Santa!

Today we went to see Santa!! 

Michael was really excited about seeing him, but was a little confused about what was going to happen.

 You see, Michael really wants a Dusty Bike for Christmas. So he thought after we went and saw Santa, that he would get the bike. He kept asking where he could ride his Dusty Bike when we got home, and if it was warm enough outside to ride it! I had to explain to him that we were only going to tell Santa what you wanted for Christmas, and that he had to wait till Christmas Day to see what Santa brought him. After a little explanation, he seemed to understand a little better.

He went right up to Santa, and sat on his lap. He answered all of Santa's questions, although we couldn't hear him because he talks so quiet, and the sales lady was being really loud! But he was happy to see Santa, and we got a great picture!

 And here he is with Santa every year.

Last year we didn't take him to see Santa. Having the flu the week before Christmas really throws everything off and I kind of dropped the ball. Oh Well, at least he has a picture with Santa! My favorite is his very first Christmas. He was such a sweet little baby, and smiled so big at Santa!

Our 2013 Christmas Card

I am participating in Faith's Christmas Card Carousel again this year.   Here are my 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012 cards


This year, like last year, I was able to get all of my Christmas cards for free! Between snapfish, shutterfly, and mixbook, offering free cards, I got 40 cards for free! All I had to pay for, was shipping. I love all of them, and tried to get similar cards at each site.

So, here are my 2013 Christmas Cards!

My Shutterfly Card

FRONT

BACK

 My Snapfish Card

FRONT 

BACK

 And my Mixbook Card

FRONT

BACK

I really love them all, and am glad I have a variety to send out.

Oh Christmas Tree!

The day after Thanksgiving, when Andrew got home from work, we headed to "The Man Store" (Lowe's) To pick out a Christmas Tree.

 Michael was pretty excited about it, but was a little concerned about how big the tree would be. Once we got there, he had zero interest in actually picking out a tree, and was running all over Lowe's!

That is, until I found the little trees! Then he was so excited! We let him pick out his very own little tree. He insisted on carrying it around, and would not let us help him, or put it down!

 He carried it all the way to the car, and when we got to the car and Andrew was tying the big one to the roof, he made sure we knew that his tree could fit inside the van.

When we got home, we put little colored lights on his tree, and now every day, his job is to turn on his tree lights! He is so proud!

Our big tree turned out pretty nice too. Although it is losing needles by the hundreds everyday! I really hope it still has some on it on Christmas morning!

Festival of Lights!

Michael and I got to spent the weekend with Jennifer down in Charleston last weekend! 

We had so much fun, except for Michael getting an ear infection while we were there. He was so pitiful. 

Friday night, we headed over to James Island Festival of Lights! The weather was beautiful, and we were able to get out of the car and walk around. 

 Michael was really excited that he got to ride up front with us, to look at the lights!

When we got out to walk around, they had this carousel for the kids to ride. He was pretty excited! 

 Jennifer rode too!

 It's hard to see, but Michael is standing in front of that tree. 

 Some of the beautiful lights!

 Ravenel Bridge in lights

 And then the old Cooper River Bridge!

The rest of the weekend was spent in our jammies laying around. It was so relaxing, and great, to just hang out and catch up with Jennifer. She's moving up here soon, so that may be the last time we get to go down there!

A Day at the Zoo

Last Friday, on our way to Charleston, Michael and I stopped in Columbia to go to the Riverbanks Zoo. We had never been there, and we get 50% off with our Greenville Zoo Pass. Our pass expires this month, so this was going to be our last chance to go.

The weather was beautiful! 80 degrees in December. I was actually wishing we had worn shorts!

With the map, leading the way!

The Zoo is incredible, and we had so much fun. It was not crowded at all, which was nice.

The first stop was the kangaroo walkabout! I could believe they were right there!

Michael with a wallaby

The kangaroos were napping

Next were the Gorillas! I couldn't believe how big they were!

My favorite part was getting to feed the giraffes! That was so cool! I couldn't believe we could do that. Michael fed them too, and didn't hesitate for a second, even when their long tongues were reaching out for more lettuce.

There was also an area to feed the birds. We went it to watch first, to see if Michael wanted to do that. But after he saw birds landing all over another lady, he thought it would be good just to watch. Haha!

In the barnyard area, Michael got to practice milking a cow!

I think Michael's favorite part was the carousel. He loves the one at Disney, so to be able to ride one, not at Disney was pretty cool for him.

We also spent a lot of time in the Reptile/Aquarium Building. He loved looking at all of the snakes, but made sure to ask if there was Glass between us, so they wouldn't bite! They even had sharks!

We had so much fun at the zoo and we probably could have stayed even longer. If only we were closer, we could get a zoo pass for that zoo too.

Thanksgiving 2013

We celebrated Thanksgiving with my family on Sunday before thanksgiving. We had great food and a great time. Mom planned some fun games for everyone and I brought the bounce house again for the kids. Everyone had a great time. And the adults liked the Thanksgiving Bingo more than the kids did! Too bad I didn't take any pictures :(

On Thursday, we got up at home, for the first time in three years. We are usually in Georgia with Andrew's family, but this year, they decided not to host the big thanksgiving. We were all a little bummed about that.

So, Andrew's mom and dad went down to Florida and spent thanksgiving with Amy and Mike. Of course, Abby and Maggie went with them.

So Andrew, Michael and I spent thanksgiving at home, and then went to eat lunch with Granny. It was a nice lunch and I'm glad we were able to do that.

When we got there, the parade was still on, so Granny and Michael watched the rest of that. 

 Then it was lunch time. 

After lunch, we headed home for naps. Andrew is the only one that actually napped. So Michael and I watched a movie.

Since we ate lunch early, we decided to go to Waffle House for dinner. It was a great ending to our Thanksgiving!

We drove around to look at all those crazy Black Friday shoppers. We couldn't believe the Walmart parking lot! It was completely full, and so was every parking lot around it. And there was a line of cars trying to get in! I was glad that I didn't go shopping. But it's not like I even considered it.