 birds from around the world; you're surrounded by birds with many up-close encounters. It really is amazing.

Outdoor Adventures

We have spent as much time as we can outdoors enjoying the beautiful colors and cooler weather. I just love the Fall! It will be sad to see it go soon...What do you do with a toddler all winter long???

Micah managed to get over this post and roll down the hill. He had a huge smile on his face afterward and tried to reenact his fall several more times. Crazy little boy...

Micah's Love of Hats

One of Micah's first words was HAT. It started off as a whisper that had us laughing all day long--he said it as if it were sacred. A few weeks later, he was shouting "HAT!" in a high-pitched squeal. This habit has continued for probably 3 months now.  Most evenings when Tim walks in the door, Micah's response is "DaDa!" followed by "Hat!" I think his obsession with hats comes from the fact that Tim often wears one; he must associate hats with Daddy. Whatever the reason, it is quite comical. He points and announces "Hat!" whenever we are out and he sees someone wearing one, and he spends a good portion of the day wearing Daddy's hats around the house. So to document this silly phase of my little boy's life, I have posted a few hat shots below.

yes, he is wearing two hats here. and he put them on himself.

Little Nemo

Our friends, Eric and Katie, were so kind to lend us this adorable costume for Micah. Trick-or-treating had happened the night before in Tim's parent's neighborhood so we couldn't go door-to-door, but we did have him knock on Grandma and Grandpa's door and their neighbor gave him some candy too. Micah got a lot of smiles from the neighbors and people driving by. He was pretty darn cute, don't you think? He was pretty excited about the candy in his bucket and definitely enjoyed his first tastes of candy. I'm probably not going to be able to eat candy now without him asking for some!

  

m&m's...yummmmm

Wordless Wednesday Photo

Pumpkins and Gourds and Corn, Oh My!

Two weeks ago we took a trip to Varner's Tree Farm to enjoy some fall activities. It was a beautiful sunny day and we had the place practically to ourselves since it was a weekday. Micah was very excited about the tractors and he even got to "ride" on one (he's really into anything with wheels right now). We successfully made it through the 2 acre corn maze- it was by far the best corn maze I have ever been in. I was totally turned around in there! Thank goodness Tim has a great sense of direction or we may have been in there for quite some time. Micah has a blast climbing around the toddler-sized hay bale maze, visiting with the "pumpkin people", and seeing some farm animals up close. A trip to Varner's will definitely be on the calendar next year.

Which way should we go?