Here Comes Santa Claus...Right Down the Santa Train

Christmas Eve seems as good a time as any to finally post about our trip on the Santa Train.  The Santa Train is a local train that you ride on and there is someone singing carols and then Santa comes to visit.  It's fun for the kids and kind of makes an even out of seeing Santa.  

The first half of the trip we had a man singing carols and playing the guitar and another man playing the saxophone.  The Santa comes onto your train car and everyone takes a turn to go down and see him.  Santa was so nice and friendly.  He gave the boys a train whistle.  Parker asked for a flashlight for himself and a flashlight for Cooper. (He's been pretty consistent all season that all he wants is a flashlight, Santa has a pretty easy job this year.)

Just Sledding Around

Can you even believe that we are only a few days away from Christmas?  I can't!  I'm actually pretty much ready this year.  That's the benefit to not working, extra time to shop and wrap presents means that I'm not running around like a crazy person this week.

The last Sunday before Christmas is our local Santa Clause Parade.  I live in a very small town, and so the parade is more just a tradition that we take part in than it is exciting.  Most of our family has floats so it's usually just fun to see them.  This year though I thought that the parade was awesome!  Everyone did a great job on their floats and there were a bunch of horses in the parade as well.  

We got Parker's new sled out for the first time as there was a light dusting of snow and I figured he would be able to see better from the sled than from the stroller.  He absolutely loved it and had the biggest grin on his face while he was being pulled around.

His snow suit is a bit too big and makes him look much bigger than he is!  At least I know he won't outgrow it this winter...  It looks like he has the smallest head on a big body!

 The parade always means that Christmas is just around the corner! Today Parker is with Grams making mommy something for Christmas.  I'm trying to clean up from yesterday and get the last things ready for Christmas while I have the house to myself.  And of course blog while Parker isn't crawling around getting into everything!

  

A Whole Lotta Santa

We had quite the busy weekend over here!  It all started on Saturday with the Santa Clause Parade.  I don't typically go to the Fergus Santa Clause parade, but we missed Elora this year and our good friends were going, so I figured it was a great opportunity for a baby meet up.

 

The parade was fun and it was awesome to spend some time with a friend for me and a friend for Parker.  Ok let's be honest, Parker was more into his mum mum than the parade.

In the past, Parker hasn't really been able to defend himself against Declan who is definitely large and in charge!  These two babies are on opposite ends of the spectrum.  Declan is very big for his age and Parker is clearly very tiny for his age.  But he is finally at a point where I don't feel like he's completely breakable and so there was a bit more interaction between them.  Declan did try to pick Parker up a few times though, which I found hilarious.  He's only 17 months old and he could get my 10 month old off the ground! (Don't worry, we shut that one down quickly.)

Then we sat Parker in a dump truck that shouldn't have fit him and Declan promptly dumped him out of it.  Oh I love these babies.

Saturday night was Ryan's work Christmas party which is always a good time.  The food was amazing and it was so nice to have a night out.  Parker hung out with my sister and went grocery shopping and had a bath.  So everyone had a great night!

Sunday was another busy day.  But the highlight was the Santa train.  The santa train is a train that kids go on to meet Santa, instead of going to the mall.  There were two cars, so while Santa was on the first car, we got hot chocolate, cookies and there were a couple singers who went through and sang Christmas carols.  It was a lot of fun and Parker loved looking out the window.

Then it was time for Santa!  Of course Parker doesn't really know what's going on yet, but it's always fun to take a Santa picture anyways.  He seemed pretty unsure of him and seemed to like the elf and Mrs. Clause better, but he didn't cry.  

I just love weekends in December!  They are busy and crazy and you have no time to just sit down and relax but I wouldn't want it any other way.

Here Comes Santa to American Thanksgiving

There is something wrong when the Santa Clause parade is before Thanksgiving.  We were trying to figure out this whole American Thanksgiving thing on the weekend and why it was so late.  I'm not in a Thanksgiving mood, I'm in a Christmas mood!  But that doesn't meant that I will turn down a turkey.

So first things first, we went to the parade on Saturday night.  A bit more snow would have been nice, but it wasn't too cold, so I can't complain.  And Santa was looking good, like usual.

Then, as my sister's boyfriend goes to school in that silly country and was home this week, my mom decided to have a Thanksgiving dinner for him on Sunday.  

We look like a normal family from the outside, if only you could hear our dinner conversations.

And then this happened.  My brother currently is working for the Ottawa Senators hockey team, and he told us that he was standing down by the Zamboni doors.  So my family was sure that they saw him on the TV and spent approximately 5 minutes pausing and rewinding and looking for him.

Then he told us he wasn't down there anymore.

What can I say, my family is cool.

Happy Thankstmas.  (Ya I just created a new holiday).