Winter Cabin Trip

So, I know that I said that I wouldn't go back to the cabin in the winter until we had some newer snowmobiles there with us, but after having a couple years to warm up to the idea, I was ready to ammend my statement. I decided we should go, but not go any farther away on the snowmobiles than we would want to walk or hike back.



It worked out pretty well, especially since Jeremy took off a few days and came up with us. Hayley spent lots of time with her daddy on the snowmobile. Jackson, on the other hand, was scared to death of the snowmobiles. He did not want to ride, and he didn't want anyone else riding them either.



At least he looked cute all bundled up. :)



Such a super fun weekend, that we're planning on going again over Presidents' Day next month. And Jeremy and I are going to go up again in March when I'm off track again. Alone. I'm super excited. :)

Cookie College

It always seems like there's a little bit of an after Christmas funk around our house. We're kind of mopey and bummed that all the holiday fun is over. So when I saw an ad for Cookie College at the Naborhood Bakery at Gardner Village, I thought it sounded super fun. I called to sign up Hayley, and they told me that unless they got at least one more kid to sign up, the class wouldn't carry. So I signed up Jackson too. :)



He was in heaven. He loved looking at all the treats in the case, and using the cookie cutters and later frosting his cookies.



They also did a tour of the bakery and showed the kids all the gizmos and gadgets and ovens that they use to bake their treats with each day.



Hayley also thought Cookie College was wonderful. Her favorite was the foot cookie that she made. Her least favorite was when she got trapped in the bathroom for a minute after the old lock stuck. She was pretty stressed.



But it wasn't anything a few cookies wouldn't fix.

January 2012 Faves

Hayley Bug

Favorite Food: "Daddy Sandwich" (Grilled ham and cheese sandwich) and KFC
Favorite Treat: mini muffins from 7-11
Favorite Friends: Aisly, Kade, Kylie, Bailey
Favorite Toys: Her scooter, and anything that has to do with paint, glue, tape or scissors
Favorite Movies/Shows: Parent Trap, iCarly, How It's Made, Cake Boss
Favorite Song: Thriller, Poker Face, and Mary, Did You Know?
Favorite Things to Do Inside: Play her Leapster.
Favorite Thing to Do Outside: Go see if friends can play and ride her scooter.
Favorite Thing About Jackson: When he hugs or kisses her.
Least Favorite Thing to Do: Clean her room, and especially clean up any mess that she didn't make.
Funny Things She Says: She's started telling jokes, and she will laugh right along with you at the punchline.

Action Jackson

Favorite Food: Cheese cubes and chicken nuggets
Favorite Treat: Any candy that anyone will give him.
Favorite Friend: Anyone who will get down on the floor to play with him.
Favorite Toys: Anything Thomas the Train, blocks, cars, trucks
Favorite Book: Any animal books
Favorite Movies/Shows: Barney, Thomas, Bob the Builder
Favorite Things to do Inside: Go to the Fitness Center Daycare.
Favorite Things to Do Outside: Chase his remote control car and go for walks
Favorite Thing about Hayley: She will share whatever treat she has with him, even if we have told her she shouldn't and that she is not in charge of the baby.
Least Favorite Thing to Do: Go to bed and go down for naps.

New Things He Says: What doesn't he say? Favorites lately are fix it, open it, hungry, sandwich, night-night, nap-nap, candy, Barney, Thomas, Bob, Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, Whitney, help, Idunno, all gone, and "Hi" to anyone who will listen, including strangers.
New Things he Does: Shake his hand at you when he wants you to go away so he can do something he's not supposed to be doing.



And he's still my favorite. :)

Love. This. Boy.

All Caught Up!

There are eight (yes, eight) new posts below documenting our December/Christmas season. Be sure to scroll down, or click here:

Dicken's Festival
The Wright Family Christmas Party
The Dame Christmas/Birthday Party
Christmas Eve
Christmas Morning
Christmas Day
Gardner Village
ZooLights!

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

ZooLights!

With the unseasonably warm weather, we decided to squeeze in a trip to ZooLights. It far exceeded any expectations that I had. Moving lights, interactive lights, backdrops, it was awesome!



This set was my favorite. These animals passed the star to one another until the monkey put it on the top of the tree.



Jackson really did like it, even though you can't really tell from this picture. His favorite was the monkey who was throwing a banana into his mouth, with all of it made out of lights.



We also rode the carousel. They even piped in Christmas music for it. Jeremy had to work, and I was so glad that my mom and Robert came with us, since they were happy to ride the carousel with the kids. It makes me so sick. :(

Waiting for the carousel...



And taking a spin...



This was one of Hayley's favorite animals made out of lights. It's the fountain that is such a symbol of the zoo for our family. I remember it from my childhood, and Hayley loves it too. Neither picture is great. If there's a good way to take a picture so people's faces show up, and you can see the coloring of the lights, I haven't figured it out yet.



If you haven't done ZooLights, I would very highly recommend it. Even on a night when the weather was awesome and it was super crowded, there's so much room to spread out, it didn't seem too bad at all.

Gardner Village

I didn't want those few days when the temperatures were in the 50's to go to waste, so we did a few of the Christmas activities that had been on my December list that we just hadn't gotten to yet. We went to Gardner Village to see the elves, which Hayley loved. Jackson was a little leary of the elves at first. Maybe he figured out they had something to do with Santa.



We'd gone to see the witches before, but never the elves, and it seemed like maybe it would have been neater to go at night when they are all lit up. Oh well. Now we know for next year.



Don't let Hayley's get-up fool you. It really was a nice day. Perfect hoodie weather, just the way I like it.



Hayley and Jackson may have snuck under the fence to play near this gingerbread house. I may have let them since there was no one else around.



We finished up our outing with a treat at the bakery. I knew that there was a Elf Hunt paper that you could fill out and redeem for a cookie, but that seemed like a lot of work, so I sprung for the dollar a piece and just bought us each one. Hayley was in heaven that they had macaroons. And then of course she had to tell us about the last time she had a macaroon, which was at Disneyland. Later I got a note that read:

I wont too go too Disnyland.
Love, Hayley

I love that girl and the way she thinks!