Santa Train

All year round Santa Train (Polar Express) is one of the most viewed movies in our house.  The boys pretty much have the movie memorized and even Logan recognizes all of the songs and characters.  This year we bought our tickets early (in AUGUST!) because they sell out pretty quickly.  (Last year by the time Mommy checked out the tickets in November, it was already sold out!). 

We didn't tell the boys about the ride and they were extremely hyped up when they realized where we were going.  First we took a school bus ride from the parking lot to the train which in itself was a special treat for the boys.  Then we boarded the train and met up with some friends.  As soon as Logan saw the train, it was non-stop "ALL ABOARD".  The train ride took about 2 hours and we were entertained with readings, songs, and characters from the movie.  The kids even got their own hot chocolate, cookies and jingle bells.  They also saw Santa and took pictures with him.  This time around, Logan was so happy with the whole experience that he quickly sat on Santa's lap for a nice picture.

It was such a special treat and seeing their little happy faces light up made the experience so magical for Mommy and Daddy.

Logan loved the school bus ride

In their jammas heading to North Pole in the Santa Train

 Waiting for the train to leave the station

 Ticket!  Ticket!  (just like in the movie)

looking out the window and enjoying the scenery

having a few words with Santa

a fun family ride

with friends Gabby and Lilly

Hello Santa!  See you again at Christmas!

Friend's Christmas party

For the past three years we've attended a Christmas party with lots friends from our area.  The Santa comes to give the little boys and girls a present for being good.  The kids always have a great time and even Mommy and Daddy enjoy catching up with friends.

Dylan spotted Santa as he came in the room

Logan getting his gift from Santa - but no sitting down on Santa's lap

See that big smile - Dylan was SO very excited to get a present from Santa.

 

 Can you tell he likes what Santa gave him?  It was one of the items on his list.  We wonder how Santa knew?!

 

Our little chatter got toy phone which he loved - So far he's called Mommy, Daddy, Didi, Lolo, Lola and Grandma

He had the Transformer mask on the the whole day!

Christmas Wish List

A cute little Christmas activity we like to do with the kids.  We give them the Toys R Us catalog and let them look through it for the things they want for Christmas.  We tell them that Santa can only get them one thing from their list because there are lots of kids that are also waiting to receive gifts from Santa.

This year we even let the kids bring the list to Santa when we met him at Short Hills for pictures and also mailed them to the grandparents who all thought it was such a cute thing to receive in the mail.

Dylan was very excited about this activity.  He just couldn't decide which toys would end up on his list.

Logan took this very seriously - he looked through every page making sure he had the perfect list for Santa.

The finished product

Letter written by Dylan that went out to the Grandparents.  So very true - they have been very good this year!

 

 

 

Christmastime!

A lot of fun Christmas activities going on in the last couple of weekends.  The house is now trimmed, decorated and ready for the holiday season.   Our Elf Brody has arrived to watch the kids and make sure they are being good.  We even went to visit Santa and the kids showed him their Christmas wish list.   

 

Boys were excited to see all the Christmas decorations.  

Logan loved Santa and Dylan is enjoying having Brody around (showing him what he wants for Christmas)

Went to Short Hills early to see Santa.  Nothing makes Logan happier than a chocolate chip cookie at 9am.

 

While standing in line to meet Santa, the boys enjoyed the Winter Wonderland display playing with the ice displays and watching the shows about polar bears.

Inside the big igloo - SNOW!

ready to show Santa their wish list

They talked to Santa for several minutes and told him they have been good boys.  When it was time to take a picture Dylan was more than excited but Logan started to cry... so their picture with Santa turned into a family picture.

Holiday Lights Spectacular

With the nice "warmer" winter weather, we took a spontaneous drive to the Turtle Back Zoo for their Holiday Light Spectacular.  The boys had a good time running around the zoo looking at animals, riding the carousel and checking out the cool lighting displays. 

checking out the sheep (they also had horses, chickens, cows, pigs)

With Logan's favorite - an Elefy

a cool light display of an elephant

 

running into Dylan's friend Collin

Christmas tree picking

One of our favorite Christmas tradition is picking out our tree that goes in the living room.  We prefer to go the weekend after Thanksgiving so we have a full month to enjoy it.  Plus, it's a great way to kick off the holiday season.  As in previous year, we went to Holiday Tree Farm in August.  Today, the weather was warmer than we expected - it was perfect for us to walk around and look at as many tree as possible.  This year, we found it harder to pick the right tree.  Trees were either not full enough, too many "bald spots", not the right height, etc.  It was also particularly harder because this year we had three opinions.  Dylan made sure he weighed in the decision.  After checking out many many many trees, we finally decided on one that everyone was happy with.

Logan was fascinated with putting the tree on top of Daddy's truck and Dylan was more thrilled about the idea of having the Santa train around the tree. 

Logan asked specifically to take a picture in front of this tree.  It was his choice, but just about 4 feet too short

Beginning our walk in search for this year's Christmas tree

our handsome boys

Daddy measuring to make sure it's the right dimensions

Helping Mommy and Daddy find our tree

It was a lot harder than it looked!

Everyone was happy - we found our Christmas tree!

boys watching Daddy cut our tree

They were such great helpers

They even wanted to help Daddy tie the tree on top of the truck.

All done and ready to take home!

Dylan's favorite - setting up Santa's train under the tree.  The boys sat here for hours just walking the train.

Putting the star topper

Turkey Day

As every year, Thanksgiving Day is hectic for our family.  It's a day that we love celebrating with all of our loved ones.  We make every attempt to drop by and say hello to everyone.  First stop is Grandma and Uncle Tommy's house for a late lunch/early dinner.  We enjoyed a very traditional Thanksgiving with turkey, cranberry sauce, gravy, stuffing, and lots of pies and cakes.  Then at Lolo and Lola's house, we engorge in a variety of food from turkey to paella to puto.  The kids had a great time, as always.  Even though it was already past their bedtime, both boys fought their sleepiness in anticipation for Josh's house.  So we headed over to the Spurlin's for dessert where the boys enjoyed playing with their cousins and ALL of their toys. 

We were so busy this day that we forgot to take a picture (very unlike us!).

We did capture this ONE picture.  All there boys playing with each other.  Dylan and Logan love getting in Jaden's face - for some reason they think Jaden can't see or hear them unless they are close and personal. 

Of course besides all of the food and celebration, we never forget all the things that we are grateful for, especially on this day.  We are so blessed to be surrounded with so  much love.  We are thankful for everything is our lives, all big and small. 

Dylan is thankful for his family - Mommy, Daddy, Logan, Baby Jaden and Ate Cece.  He recently told a friend in school that he has two brothers and a sister ;-)