Pacific Science Center

The day after Christmas we let the fun (and Mat's week off of fun) continue by going to the Pacific Science Center. We got to with a lot of our friends and so it was extra fun!

Olivia's favorite part was the butterfly house. She really wanted one to land on her, so I tried to dress her in the most butterfly-friendly outfit possible. I think it would have worked, but then anytime one came near her she would try to shoo it away...so no butterflies on Olivia...

But this guy...he's another story.
Of all the places a butterfly should land, it should be as far away from him as possible. We caught him at one point with his shoe in one hand about to hit one...but luckily for this little butterfly, Hudson didn't know he was there, so after about 30 seconds, he flew away with his life.

We spent a lot of time in the "tots" area (Hudson and I spent a long time in this very car).

I love this picture of him, always moving and happy...

Christmas Morning!

The "Before"

You can all feel like you were there with us Christmas morning (so Mom, this is for you...). And please note Hudson's pronunciation of "Basketball" and his skills, we already need to raise the rim!




I told Olivia to give me a fake smile, this is what she came up with (and the toys which she is taking back, she said she'd rather have Sleeping Beauty and Phillip than Beauty and Beast...)
Hudson loved his sunglasses...and the cars and candy!


Olivia's last Christmas present and the funniest scavenger hunt...ever!!! You can fast forward to the last minute for the best part, although as her mom, I love all of it.

Christmas Eve!

We celebrated Christmas Eve in Seattle with some of the McInelly family. We went to the Seattle Center House to watch (and drive) the giant train...

Then we watched the Matt Baker Comedy Stunt show which was surprisingly good and even better free. And probably the best part is when Mat got called up front to perform...Mat always seems to get called on, and he HATES it...so it makes it that much more hilarious.
We reserved the entire front row...


After the show, we went ice skating which Olivia loved. I was a little nervous that she wouldn't do it (she's a nervous child), but she went for it and after a shaky first round around the ice, she could do it all on her own (with the little walker thing of course).
Here she is slipping around after her first few times...


She got the hang of it...
Here's our little deer learning to walk on her own...




And so maybe this was Mat's first time ice skating, impressive, I know...


All the kids doing their best to melt the ice sculpture...


After watching/taking pictures for a little while, Hudson and I ventured out the Seattle Center Fountain. It looks like this...

He loved looking at it...which is why he's smiling like this...

Afterwards, we headed home for some AMAZING ribs that Mat had been cooking all day, seriously, best ribs I have ever eaten (we were really hungry, so that probably helped). And then the kids opened their Christmas pajamas, which I was super excited for!

Microsoft Christmas Party

While we were in California, Mat went to the Microsoft XBOX Christmas Party. Cee Lo Green was there to perform!!
You know Cee Lo, he want to "Forget You"...he's a little Atari, and my dear Mathew, he's all XBOX!

Pre-Christmas Festivities

Why we waited until the last Friday before Christmas for our Pre-Christmas festivities is still a mystery...note to self...go the first Monday of December...

But we had fun nonetheless along with the thousands of eastsiders (and possibly most of Western WA) that were in Bellevue tonight!

We started at the Garden d'Lights that was as fancy as it's name. They had millions of lights formed into flowers, animals, plants, rivers, waterfalls, and Mat's favorite part...a smoke blowing dragon (which will not be pictured...it's real blurry...)

Speaking of blurry...here's our blurry family...

Spider (and fly) in web...
Then we tried our luck at the mass hysteria that was Snowflake Lane...

Olivia's favorite part were the pretty girls dressed up as purple fairies...
And snow princesses...
Hudson loved the candy...forget about Rudolph, look at my sucker!
He loved it!

This is the happiest I've ever seen him in a picture, thanks to that sucker (which finally wasn't in the forefront of a picture).

Don't you wish we were your neighbor...

We took our neighbor gifts out last night. The kids would walk up to the door and knock (probably about three more times than necessary) and shout Merry Christmas as soon as someone opened. They were adorable. We passed out chocolate cookie dough with candy cane kisses (so you could make your treat whenever you desired (in case you just ate a whole plate of fudge, you could have warm cookies at a later date). I thought it was a great idea, and thanks to Camille, it was adorable!!

Nutcracker

We went to the Nutcracker with the H family girls and Rocky. It was a great time (11:30), it was only an hour long, and there were a bunch of other kids so it didn't matter as much that Olivia didn't stop talking the entire time (mainly asking questions).

The girls were excited...


The boys...not so much.
Look at our little color-coordinated outfits, I know, we're adorable!

And this is how Hudson made it through the Nutcracker, one sucker at a time.

California Pre-Christmas cont.

After we got the great surprises out of the way (I LOVE surprises!!!), we went to lunch, and then Amberly with her kids came over! Amberly, my oldest sister, is in the process of adopting three kids (all siblings, and 2 and under!!) Yeah, she's a saint. They are beautiful kids and while we were there, they were able to move one step closer to adoption (the parental rights of the parents were terminated, so their adoption date is November 2012). Since we can't show their faces until they are officially adopted, you'll just have to believe me when I tell you how adorable they are.

We went to a magical Christmas forest.

We spent lots of time with their new cousins....

One of the little boys is just Hudson's age. They loved playing together and getting into mischief. We may or may not have found them hitting my grandma's car with PVC pipe. If G-Mil is reading this, it's a may not.

We also got to celebrate pre-Christmas with Grandma Cyndi and Papa!!
Olivia...so many choices!!!
Hudson opening his present on "Pre-Christmas" morning.



And so maybe we like to dress alike. Nearly 8 years apart and we can still be best friends. (We missed you Katelyn!!)

The kids did great on the plane. They spent lots of time talking with the flight attendants. Hudson knows the drill. When he sees one walk by, he holds up his sippy cup and says, "apple juice". Olivia even earned her wings, which she insists on keeping on her pajamas.

California Pre-Christmas

About three weeks ago I found really cheap tickets for Alaska Airlines to fly down to Fresno. I quickly swooped up two tickets (since I'm dreading the day in March when my sweet baby will have to have his own seat...since he'll probably still be sitting in my lap...). So the kids and I left, telling only my older sister (who lives down there) and my dad (our ride home from the airport). We went straight to my mom's work...





And then went to visit Makenda.(I know, she's the cutest thing you've ever seen in a hair net!!!)


And this was just hour one...

Olivia's Dance Recital

Since we took a trip to California last week, we missed Olivia's last dance class where she would do her "recital". (For this "recital", it was in the classroom, no costumes, and only one song so I didn't feel too guilty missing it. And she's signed up for a ballet/tap class that starts in a few weeks, so there is another recital in our new future). And we think she's adorable.

Family Pictures

We recently took family pictures. I honestly dread family pictures, mainly because of Hudson...he doesn't like staying in one place and is so hard to take a picture of...

So most of our pictures look like this...



This says Christmas Card to me...

What about a cute, look at us in the distance...

Until he finds out you're still taking pictures of him...

And this...Olivia is thinking, "amateurs".

And then we have Olivia. I'm pretty sure she's not normal, I LOVE her and her posing.



Here is Hudson's best individual...
And imagine our surprise when we discovered that these cute girls were all color coordinated...I know, this pictures deserves a large frame...


What a cute family!!


Later that night (after being showered with gifts by the H's)...we went to live nativity/Christmas celebration at Cascade Park.

Luckily, Santa was there. Now we don't have to go to the mall!!

And a nativity, including a gigantic Rock as Baby Jesus. Thanks for inviting us 'H' family!

We were so excited to come home that night! Mat had put up our Christmas lights and I had decorated the tree, and we couldn't wait to see them lit up at night!!!