max's christmas list

max has prepared his christmas list for santa.  we need to get it in the mail to the north pole soon.  and finn's letter too.  i have a feeling santa may respond to their letters this year.  we will see....

sunday evening, 8:20pm and we are beat.  what a great holiday weekend.  thursday was filled with fun at the uffelmans.  friday was a work around the house and yard day which felt productive.  on saturday we visited with the morelands for their traditional saturday after thanksgiving beach day/evening at the most amazing beach where the kids play for hours and hours.  and today we went up into the santa cruz mountains to cut down our christmas tree.  the boys had fun running around and looking for "the" tree.  max got to pick out the tree.  brent cleaned the gutters (while smiling..) in preparation for the hanging of the lights on the house.  max and i decorated the tree and saved a few items for finn to hang when he woke up from his nap.  we finished off the last bit of thanksgiving left overs and are now chilling on the couch while the boys are trying to go to sleep.  a lot accomplished in a few days and lots of great memories collected.

thanksgiving

we had such a great afternoon/evening with the uffelmans yesterday.  the dinner, the wine, the setting, the company - everything was just great.  so thankful for our friendship and the friendship our kids have with one another.  brent and brian had a chance to catch up over a cocktail or two (or 14).  we are all tired today but it was so fun and so worth it.  looking forward to next year already!

today has been a quiet day with time spent at home with the exception of my outing to starbucks this morning and brent's errand to lowe's.  the amazing weather continued and we spent time in the backyard doing yard work and playing.  we are so thankful - for our wonderful family, our dear friends, for being healthy and happy.  blessings to all and happy thanksgiving!  

brian's thanksgiving creation

the best hostess and host

kid's table

great day

what a wonderful sunday.  brent brought me my coffee.  he and max joined friends and went fishing.  although finn and i missed them, i knew max would love the experience to go fishing in the ocean for the first time.  i was right.  they caught fish and octopus and saw seals and had so much fun.  very cool.  finn and i swept the driveway (because he wanted to) and spent time at the park where he played baseball and climbed on the monkey bars.  we talked and had lunch and played at home.  i had time to go through tons of paperwork while he napped which felt productive.  when brent and max got home, we hung out and brent cooked the best chicken - ever.  all three boys got to bed early and i am now having some time for myself, watching the american music awards.  it has been a great day.  

first tooth lost!

max lost his first tooth today!  i actually don't even think it was loose but the lollypop daddy brought home from dallas last night helped it along...  the tooth is now waiting in the pocket of the tooth fairy pillow (that i thankfully bought on amazon recently).  i hope the tooth fairy comes through and brings him something great.

disneyland

we did it.  we visited the happiest place on earth.  disneyland, that is.  we drove down and spent two full days at disney - one day at disneyland and the second at california adventures.  the boys didn't know where we were going and were pleasantly surprised when we arrived!

max's favorite experiences from the trip:

space mountain ride

star tours ride

the race car ride at cars land

tractor ride at cars land

it's a small world ride

watching disney movies in the lobby of the hotel

building a race car at "ridemakerz"

buying mickey mouse ears

finn's favorite memories:

meeting mickey mouse

spending time at toontown where mickey lives

the race car ride at cars land

star tours ride

it's a small world ride

building his mater fire truck at "ridemakerz"

buying mickey mouse ears

linda's favorites:

drinking champagne in the hotel lobby while the boys were watching disney movies on the tv nearby

riding the cars ride at cars land

people watching

seeing the boys so excited about being there!

brent's favorites:

dinner at the truck stop on the way to anaheim (he must be joking - it was nothing short of horrific)

having a cocktail in the lobby of the fabulous hotel in front of the fire place

riding the space mountain and cars rides with max

we had a great trip and a really nice time.  the hotel was only a few steps away from the parks and so very nice.  brent and i agree that two days was just right.  finn said the other day that he is going to live with mickey mouse in mickey's house and they are going to eat treats all day..candy and ice-cream and cake.   

i know that halloween just passed and we haven't even gotten to thanksgiving, but max and finn are ready for christmas.  this evening, they are writing/drawing letters to santa.  while drawing, finn says:

"i am making this for santa.  he is going to be so happy, sa glad (swedish for so happy). he is going to bring us presents and apples and m&m's and cookies and cake and ice-cream.  and we are going to eat it all.  and for max too."

sounds good to me!