Breakfast with Santa Cow, Playing in the Snow and a Party!

     Saturday morning we headed out into the snow to attend a Chick-fil-a event. It just so happened to be breakfast with Santa Cow. The kids got a yummy breakfast out, which we don't normally do, and they got to make a craft, play in the play area and meet Santa Cow.
     Big Brother had a blast and Froggie absolutely loved getting her own "real" food for breakfast instead of her normal oatmeal. Despite the snowy weather and slippery roads it was worth the trip out. After our breakfast we did a little bit of shopping and headed home for lunch and nap time.

Mmmm fruit

Breakfast!

Gingerbread man

Froggie liked hers too

Santa cow!

The kids got gifts from Santa Cow

Hubby and Froggie snoozing

     After nap time Big Brother wanted to help shovel the driveway. He got all bundled up and put on his snow suit and headed out with Hubby while I looked for his old snow pants for Froggie. Of course they weren't where I thought they were and I didn't want to spend too much time looking for them so I improvised. With approximately 4 layers on I carted Froggie out to hang out with all of us in the snow. She seemed to like watching it fall but I'm still on the hunt for Big Brother's old snow pants so she can really play.

Snow Angels

He LOVES the snow

Building a snowman

Hanging out in the snow

a tiny snowman

     After our fun morning and afternoon we headed back out in the snow to go to a Christmas party. This was your standard "command Chirstmas party" with some food, door prizes and some other miscellaneous things to do before coming to a close. The kids were well behaved and seemed to have fun. We won a door prize (COFFEE!!!!) and got to watch Hubby "sumo wrestle"!

Sumo wrestling

The kids!

Mini Vacation: Day #3 Graduation

     This morning was a bit of an early start since we had to be out of our rooms and at the school house early for Hubby's graduation. In true Navy fashion we had to hurry up and wait this morning; once we got to the school house we were supposed to sit in the petty officer association's room where they were preparing for a Christmas party and had a TON of wrapped gifts all over the room. Let me tell you, there is a sense of panic when asked to sit in a room full of gifts with your toddler when none of them are for him! While we waited Big Brother asked to have some pictures taken and the kids played with some toys and had some snacks.
     I didn't take any pictures during graduation because I was holding Froggie who was being pretty squirmy. Not to mention I couldn't fish out my phone during graduation and knew that Froggie would grab at my actual camera and none of the pictures would turn out anyway. Following graduation Hubby and I purchased some sweatshirts from the "gear locker" and headed back towards our hotel. Before we got settled and changed we took a bunch of pictures. Lately Big Brother has been pretty uncooperative when it comes to taking pictures but we ended up with something to document the event.

Big Brother wanted a picture with Froggie

So proud of Hubby!

Our little family

Hubby and I

     After everyone got changed and a little packing was done we headed out to pick up the new uniform that Hubby had ordered along with some other goodies. This included a very large new duffle bag to get home everything that Hubby had acquired over the course of his time in Florida. After some lunch (and Starbucks) we headed back to our rooms for nap time so that we could go back out for some fun.

Mmmm Starbucks

     Nap time ended up being pretty short lived since we wanted to get across base to see Santa come in on a fire truck. The fire truck pulled in as we were coming across the parking lot. While Hubby and the kids made their way towards Santa and the festivities my mom and I both ended up with burrs in our feet. I had to use my camera strap to get the burrs off my feet and then had to figure out how to get them out of my strap. Man do those little things hurt!
     There were cookies, hot chocolate, coloring, seeing Santa, bounce houses and free trees for military personnel. Big Brother waited rather impatiently to see Santa. He had been pretty shy about Santa and still always has a funky face in pictures (lately with or without Santa) until today! The kids had put out their shoes for Saint Nick and due to his recent visit Big Brother seemed more accepting of the big guy in red. When it was time to get out of the sleigh he didn't want to go until he told Santa thank you for the gift he had left the night before. It was really cute and one of those proud mommy moments. Froggie seems to be hit or miss with Santa and she wasn't thrilled about Santa today.

Christmas festivities on base.

Christmas festivities on base.

Christmas festivities on base.

Christmas festivities on base.

Christmas festivities on base.

Christmas festivities on base.

Christmas festivities on base.

Christmas festivities on base.

Christmas festivities on base.

Christmas festivities on base.

Christmas festivities on base.

Christmas festivities on base.

Christmas festivities on base.

FIRE ANTS EVERYWHERE!

     After our fun on base we headed out toward to beach to a local restuarant that was having some pre-parade festivities including crafts, a bonfire and Santa. Big Brother loved it and especially had fun with the hammock and the S'mores. Froggie had her first taste of a S'more and got upset that she couldn't be down on her own but otherwise seemed to enjoy it. After awhile to boats that had strung themselves up with lights made their way out from the dock and we drove back towards our rooms and ordered Pizza.

Making a stocking. 

Big Brother and the palm trees

Palm trees and Christmas lights

I could get used to this kind of Christmas

The hammock

Big Brother and Santa

Froggie and Santa

making S'mores

I'll have some of that grandma!

Mmmmm

Watching the boats

Watching the boats

Visiting Santa

     We decided to take the kids up to see Santa at the mall after nap time today. We've been seeing a lot of Santa around at different gatherings and events but it's not quite the same as seeing Santa at the mall. Now, if you're my best friend you will say I was torturing my children… If you're me then I'm documenting my children growing and being with Santa while they still believe since children seem to believe in the magical innocent things for far too short a time. 

     Froggie has become increasingly less tolerant of going to Santa every time we see him. I don't know how much this has to do with Santa himself as much as it is just that Hubby or I aren't holding her. It is also a fairly regular occurrence for her to cry if I hand her off to my mother, sister or in-laws and none of them have big white beards or red suits. 

     Big Brother, on the other hand, LOVES Santa and gets excited to talk to him and talks about him ALL THE TIME. However, it seems like when it comes time to snap the picture he just pouts. So Here are the end results of our trip to see Santa. Overall I'm happy with them, as a mother and a photographer I know that just getting an infant and a toddler to look in the direction of the camera requires A LOT of work and patience. Getting them to smile/laugh/look REALLY happy is normally a happy bonus!

Bring on Christmas!

     This afternoon we headed to one of our local theaters where they were having a large craft show. While we were there we attempted to visit Santa. Big Brother has gone from being ambivalent to Santa, to screaming in his presence, to now liking Santa but not wanting to get close to him.
     Froggie on the other hand, who normally melts down if someone other than Hubby or I have her (if we're an option) snuggled right up to Mrs. Claus!
     I guess we'll be working a little at removing the fear of Santa. Especially since we will be seeing a lot of him in the next few weeks!

A snuggly Froggie and Mrs. Claus

The kids with Santa and Mrs. Claus

The kids with Santa and Mrs. Claus