Advent calendar Days 19-24

Here is the last part of our Advent calendar activities. This was our first year doing an Advent calendar this way and our entire family loved it. I feel like it allowed us to take time out of our busy schedules to savor the holiday season. And here's a true measurement of the calendar's success (in my eyes at least): one day part way through the month, Cruz said to me "Mommy I like the bags with pieces of paper in them the best". After I asked him why, he replied, "because I like it when we do an activity together". In that moment I felt like I had done something right; that I was able to instill in him, the value of spending time together as a family over a material item or toy. As a working mother, I know that time is precious, and I am so thankful that I was able to teach my young son that value.

And now, here are the last 6 days of our super fun Advent calendar!

Day 19: a fart machine - again, boys will be boys!

Day 20: Kiss under the mistletoe...except that I couldn't find fresh mistletoe and didn't buy a fake one. So what's a 21st century mom to do? Pull up a Google image on the iPad of course! Here we are kissing under the "virtual" mistletoe!

Thank goodness for Google images

Day 21: Draw a Christmas picture

He drew a Christmas tree completed with ornaments

Day 22: Fun chocolate milk straws - just add milk!

Got milk?

Day 23: Go look at Christmas lights in the neighborhood. It has been frigidly cold these last couple of weeks so we have had to settle for viewing the lights from the warmth of our car rather than taking a nighttime walk, so no pictures of this fun activity.

Day 24: Bake holiday cookies. Strategically scheduled on the Advent Calendar so we could also leave those cookies out for St. Nick :)

Chocolate Chip cookies and milk

Silver Screen

Since I'm off from work for a couple of weeks for the holidays, I decided to spend some quality one-on-one time with Cruz and took him to see his very first movie at the theater. Being the cautious child that he is, I had waited until I was sure that he would not only sit through an entire movie but also enjoy it. And to further err on the side of caution, the movie we watched was Monsters, Inc. which he has seen numerous times on DVD already. I figured we'd at least have familiarity on our side. So the day after Christmas, we headed over to our local movie house, along with Cruz's buddies Doren and Sam. As we waited in line for tickets, he hugged me excitedly and said "thank you for bringing me to the movies Mommy!" Such a sweetheart.

Here he is after getting his ticket checked at the entrance.

Although he has never been to the theater before, he somehow knew that an essential component was popcorn (he is his father's son), and reminded me repeatedly about this on our way to the theater. I bought him the smallest size, but when placed on his lap it looked so much bigger!

Lots of popcorn!

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The previews were a little scary in some parts apparently

Engrossed in the movie

Cruz and his friends had a great time and he loved the whole experience. He already told me about the next movie he wants to see. I was reminded again at how quickly my little boy is growing up - by leaps and bounds!

My little moviegoer

A letter FROM Santa!

We recently stayed at the Omni Hotel in San Francisco while attending my cousin's wedding festivities. Surprisingly it was an extremely family-friendly hotel and I was impressed by all the amenities for little guests. Check out my yelp review here to read about them.

One treat in particular was a mailbox in the lobby specifically for mailing letters to Santa. They even provided color-in stationary. Despite already having written a letter recently, Cruz wrote another one and dropped in the special mailbox.

Lo and behold, today he received a hand written response from the jolly old man himself! Cruz's face lit up with delight as I read it to him and he was positively giddy afterwards! What a magical thing for a 4 year old! I will definitely be keeping this letter for years to come.

Advent calendar Days 10-18

December continues to fly by at lightning speed and this week was no exception. My cousin Nikki's wedding was this weekend and that added to the chaos, but we survived.

Here are the treats that Cruz and Lucas enjoyed in this week's Advent calendar.

Day 10: Strawberry jam. Cruz still remembers that he ate toast with strawberry jam for breakfast every single day during our vacation in Fiji. This tiny jar was a sweet reminder of that memory.

Mini jar of jam

Kid size

Day 11: Make a gingerbread house

Teamwork

Lucas standing by with the candy for decorating

Had to decorate the next day after letting it set

Voila!

Day 12: Chocolate covered marshmallow treat

Chocolate is always a good thing

Day 13: Mini laser guns. Boys will be boys!

