A Santa Weekend

A few weeks before Christmas, we had a Santa filled weekend. It started out with a Breakfast with Santa at Avery's school. We had a nice breakfast, then, we got to sit with Santa for a bit. There was even a store set up where Avery was able to get her shopping done for all of us.

Avery & Sierra posing with Avery's school mascot, The Lake Street Lion

 Enjoying a yummy breakfast

 

 Avery wishing for her two front teeth for Christmas!

 

 

 

After we left Avery's school, we drove to Rhode Island to catch the Polar Express train ride.  First, we checked into our hotel near the train station and got in a little pool time. Then, the girls put on their pajamas for the train ride. Once everyone was on board, we got to hear the story of The Polar Express while we ate chocolate chip cookies and drank hot chocolate. We made our way up to The North Pole which was all lit up. And then, Santa and Mrs. Claus got on the train with us and visited with all of the kids. Santa gave each kid a bell from his sleigh! Then, we sang christmas caroles with some of Santa's elves on the way back. It was so much fun!



 Avery & Sierra taking a dip in the pool

 

 Waiting for the train to arrive

 

 Sierra & Mommy on board

 

 And Daddy & Avery too!

 

Sierra & Avery sitting with Santa!

Our Visit with Nana and Grandpa

For the second half of November and the first few days of December, Nana and Grandpa were here visiting to celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas, and have  lots of fun!  Here are some pictures of all the fun stuff that kept us so busy.

 

 Grandpa wanted to go to nearby Brookfield Orchard. Obviously, we didn't pick apples , but we had fun strolling through the gift shop and playing on the playground. Here's Sierra & Grandpa having fun on the seesaw!

 

 Avery & Sierra started their gymnastics classes and they both LOVE it!! . Here's Sierra getting ready to do a bridge.

 

 

Avery on the uneven bars

 

 

Enjoying our Thanksgiving Feast!

 The day after Thanksgiving we went to The Big Balloon Parade in Springfield, MA. It was similar to the Macy's Parade on a much, much smaller scale. It was perfect for the Girls and we all loved it!

 The Cat in the Hat Balloon

 

 One of the many clowns

 

 The Shriners were on Go-Carts driving over their van. It was very cool!

 

And,of course, Santa on a fire truck!

 



 

Then, we shifted to gears to Christmas. Nana & Grandpa helped us put up our tree and all of our decorations! 



 Saturday morning, we woke up to presents under the tree from Nana and Grandpa

 

 Avery showing off some Legos

 

 Sierra with a new scooter for Kit.

 

 Posing with Nana & Grandpa after opening all of our presents.

 

 Nana and the girls making an awesome Gingerbread house!

 

 Posing with the finished product

 

 And here's a close-up!

 

 Grandpa and the girls did a great job on our Christmas Village.

 

 One of our gifts for Nana & Grandpa was tickets to see The Nutcracker. Here's the girls & Nana getting ready to go to the show.

 

 And here we are at the theater. The girls loved the show!

 

 We also went to see Santa at the mall. Here are the girls on the train and, below, posing in Santa's village.

 

 Avery's school had a Family Luncheon so Nana, Grandpa, Sierra , and I got to have lunch with Avery at school. We had a nice spaghetti lunch and it was so fun seeing Avery at school with her friends and on her playground.

 Here she is doing her favorite thing at recess...the monkey bars.

 

 And Sierra fit right in out on the playground!

 

Thanksgiving in State College

The weekend before Thanksgiving, we took our traditional trip to State College to celebrate with Gramma's side of the family. It was a beautiful weekend and, as always, we had a lot of fun, a lot of good food, and lots and lots of laughs. The girls always look forward to seeing their cousins and, of course, Edna (Aunt Sara's dog). So we all had a great time!

 

The kids got a football game going. Ben chose the teams: They were Liam, Elizabeth, Avery , Sierra, & Austin vs. Ben (seemed a little unfair, at first)

But then Sierra, Liam, & Austin dropped out and it was down to Elizabeth & Avery

 



It was a good effort by the girls, but here's Ben doing his victory dance.

 



Time to eat! Here's the kids table

 



Sierra & Avery with Gramma & Grampa

 



The Saylor Family

 



Avery & Sierra and Edna



Avery's Veteran's Day Program

Last month, Avery's school put on a Veteran's Day program. They invited several veterans from the area to the school and they had put together a whole program of songs , poems and a video tribute. It was such a nice program, although it was a little crowded so I didn't get a great view of Avery. But the highlight for her was that all of the kids that are involved in Girls Scouts and Boy Scouts were asked to go up on stage to lead everyone in saying the Pledge of Allegiance. She was so excited!

 

All of the kids Waving their American Flags

 

The Pledge of Allegiance (Avery is in the back row in the middle)

Our 2012 Family Pictures

Back in October we got our family pictures taken as we do every year. It was very difficult to choose because all of the pictures came out so great, but here are some of my favorites.