santa!

This is one of my favorite traditions.  We've been taking Ava to see the Nordstrom Seattle Santa since she was a baby.  Last year Lucy....well....she wasn't a fan.  We were all a little worried, but to our pleasant surprise she did GREAT!  She sat on his lap and looked over at all of us and exclaimed "I'm not crying!"  Oh how we love that Lucy girl.

The traditional pre-Santa pictures were cut short this year because the wait was only 10 minutes!  What?!  Call me crazy....but I kind of missed the wait.  It was really strange zipping right in and getting to our turn so quickly.  But, here are a few fun "waiting" moments.
She loves her Uncle Brian.
....and oh how I love her!
Proof she did it!
These two still melt my heart.
This is GOOD bread!

seattle santa

It's that time of year again...Santa!  Ever since Ava was a baby we've been going to the Nordstrom Santa in downtown Seattle.  We've had our moments in which we question our sanity for making this trek.  The longest wait we endured (and by we I really mean Brian because he stood outside in the freezing cold) was around four hours.  One year I completely lost my mind and we went during a huge ice/snow storm.  There were mounds of ice on the very narrow, car lined, hilly streets of Seattle.  Nuts.

This year was completely different.  We had prepared for the now normal hour wait, however, when we arrived there was...wait for it...ONE family ahead of us.  What?!  Honestly, we didn't know what to do with ourselves.  Don't worry, Lucy provided the missing excitement.

There's usually some really great photos of the kids waiting in line, but this time...
There were, however, a few sweet moments while we waited our turn.
The kiddos were able to see Santa, but had slightly different experiences with the jolly fella.
After seeing Santa we head over to Pacific Place for some dinner! Wait...it's only 4 pm. We didn't really know what to do with ourselves not having the long wait for Santa. Why not do a little shopping? And twirling.
Nutcrackers!
...and this one, well, just because. Good work Lucy.
As promised, the video below provides all the excitement courtesy of Lucy's opinion of Santa.  My favorite part is Ava and Noah just looking at her, and then smiling for the camera as if the hysterical toddler wasn't even there.  Not to worry, Mama/Daddy, Uncle Brian, bubbles, a rocking horse, and puppy puppet helped her recover.  It should be said this Santa was so calm and kind.  At the end of video he turns ever so slightly and says her name...nope.  She was outta there!

the hills are alive in seattle

My in-laws blessed us with a wonderful gift to kick off this holiday season...tickets to the Sound of Music!  This is one of my favorite stories, and movie, ever.  Annette asked me if we would be interested in going to the musical...uh....yes please!

The musical was fantastic.  We were able to follow the story and enjoy a few added songs along with the classics we already knew (...and had a really hard time not singing along to).  Wonderful experience, thank you Gramma and Grampa Coury!

chitty chitty bang bang

As a homeschooling mom I *try* to expose my kids to different experiences.  My hope is they will be good memories, and maybe teach them a few things in the process.  One of the tools I use to incorporate more fine arts (not my area of expertise) are plays put on by the Seattle Children's Theater.  The one we saw today was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.  Neither of the kids have seen the movie, nor do they know the story.  The play was really well done!  I think they liked it...they've been singing the song all day long.
As a treat we went out lunch after the play. Extra special treat...dessert...at lunch! I think they liked it.

santa & seattle

I love our tradition of seeing the Nordstrom Santa.  We even went early this year and only had a 45 minute wait!  Both Katie and Isaac work downtown and were able to join us for the pictures.

Waiting is always the hardest part...
Ava's hair is getting long!
Santa at last!

Pioneer Place snowing! I love that Noah turned the wand into a sword and found a random child to engage.

seattle & gingerbread houses

It has become part of our tradition to see the gingerbread houses as the Sheraton downtown.  Pretty much I'll think of any reason to go downtown during Christmas time.  There's just something about it that I love.  This year we waited for Nana to come with us!

This year it took a looooong time in line to see the gingerbread houses. We just went at the wrong time I guess. The kids were pretty good about it but by the end I think they were tempted to take a bite of one. It's just hard to wait when you are 4 & 6 years old!
Getting a little loopy now...
FINALLY! These were my favorites.  I love the Narnia one, the wardrobe door made of graham crackers!
Trying to capture the moment on these really pretty marble stairs. Yeah. It doesn't always work out but it did capture exactly how they were feeling at this point!
It wouldn't be the same without riding the Christmas carousel! I wonder, at what age will they stop thinking this is awesome?