Boys with their toys before bed

Day 14: Wear your Christmas pjs

Matching jammies in the lobby of the Omni Hotel, ,SF

Day 15: Drink hot chocolate

Single serving of yumminess

Day 16: Watch a Christmas movie. We watched the Polar Express for the first time, and it was great. The animation was really impressive and of course the story line was magical :)

Captive audience

Finally seeing Santa!

Day 17: Self-explanatory. With Christmas just around the corner I wanted to remind Cruz that there are lots of kids out there who don't have anything or very little this holiday season and we have to do what we can to share our good fortune.

Day 18: Quarters! I know this seems random but Cruz loves putting coins in his piggy bank.

Trimming the tree

We got a late start on putting up our tree this year since we were on vacation last week and didn't want our poor Christmas tree to dry up. We picked one up the day after we returned home but didn't get around to putting on the ornaments until tonight. As expected, Cruz was extremely helpful and loved putting up the different ornaments, while Lucas busied himself with pulling everything off the tree and generally making a mess. Despite all the "No Lucas!" and re-trimming of the tree, we had a nice time listening to Christmas music and making our tree look beautiful.

Pulling off rather than putting on ornaments

Helpful little elf

Decking the halls

I don't collect anything except Christmas ornaments. I try to choose ornaments that are different or special in some way, and I also continue a tradition that my mom did with our family ornaments growing up. We traveled throughout our childhood and she would always try to find an ornament from the new place we visited and add it to our collection. Then every Christmas, we would pull out our trimmings and be reminded of wonderful family vacations and happy times. I began the tradition myself right after college and I love that it is both a walk down memory lane and also reminds me of my mom. I have some from various places throughout California, Vermont, Chicago, London and Mexico to name a few. Here are a few to share with you...

 

From our honeymoon

Cruz's first handmade ornament in preschool

The last ornament my mom bought me - very similar to one from my childhood

Tiny clogs from Holland when I vacationed with my parents

From the City of Light

A Texan boot, I used to go to Austin for work several times a year

A clear globe with the NYC skyline - from our 1 year anniversary  trip

Hawaii

I look forward to collecting new ornaments from new places and sharing the tradition with my two boys.

Advent Calendar Day 9

A reminder of our awesome family trip last week - an ornament for Cruz to hang on the tree.

A Disney holiday

One of the perks of Randy's new work schedule is that he has stretches of days off. When he realized he had 7 days straight off, he suggested we take a mini family vacation to Disneyland. We were just there in April to celebrate Cruz's 4th birthday, but who can turn down a trip to the happiest place on Earth? So off we went!

The boys sharing a window seat

Saying the Pledge of Allegiance at the airport

We arrived on a Sunday afternoon and spent the evening with our good friends who live in Orange County. The following morning we checked into the Disney Grand Californian Hotel - a special treat from Randy - and couldn't be happier the moment we stepped into the lobby. The statuesque Christmas tree in the center of the room was spectacular and immediately evoked the holiday spirit.

Showstopper

In true Disney fashion, there was a children's area with a TV playing Disney movies and pint-size chairs. Lucas made himself at home.

Just his size

Love the personalized room keys

After settling into the hotel we hit California Adventure, to check out Cars Land, one of the main reasons for our trip. It did not disappoint! Radiator Springs was recreated so perfectly, you felt like you were in the movie. The details were impeccable. Having seen the movie more times than I can count, I completely appreciated the authenticity.

We spent two days park-hopping between California Adventure and Disneyland, and had a blast. The decorations, the music, the special firework displays, and parades were magical and you couldn't help but feel the holiday spirit. We enjoyed ourselves so much that this may become an annual tradition for us. Although the park is still busy, it's far less crowded than summertime and felt less hectic. Look out for a future post with more pictures, till then, here are a few more snapshots.

Cruz and his buddy Gavin

Cruz's fave ride - Toy Story ride where you shoot targets for points

Riding the Disneyland Express train

Happy little park-goer

Happiness is your first taste of a churro

Waiting for a ride to start

I can do rides too!

Buying a toy with a gift card that was an early Christmas present from  mommy's awesome friend

Having a great time

Ariel's Undersea Adventure

Taking a break

Caterpillar ride in Bug's Land

I love Disneyland

Beautiful decorations

Perfect weather