'Tis the season to visit with our favorite jolly man in red! We've had a busy weekend with holiday festivities, and with the snow fall from last night, it finally seems like winter is here (I was just saying yesterday how odd it was to have no snow on the ground in early December. Not that I'm complaining...I don't want it to stick around until May!)
Friday night we met up with Grandma Karen and Grandpa Doug and visited with Santa (#1.) Ava asked for a trampoline and G asked for a puppy (a real one, not a stuffed one.) The answer to both of those requests is NO and NO. I know, I'm no fun. I'm sure Santa will come up with some other fun things that they'll both like, though.
After we were done with the Santa chat, we headed out to a family dinner and had a good chance to sit down and catch up for a bit. I think we've officially moved out of the high chair/booster phase...G is sitting on regular chairs at restaurants now (he sits on his knees.) EXCEPT, when he tried to get off of the chair he was crying that his legs weren't there...I think he experienced his legs falling asleep!!
Saturday morning, we packed up and went to the community center and had breakfast with Santa (#2.) We mostly focused on the breakfast, coloring, crafts, and games, and didn't really chat with Santa. And that's ok - it was great family time!
Saturday night, we decided to do an early dinner and stumbled upon a new restaurant that had just opened up in Farmington. It was a great atmosphere, good food and service, and they had an amazing patio with fun fire features. We will definitely head back there to try other items on the menu!
We don't often make it to Farmington (it's south of where we live) but we had wanted to check out the Dakota City village since it was all decked out for the holidays. Ava has been there a few times already, and it was time that the rest of us walked through there. It was a gorgeous night to do a tour of the historical village...we visited so many different types of stores...carpentry, blacksmith, printing shop, general store, library, etc. We were also able to take a trolley ride, pulled by two beautiful horses. The weather was perfect to be outside...it wasn't windy or wet, and even though it was chilly, it wasn't unbearable.
Did I mention that we saw Santa (#3) at the depot? G asked me if we were going to talk to Santa again, and when I said no, neither kid was too put out. So, I think we've filled our Santa quota for this year!
Santa has been a big topic this weekend - on Friday, Ava asked me if Santa was real. I told her that the moment she stops believing in him, he ceases to exist. She looked a little panicked and said that she does still believe in him, but was curious as to what happens if you stop believing in him and then start believing again. I simply repeated what I had already said. It was a tough topic to face. But, she's decided that Santa #1 is definitely the real Santa because his beard is real. I agree, he does appear to be the real Santa!
On a non-Santa note, we were informed last week that one of Ava's art pieces was selected to be on display at the city library for the month of December. Awesome! We're going to the "Artist's Reception" this afternoon - I can't wait! Out of the blue, she told me she doesn't want to take gymnastics (we had been talking about it for the last year) and when I asked if there was any other sport she wanted to do, she said, "No, I'm not a sports person." And, she's right. So, I asked her if she'd like to take an art class, and she lit up! She also said she'd like to take a cooking class, and she's in luck, as I had already scheduled a cooking class for her and me in January. Actually, it's a cooking and painting class, so it should be a blast!
I need to work on assembling our Christmas cards today, and then determining what Christmas cookies we're going to make this year. I've finally figured out that I need to keep things simple...no more than 2 or 3 different things. That might be a good philosophy to apply towards many things in life...
Friday night we met up with Grandma Karen and Grandpa Doug and visited with Santa (#1.) Ava asked for a trampoline and G asked for a puppy (a real one, not a stuffed one.) The answer to both of those requests is NO and NO. I know, I'm no fun. I'm sure Santa will come up with some other fun things that they'll both like, though.
After we were done with the Santa chat, we headed out to a family dinner and had a good chance to sit down and catch up for a bit. I think we've officially moved out of the high chair/booster phase...G is sitting on regular chairs at restaurants now (he sits on his knees.) EXCEPT, when he tried to get off of the chair he was crying that his legs weren't there...I think he experienced his legs falling asleep!!
Saturday morning, we packed up and went to the community center and had breakfast with Santa (#2.) We mostly focused on the breakfast, coloring, crafts, and games, and didn't really chat with Santa. And that's ok - it was great family time!
This doesn't even look like G with his funny little expression
Hard at work coloring - both pics are hanging on the fridge now!
This was G's craft...I might have helped him a little bit...!
Saturday night, we decided to do an early dinner and stumbled upon a new restaurant that had just opened up in Farmington. It was a great atmosphere, good food and service, and they had an amazing patio with fun fire features. We will definitely head back there to try other items on the menu!
My chair faced this wall of bottles...it was so pretty!
We don't often make it to Farmington (it's south of where we live) but we had wanted to check out the Dakota City village since it was all decked out for the holidays. Ava has been there a few times already, and it was time that the rest of us walked through there. It was a gorgeous night to do a tour of the historical village...we visited so many different types of stores...carpentry, blacksmith, printing shop, general store, library, etc. We were also able to take a trolley ride, pulled by two beautiful horses. The weather was perfect to be outside...it wasn't windy or wet, and even though it was chilly, it wasn't unbearable.
A nativity scene outside the little church
The little church - it's tiny!
They were not a fan of the bright flash on the trolley ride...
The naughty kids went to the jail!
There was an outdoor seating area with the tree...I thought it was so pretty
Did I mention that we saw Santa (#3) at the depot? G asked me if we were going to talk to Santa again, and when I said no, neither kid was too put out. So, I think we've filled our Santa quota for this year!
Santa has been a big topic this weekend - on Friday, Ava asked me if Santa was real. I told her that the moment she stops believing in him, he ceases to exist. She looked a little panicked and said that she does still believe in him, but was curious as to what happens if you stop believing in him and then start believing again. I simply repeated what I had already said. It was a tough topic to face. But, she's decided that Santa #1 is definitely the real Santa because his beard is real. I agree, he does appear to be the real Santa!
On a non-Santa note, we were informed last week that one of Ava's art pieces was selected to be on display at the city library for the month of December. Awesome! We're going to the "Artist's Reception" this afternoon - I can't wait! Out of the blue, she told me she doesn't want to take gymnastics (we had been talking about it for the last year) and when I asked if there was any other sport she wanted to do, she said, "No, I'm not a sports person." And, she's right. So, I asked her if she'd like to take an art class, and she lit up! She also said she'd like to take a cooking class, and she's in luck, as I had already scheduled a cooking class for her and me in January. Actually, it's a cooking and painting class, so it should be a blast!
I need to work on assembling our Christmas cards today, and then determining what Christmas cookies we're going to make this year. I've finally figured out that I need to keep things simple...no more than 2 or 3 different things. That might be a good philosophy to apply towards many things in life...
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