Best Day Ever

After we visited Santa, we went downtown for some fun.  The kids got to see the huge Christmas Tree in River Park Square...they were pretty amazed.

We ate lunch and then went to the movie "Frozen".  Then it was ice cream time.

We walked around to see all the Christmas sights.  There was even a large train in the middle of the mall.  Very Cool!

Here is the tree seen as we were coming down from the escalator...isn't it amazing!  I asked the kids if they had any fun today and Emma replied "This was the best day ever!"  I have to agree :-)

Santa

The tradition continues...ho, ho, ho!

Santa Cruise

We ended the busy weekend in Coeur d'Alene for the Santa Cruise.  It was icy cold outside so we stayed inside majority of the cruise. 

The kids got hot chocolate!  YUMMY!

There was a very nice elf too.  Here she is with Aubrey, Olivia and Emma.

Marcus loves hot chocolate.

Kaydin and Ryan were there too.  They brought a friend, Kylie, since Cruz is still sick.

Marcus hung out with Hunter for a bit.

Then we got to Santa...he read off the names from the good list.

And everyone made it again this year!  They even read Cruz's name!

Here is one of the fabulous light exhibits on the lake!  Amazing!

Ho, Ho, Ho...

Quick family photo back at the resort...the whole park is lit up...so pretty!

We did valet parking this year and found out it was free since we had tickets to the cruise...we'll remember that for next year!  Here we are waiting for our car.

Then we headed to Paul Bunyon for burgers for dinner.

Trimming the Tree

We continued the busy weekend with tree trimming.  This year the kids really did all the work.  Marcus loved seeing all the ornaments.

Olivia loved hearing the history of each one.

Emma was careful not to break any glass ones.

Even Mommy got into the action...someone needed to fill the top of the tree.

The finished tree!  Fabulous!

Merry Christmas!

Bowling Birthday

We celebrated Marcus' 6th birthday with friends and family on
Saturday.  The theme was Avengers.  I made the cake; Nana's oven is broken :-(  It wasn't what I planned...but it worked and Marcus loved it!

Look at that sweet smile...6 years old!

We had the party at the bowling alley this year.  We invited a few friends from school.  Here are Lexie and Bree with Olivia and Emma.

Marcus was quite the bowler...so excited!

He was pretty serious about it too.

Makayla and Bella were also there.

Emma was in the lead on the girls lane.  Dustin is beside her...we had 4 lanes total and all the Dads bowled on the 4th lane.  It was a blast.

Kaydin was there too; her brother Cruz was sick and couldn't come.

Emma was pretty good.

The boys' lane had a broken bumper so they tried everything to keep the ball out of the gutters...including bowling from their belly.

Olivia was trailing behind Emma but ended up coming back and beating her!

Hey there Birthday boy!

Nana and Papa were there too.

Jordan stopped by for a bit too.

Cake time!  Happy Birthday to you!

Presents!  Cruz hand picked this sword and shield...perfect!

Marcus got tons of great gifts.  Thank you everyone!

This was the crew!  It was a great party...loads of fun!  Bowling is awesome!

Christmas Tree

We started off our weekend by getting our Christmas tree...isn't it pretty?

Christmas Concert

The kids had their Christmas Concert this morning.  It started out with the Kindergartners.  Marcus was on one of the risers right in front of the microphone so it was hard to get photos...he saw me with my camera though and was sure to give me a nice smile.

Marcus did so great...he sang every song and did all the actions...I just love watching the kindergartners.

The first graders went next and then second grade.  It's fun to see how different they are from grade to grade...they sure do grow up fast.  Olivia spotted me and my camera too and was sure to give me a grin.

This is Olivia and Lexie

I even got a grin from Emma...I've got these kids well trained.

The second graders did a beautiful job.  So fun!

Then it was an all class sing along.  I got lucky and had a straight on view of Marcus for this.  I got some good video too. 

So cute!  Marcus used to be my date to these concerts...it was strange to be there alone and watch him actually be part of the show.  Strange but fun :-)

After the show I went to the hallway.  Emma thought I left so when I saw her again she was in tears.  Poor thing.  Olivia was comforting her though which made me proud.  We went and found Marcus for a group photo.  Then they had to go back to class and I had to get to work.

But not before one more picture with Lexie.  Great job on the Christmas Concert kids!  It was amazing!