Santa's Wonderland

For Christmas Eve Eve we decided to do something special with the girls. It took us quite awhile to figure out what to do but after a wonderful review that I received from a friend we decided to head out to College Station to go to Santa's Wonderland. If you haven't been there you should! The drive took us about an hour. We got there and since we had bought our tickets online we didn't have to wait very long. We entered and immediately there was snow falling. Of course it wasn't real but it looked pretty realistic while falling and you could see it sitting on you:

As you turned around there was a lot to take in. First I saw this:

And then I saw what I was looking for to do first:

We headed in and only had to wait for a moment to see Santa. And while for a moment Reagan was "just a little bit scared" as she explains it and Abby was again excited to see Santa but didn't want to sit with him, I was pretty impressed with the picture we got.

He was a fantastic Santa. I'd rather come back here and see him every year then go to the mall. He was very sweet and took the time to talk to Reagan and even asked her what Abby would like. Abby did manage to say "Bye Bye Santa" when we were leaving.

Next as instructed we headed over to the hayride. We didn't have to wait but a few minutes and were able to get on. It was amazing and I know that none of the pictures I'm about to post can do it justice.

There was a nativity scene in the lights as well and when we pulled away from it Abby turned around and said "Bye Bye Jesus".

After the hayride we headed out to find food. That may be my only complaint of the night was how long it took to get the food but as usual we just chose the wrong line to be in. I got the girls food first and was able to find a spot to sit down with the girls and they ate and we were able to watch parts of movies on the huge screen they had set up and listen to live music. After we finally got our food and quickly ate we headed to walk around and check things out. Since the food took so long we decided to skip the petting zoo and pony rides, and just to head back to the front to walk around and to pick up our cd of Santa pics. The girls wanted to get on the Texas stage so we did:

After that we checked out the little shops and hung out listening to the live band while the girls danced around. After one of the little girls, ahem Reagan, couldn't seem to contain herself in dancing where we asked and not in large circles around us we decided to head home.

We had a wonderful time and hope to be able to make it out again next year.

Professional Pictures

We took professional pictures with Kristine of Kristine Noel in November to use for our Christmas cards and various gifts. Kristine was very easy to work with and we were quite pleased with how they turned out. Here are all the pictures we received:

Santa 2010

We made the big trip to the mall the second weekend in December. The girls were very excited. I was actually surprised by how excited Abby was. She spots Santa everywhere and says "ho ho". Appears to love him. Even with that and taking her up to see him while we were waiting in line and she was still excited I knew it wouldn't last. With her fear of men and just a kids natural fear of Santa at a young age I was curious to see what would happen. Could it be that the girls would both sit on his lap and take a picture? Would there be smiles this year? What do you think?

Abby wouldn't even sit on his lap. Eh, maybe next year. On a happy note Reagan actually talked to him this year. She asked him for a Princess Bear (WTF?) and was very excited about talking to him.

Funny story - later that afternoon I heard Reagan freak out. I asked her what was wrong and she said that she forgot to ask Santa for Abby's present. Apparently she was going to ask Santa to bring Abby a Cheerleader Bear. I'm pretty sure Reagan has never seen either of these bears anywhere. The only thing I can think of is that was what they were both dressed as for Halloween. Needless to say this Mommy was scurrying around trying to find a couple of bears before Christmas.

School Pictures 2010-2011

I knew my kids were cute but I about died when I opened their pics from school. I had 6 different shots of Reagan to pic from and 3 different shots of Abby. I should have scanned them all in before returning them just to show everyone. I was impressed last year and am impressed again. This company, Lifetouch, really seems to take their time with the kids. So here we have them.

  Abby - 21 months

  Reagan - 3.5 years

And a surprise to us from the school: 

Hats!

Reagan has always been a fan of hats since she was little, Abby not so much. Dad's hats though are a different story. The girls love to play with them and put them on. Abby will also insist that he put a hat one when he isn't wearing one. Silly girls!

Christmas Progam 2010

This year's Christmas Program at school was cuter then ever. We also learned that arriving 15 min. prior to the program means not very good seats. Wow were we surprised. We were concerned with where to sit where we could get good pics yet hide from Abby. I was really concerned that once she saw us she woudl leave the stage but she surprised us and stayed up there and participated.

Here are the 3 year olds - They were sheep. Reagan just so happened (yeah right) to get to stand next to her best friend at school, Ellie. Their Reindeer Hokey Pokey was adorable!

Next came the babies which is their 18mos-2 year old classes. They were mice. I have to say that this 1st pic cracks me up due to Abby's size. This little boy, Conner, is a few weeks older then she is and completely dwarfs her in size. Actually, everyone does. She's not the youngest but is the smallest at school.

And then all the classes joined together for a couple of songs as well: