Zoo Lights

Last night we went to zoo lights.  We got there before the official opening time (even though the gates are already open).  We made the mistake of going Saturday evening right at the opening time, and the parking lot was already full, so we passed.

It seemed there were less people there on a Sunday anyway, so it worked out well!  The train is out of service this season as they build the tracks around a new elephant exhibit.  They still lit the train with Christmas lights!  It wasn't all the way dark when we got there, but you could still see the lights pretty well.

The ladybug girls!  They also encountered a random cow...
















We made sure to fit in seeing some of the animals while we were there!  Mainly the indoor ones - the primates, the penguins and the elephants.  Baby Lily is now 1 year old, and weighs over 1,100 pounds!












The main lion exhibit was not open at night, but the cold statues are always available!

Zoo Lights is always SO colorful and fun (and cold)!

Bye bye gift shop bear!















Oh!  Then something memorable happened at the end of the night.  Emma was chewing on a candy cane, and lost her second tooth (the other bottom tooth)!  Papa had her spit out all of the pieces of candy cane into a napkin where we located her tooth.  Daddy joked that she might need to fill out a Lost Tooth claim form if we didn't find it!  She was very relieved that it was finally out, that sucker had been loose for two months!
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Scooter girl

Emma got a scooter from Papa and Grammy for Christmas.  She wanted one that had handlebars that turn, like the neighbor kids!  This one lights up when you ride it, and has a pedal on the back that you can step on and make actual sparks!  She was s-o excited to take it outside at night!  Quite a sight to see.

Emma went to the skate park a couple of times this weekend to try it out on the ramps.  Naturally, Ted got a turn riding!

We call this part of the skate park the bathtub.  It really was the best place for her to ride in today, since there were many bigger and faster skaters/bicyclists riding in the rest of the place!

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I think is from the previous time when she brought her skateboard to the skate park!
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Roller skating

Today we went roller skating.  Just us gals put on skates this time - Miranda, Emma and myself. 

Emma's favorite part of the rink are the whoop-de-do hills.  She practiced a bit in the space with bars to hold on to first, then we moved to the hills!

Like I said, she loves this section of the rink!  It's usually slower paced than the oval rink.

I took a whopper of a fall on my rear while on these little bumps.  I basically didn't have enough speed to go up one!  I was done in after that, but Emma kept on skating by herself :)
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Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas out there!  We have had a fun and relaxing day together.  We all slept until our normal "get-up" time, so that was a good start to the morning :)

When we came downstairs, it looked like Santa had taken target practice at the tree with a bow and arrows!















The first thing we do is go through our stockings.  There are plenty of goodies tucked in that sock!












Santa brought Ted a closet for the clothes that Emma gets him!  I don't know who was more excited between Emma and Ted.











This is the "I can't believe Santa brought me what I asked for!" look :)

The best part about getting toys is playing with them, of course!!











That's pretty much how the rest of the day went :)  MERRY CHRISTMAS!

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Christmas Eve

'Twas the night before Christmas, and all was cozy in the house!

We decided that Emma could open one gift tonight, so Zoe got one too!

The last thing we did before bed was get ready for Santa to come!

...and to all, a good night!
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Ninjabread

We came across the cutest gingerbread boy cookie cutters, and they were called Ninjabread!  Emma couldn't wait to make these cookies, then ice them, then eat them...!

The icing that came in the kit was quite runny, and had I thought about it more I would have added more powdered sugar.  However, that didn't matter to Emma.  She had fun decorating and eating these little kickers!

Santa visit

Today we saw our favorite Santa at the mall.  I normally like to go in the beginning of December, but our wait time today was less than 1 minute!  You can't really beat that. 

Emma told Santa what she wanted, and he told her he has over 200 elves working for him!  Hopefully they can get all those presents finished in time for next week...  Santa was also excited to see Ted dressed in his own Santa bear suit!  At the end, Emma got a couple of activity books, candy canes and a reindeer hat!

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Climb Every Mountain

Today we went to a nearby gym that has an awesome indoor climbing wall area.  Ed used to go here with his rock climbing buddy to practice.  Yesterday, Emma saw a picture of a friend's son climbing here, and her interest in climbing rose again.  (She wanted to learn about a year ago, but only tried once.)  They have one hour sessions for kids where they provide equipment and instruction.  This was her first wall, and she quickly scurried up it!  Coming down was another lesson that she needed to learn.

There were four kids in the class, so when the other kids are climbing you can practice on the surrounding walls.  This was fun too!















I was admiring all the cool handholds that are animals, letters, and even a Star Wars phrase!









Ted came along, and naturally he wanted a turn learning how to climb!  Then he got all tangled up in the ropes.  Oh Ted!

Wall number two:

Emma was a happy climber!  She did a great job today.

Tree lights

We got a little distracted when decorating the Christmas tree!

This is the first year that we've had LED lights on the tree.  I really, really like the disco circles that the lights cast on the wall and floor!

End of basketball season

Today was Emma's last basketball game of the season.  The Purple Shooters had a great game, and at the end they each got a trophy.  All of the kids were SO excited to get a trophy with their names and the team name on it!  Score :)  I did not get a photo of her kissing the trophy, however...

 

Playing a team sport was a really good experience for Emma!

 

Tree lighting

Tonight we truly braved the cold temperatures and wind (26 with a wind chill making it feel like 14!) to attend the annual tree lighting.  We debated missing it, but it's a Christmas tradition that we really enjoy!  Brr!















Santa arrived in normal style in the firetruck, and then asked the mayor if he'd been naughty or nice.  (This year we were thinking "Hurry up and light the tree"!)

This year they did something new which made us glad that we went.  Santa got in the ladder bucket and they lifted him up towards the top of the tree to light the star.  He didn't actually go all the way to the star, but it was symbolic and a cool idea!

 

At the after party we ran into one of Emma's classmates, and they had a fun time goofing around while watching the Sugar Plum Elves do their Christmas song medley!  The hot chocolate never tasted so good after being outside for over half an hour :)