December 12, 2007
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Warning: December is a super busy month, so there will be lots of pictures!
Two Saturdays ago, we went to Austin’s Curious George themed birthday party at Funtastic. Toddler gyms are great locations for parties, and Zachary had a great time. Happy 2nd Birthday, Austin!
Afterwards, Dana came over to help decorate our Christmas tree. While Dana and Zachary hung ornaments, I put Jason in a santa hat and took a few pictures that I knew Zachary wouldn’t tolerate anymore.
In the evening, we went to our annual neighborhood progressive dinner. Zachary was finally old enough to play with the other kids. He wasn’t quite dexterous enough to complete the crafts on his own though! The older kids tied 25 mini candy canes to a thick ribbon for counting down to Christmas. One of our neighbors outdid themselves with a snow machine on their front porch!. Zachary LOVED it. All the kids were giddy with excitement!
The next evening, I had a dinner and playdate at my house. I actually made a real meal too – picked out a recipe online and made tortilla soup with homemade taco seasoning!
The following Friday, I hosted a holiday party for my team at work. It was a potluck, and I roasted a turkey and baked a honey ham. We played Guitar Hero and also some board games. It was fun to get together with my coworkers outside of work; I have a really good team!
Saturday morning, we went to Intel to take a picture of Zachary with Santa. There was a room set up to look like a theater (with a popcorn machine in the back) playing classic holiday cartoons. There were crafts to do in the cafeteria, but they looked complicated, so I just had Zachary color a picture. There was also a room of vendors for people who wanted to browse or shop. I ended up buying 2 samosas (yum!) and putting in a custom order for a daycare nap blanket. To make the line for Santa more bearable, they had a clown walk around doing magic tricks.
After lunch, we met up with Bill and his family at Picture People at the mall to take pictures. Bill and Elena flew in from New York to visit his parents in California. I got to meet their new son Ryan for the first time – very cute toddler (he just turned one!) Happy 1st Birthday, Ryan!
Our boys played with trains (a lot!) and tried to figure out which present belonged to them. They could both recognize their name – but they got confused by gifts that were “To Zachary, From Will” or vice versa!
We had a nice ham dinner and exchanged gifts at Bill’s parents’ home. And the next day, they came over for a spaghetti lunch at our house. The boys were still obsessed with trains, but we did get them to run around outside for awhile. Elena and I hit the outlets, where she picked up some great deals on kids winter clothes … 3 big bags of fleece and thicker outfits that would be sold out in New York, but lingering on the sale racks in sunny California. It was great seeing them again!
After they left, we went to my friend Karen’s house for a Christmas party. Zachary made gingerbread cookies and decorated graham crackers. (We were supposed to make houses out of them, but it looked way too goopy and messy to try!) I work with Karen’s husband, so I saw some of my coworkers there too.
Comments (2)
What fun!!! I wish *I* were your kid! Then, with my dying breath, gasp “I did it all. Thanks to my Mom.”
p.s. loosen the purse strings and turn on the heater. your poor guest shivers in his puffy winter coat.
It looks like it would be hard to be your friend if you didnt like kids… Children amuck.