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

Day 7 & 8, Dear Santa

Day 7's treat is a pencil sharpener from the Cal Academy of Science in the form of the famous albino alligator. Cruz spent the next 20 minutes sharpening any pencils he could find in the house.

Albino alligator

Trying to get the hang of it

Day 8's activity was to "write a letter to Santa". Cruz was so excited about this one, he's been wanting to tell Santa his wish list since Thanksgiving! He dictated the letter to me, and afterwards he made it his own with some artwork.

Decorating the letter

Ready for mailing

The letter reads: "Dear Santa, I want Buzz Lightyear's Ball Blaster, Woody's Blaster, a Toy Story pillow and can I have a box of Special K. Sometimes I was good and sometimes I was not good. Can I have a new book? Thank you. I promise I'm going to be good on Christmas Day. I'm going to use my manners before you  give me the presents on Christmas Day. Love, Cruz"

My favorite part is the request for breakfast cereal :)

Advent calendar Day 6

This morning we are enjoying the Day 6 activity while we eat our breakfast: listen to Christmas music. This is one of my favorite things to do every holiday season (24/7 holiday music on KOIT 96.5? Yes please) and I have a few CDs that I pull out every December. Today I chose a shorter album that has the classic songs that everyone knows and that I thought would be perfect to listen to while we had breakfast.

Cruz got a kick out of "All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth" by the Chipmunks. He thought they sounded like little babies, haha! Believe it or not, my mom bought (and played to my chagrin) an entire album of Christmas songs sung by Alvin and the Chipmunks...like nails on a chalkboard! Nevertheless, hearing the song today inevitably brought up fond memories of my mom and her quirks :) It was also nice to hear her favorite Christmas tune, Little Drummer Boy.

The first week of December is almost over and so far it's off to a great start for our family. How about yours?