December 2013

December was an action-packed month!

Early in the month, we were excited when our magical elf named Ollie returned for a visit from the North Pole. He is a very silly elf, and Landon enjoyed running downstairs each morning to see what kind of mischief Ollie had gotten into during the night.   

Here is Ollie and the letter that Santa wrote to Landon.

Ollie's arrival!

Landon received a note in his advent calendar from Santa that there was a special surprise waiting for him on the front porch.

Landon was happy to see Ollie.

Here are a few of my favorite Ollie adventures...

This particular morning (December 16th), Ollie "told" Landon that we were heading to Disneyland for the day. I'm pretty sure Landon broke out in a happy dance. :-)

Ollie munching on some snacks while watching football.

A snowball fight between Ollie and Captain Hook. Landon thought this was hilarious! Landon, Mike and I joined in the snowball fight and we ended up with marshmallows all over the family room.

Ollie swinging over our kitchen table.

Ollie joined in the Rainbow Loom craziness that is going around. He spent all night making bracelets for himself and Landon.

Landon was SO happy!

Oh, and by the way, one of our most interesting Ollie adventures (not posted with a picture) was when Ollie was strung to the ceiling fan with a necklace of lighted Christmas lights and spinning around for Landon to see when he came down the stairs. (Someone...eh hem, not me...is very creative.) When Mike turned the switch off, Landon ran over and turned the switch on (full speed) and poor Ollie went flying across the room. Seriously, it was pretty funny! We brushed Ollie off and gave him a kiss to apologize. ;-)

On December 9th, while Mike was at work, Landon and I went to Tanaka Farms to check out their Christmas trees. We saw small trees, tall trees, flocked trees, sheep and goats.

We also got to jump in a sleigh and eat fresh strawberries from the produce stand.

On December 15th, we visited Irvine Park Railroad to take a night ride through the park to meet Santa at the North Pole. 

After the train ride, we grabbed a bite to eat and walked around Santa's Village.

"Story Time with Mrs. Claus" was a big hit. She read How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Landon had already heard the story at preschool, so whenever Mrs. Claus would ask a question (i.e. "And do you know what happened next?"), Landon would smile and nod his head up and down...too cute.

"Christmas Cookie Decorating" was also a hit! Landon (and Daddy) had so much fun decorating cookies...

and eating them. Mmmm!

Christmas was extra special this year with Landon attending preschool. They made fun crafts, invited parents to come and read a story/do a craft with the class (Mike went in and read The Night Before Christmas), and had a holiday concert. For the concert, each class rotated through and sang one song. Landon's class sang, "Jingle Bells."

Fun fact about Landon: he sang Christmas songs all day, every day during the month of December. In fact, he continues to sing Christmas songs every once in a while. 

Landon has talked about my reindeer cookies since last year, so I decided to make them again this year. When I was making them, I gave Landon a "nose." He is too smart...he said, "Mommy, can I have one with ALL of the ingredients?" 

Christmas morning!

Santa got an A+ with this gift. Landon has spent many hours playing with his Radiator Springs Race Track Set and Table. 

Landon's stocking with Pete the Cat sticking out. Pete the Cat is a character in a series of books that Landon enjoys reading.

Landon checking out Daddy's gift from Gaga. Yep, I'm pretty sure this gift will be making an appearance at Landon's next birthday party.

Love!

 On December 30th, we visited the Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana for some hands-on science fun!

 While at the science center, we saw the Science of Ripley's Believe It or Not! exhibit. Here I am measuring up to Robert Wadlow, the world's tallest man (8 feet, 11 inches tall)...

 and here is Landon crawling through a life-size model of a prehistoric snake.

 We also got to ring in the new year with a "Happy Noon Year's Eve" party complete with hats, horns, balloon drop, ginger ale toast, music and dancing.

Anxiously awaiting the balloon drop.

Woohoo...fun for both the kids and adults!

 On January 2nd, we took Landon to Knott's Berry Farm (which was transformed into "Knott's Merry Farm") for the first time. We mainly stayed in Camp Snoopy, but we made sure to visit Ghost Town and ride the Calico Mine ride and Engine 41 on the Calico Railroad. Our little guy loves trucks, cars and trains, so he was quite happy.

 The Calico railroad was my favorite! Thankfully, there wasn't a holdup by masked robbers (Landon would not have liked that). Instead, we got to meet a couple "Ghost Town residents" who asked Landon if he needed help with directions...

and led us in a sing-a-long of Jingle Bells. Such a fun time!
Phew...that was a lot of pictures! I hope you enjoyed the sneak peek of our holiday adventures.