Holiday Traditions in St. Charles

Logan and I had so much fun with Valerie, Reagan and Cooper last year at the Christmas Traditions parade in St. Charles that this year we decided to go back with Daddy, Claire and all the Trohas!  We had a great day for it with just a bit of a chill in the air.  It was exciting to see the characters mingling with the crowd on their way to the parade starting point.

Here's MacNicholas, the Scottish Santa.

Mikko, one of Santa's elves...

Frankly, I have no idea who these costumey people are.

Dady and Claire wait for the parade!

 Yikes!  The Ice Queen.

Snegurochka, the Russian snow child.

Serenity, the Christmas angel, followed by Clara and her Nutcracker Prince.

I love this picture of Frontier Santa!

This of course is Father Christmas.

Victorian Carolers making their way down Main Street.

Santa and Mrs. Claus in their carriage!

Reagan and Logan "do lunch" afterward at one of the many cafes downtown.

I do love how the kids got into character for this shot!  Well, except for Claire.  She takes her head-through-the-hole posing very seriously apparently!

I happen to love this family picture!

The kids chatting up Mrs. Claus.

That Frontier Santa.  What a guy.

Mother Goose absolutely crushed on Logan.

The Master of Revels was shouty and rude.  Claire could not wait to get away from him!

She was also not a huge fan of Snegurochka.

Not at all, actually.

Now there's a handful of adorable kids.

Love you guys, and all our traditions together.

Mama

Decorating our Tree with Memories

Remember this?

And this?

Those memories became this:

and this:

And that's how you do that.  

Ba da bing.

Love,

Mama

A Bouncy Playdate

Dear Claire,

It's so special that you have a friend you have known for literally your entire life.  

I have had so much fun watching you and Maya grow up together, and seeing your friendship develop.

Maya is practically family!

I hope you girls stay in touch and remain friends forever.

Love those sweet girls!

Mama

A Family Gathering

It's hard to get families together, sometimes.  So it was a treat when your Aunt Terry and Uncle Allen came to visit us in November, and your Grandpa Larry, Step-grandma Mary and Aunt Sarah and Uncle Paul all stopped by.

 Grandpa Larry, Aunt Terry and Cousin Grace

Cousin Andrew, Logan, Aunt Sarah and Gavin, Uncle Paul, Step-grandma Mary, Grace, Grandpa Larry, and Aunt Terry

It's so important to document your time with family, kids.  You guys grow up way too fast!

Love,

Mama

Wild Lights at the Zoo

I've been wanting to go to the St. Louis Zoo's Wild Lights event for a few years now, but it seemed like every time we had a night to go it was freezing outside!  So we took advantage of one unseasonably warm late November evening to finally go.

Little Hop-A-Long Claire was pretty fired up, as you can see....

When it started getting chilly we headed toward the insectarium to warm up!

Just jamming out to some cricket music...

...while Grammy, Daddy and Pappy check out some leaf-cutter ants!

Claire comes face to face with an extra large katydid!

Logan is a pretty sweet big brother....most of the time!

The penguin house was another place where we could actually see some zoo animals.  Although it wasn't very warm in there!

Neither of my kids can seem to pass up an opportunity to climb on something!

Claire and I on the carousel.

 The light displays were festive and fun to see.

And when given the option of having a photo taken with Santa or his elves, Logan chose the elves!!  I wonder why.....

Love you guys, and all the things we do together.

Mama