Winter Fun

This weekend we had some winter fun! Joey has been back in action helping us shovel and enjoying the snow. Friday night the weather was the warmest we'd seen in a while so we took advantage and went to Cosley Zoo to see the lights with Nonna and Grandpa. Unfortunately we forgot our camera, but we had a good time looking at the lights and hanging out in the barn keeping warm with the animals. Saturday we headed off to the mall to make sure Santa was reminded of what Joey wants for Christmas (this was visit number two this year...we saw him at the tree lighting ceremony the day after Thanksgiving). Andrew, Emma, Auntie Christy, Uncle Chris, and Grandma also joined us. All of the kids did really well. Emma wasn't too sure, which set Jillian off a little bit, but all four sat together well enough for a few pictures. Joey and Andrew told Santa their wishes, and as we were walking away from Santa, Andrew asked me "So where do we pick up my green bike?" Such a character!

On Sunday Joey and Andrew went with their mom's on the Polar Express! It was a very, very cold day, but luckily we only had to stay outside for a maximum of 5 minutes waiting for the train to arrive. It was windy and frigid but worth it all. The boys got their tickets with their names on them, and later the conductor punched them similar to in the movie (Auntie told us the shape was a "t" for "train"). We got on the train and headed for the North Pole. The train ride itself was fun, but we were also read the story Polar Express on the way out. Once we got there we had a special surprise...Santa joined us and delivered bells to all the kids and sang songs the whole way back. Back in the train depot we warmed up from our short walk off the train with some cookies, juice, and water. Then we were allowed to visit with Santa again! We were in the line to visit Santa, but since we have already mentioned to Santa our wishes (twice!) we decided not to go again, but we did get a very neat snowman ornament with Joey's name on the front, and the back reads the date and states that it was from the Polar Express 2010. So where was Jillian during all this? Well, Daddy took her to the mall for a fun filled day as well. She indulged with Daddy with a snack of a soft pretzel, then lunch was a slice of pizza, and dessert a cookie! Daddy said he let her wander and just followed her around for a while and she was having a blast! They went to a few stores to look for a Christmas dress, but came back with a few outfits instead. Looks like they'll have to venture out again soon! A great weekend had by all!