Thanksgiving and Santa

We had a great Thanksgiving and have much to be thankful for this holiday season. We stayed in town and had both lunch and dinner at my aunt Nancy's house. The kids ran around all day playing with their cousins and extended family, we ate a lot of delicious food including kolacky's (the kids each ate 3!), and I even got a walk in although the weather was frigid. I was wistfully thinking about Thanksgivings in the past where we played football outside and went for long walks. Alas, winter came early and has been here to stay.

Thanksgiving day

Since the kids are a little older now I'm realizing that, although convenient and cost effective, our annual trip to the Costco parking lot to pick a tree (based on nothing really since they are all frozen and wrapped up) isn't very picturesque. One of these years we'll go to a farm and cut down our own so the kids know that Christmas trees come from somewhere other then a semi-truck in a parking lot. We took the requisite picture though and when we got home were again pleasantly surprised that we got another beautiful fraser fir.

Hanging out in a gigantic cart while dad ties down the tree

Hadley concentrated her decorating efforts on one very special part of the tree this year.

The Monday following Thanksgiving we visited my grandpa (the kids are so lucky to have 3 grandpas!) and had lunch and played cards.

This Saturday we went to the tree lighting ceremony in Chanhassen where the kids got to see one of Santa's reindeer (Hadley's not too sure about the elf), meet Santa who arrived on a fire truck, and do a countdown to light up the park with Christmas lights.

This morning we got ready to have breakfast with Santa.

At the Chanhassen Dinner Theater

The thought of meeting Santa in person is better in theory than in reality. Hadley doesn't look too sure and this is Miles' nervous but I'm being brave pose.

Miles is the star of the week at school and had to complete a school project all about himself. He had to draw or include a picture of himself and he wanted to be sure he included Ruby. Here are the answers he wrote on his poster:

• Age: 5
• Favorite animal: yellow labs
• Favorite food: hot dogs
• Favorite color: blue
• Favorite place: a bakery (even though I pointed out he really hasn't ever been to a real bakery...)
• When I grow up I want to be a..... jaguar.
• My favorite thing to do is... pet Ruby.
• If I had one wish, I would wish for... another dog.

Ruby gets love from Hadley too.