Christmas Recap - Two Christmas Parties

One of the most fun things about the Christmas season are all of the parties that we get to take the kiddos to.  This Christmas we had two fun ones - the Lockheed Martin Employee Association party and the Syracuse Crunch party.  Here are some pictures from both.

This was the first year we had ever been to the LM Christmas Party (well, I went when I was a kid, but this is the first time our family went) and it was really fun.  There was good food, lots of dancing, crafts, face painting, and of course, Santa!

Cameron and Leah both got to see Santa, and each of them got a gift from Santa.  Cameron got a big robot toy and Leah got a baby.

Once again, Leah wanted nothing to do with Santa.  Mama went up with her and Leah would only acknowledge Leah's presence until he showed her that he had a gift for her!

There were frost-your-own cookies

Cam with his masterpiece

Leah really loved her frosted cookie!  She mainly ate the frosting and not so much of the cookie.

Hands down, Leah's favorite part was the dancing.  She was out on the dance floor busting a move every chance she could get!

The Crunch Christmas party was for season ticket holders.  They had dinner, a raffle and a chance to meet and talk with the players.  Cameron really, really liked it.  He was all over the room, talking to any players that he could find.  I think a bit of them were taken back to have such a little guy come up to them and start a very spirited conversation.  He told all of the players about how he played hockey, what his number was, and asked them about their playing.  It was super cute.

Cameron with Al the Ice Gorilla

Mama and Leah with one of the Crunch

Cameron practically crawled up on this guys lap to take a picture.  Luckily he was very good with Cam, unlike some of the others who looked at him like he had two heads!

Can you tell how excited he is??  He loved meeting the Crunch!

Christmas Recap - Decorating Our Tree

We decorated our tree one night after dinner.  The kids liked playing with the ornaments more than they liked actually putting them on the tree, but we all had fun.

We had a bunch of the unbreakable ornaments that we set out for Leah to hang up.  Not surprisingly, she did NOT want any of those.  This one ball ornament kept her busy for a while.  It had a picture of a baby on it that she really liked.

She also liked to take ornaments back off the tree, much better than she liked putting them on the tree.

Cameron digging around for just the right ornament to hang up

Or maybe just the right ornament to play with!

Leah liked the dolly

We asked her to show it for the camera and say cheese

Cam actually did a very good job hanging up the ornaments.  His favorite part was climbing up the ladder to put ornaments up high.

He asked about pretty much every ornament - whose was it, where did it come from, what was its story.

Since we started putting up the ornaments after dinner, the kids got tired after just a little while so they didn't end up hanging up very many.  We paused to put them to bed and then Tim and I finished up the tree.  We forgot to take a picture when we were done, so you will have to wait until our Christmas Day recap to see the final product!

Christmas Recap - Getting Our Tree

We didn't do much Christmas related in the rest of Christmas or first week of December, since we were in Disney.  The first weekend of December that we were back in town, we went to get our tree.  We went to the same place we went last year, a tree farm in Central Square called Grace Farms.  We went first thing in the morning so it was empty other than us.  The guy at the farm was very helpful and went to get a front end loader while we looked for the perfect tree.

Leah was not a big fan of looking for a tree. She really dislikes wearing her snow boots, so I think that was a big part of it.  When I was holding her she really liked this tiny tree.  When I put her down next to it to take a picture, she started to cry.  Poor baby.

 Cam loved the little trees too and wanted his picture taken with a bunch of them.

Mama and a much happier, being-held Leah

Cam with one of the potential trees and a stick that he liked carrying around

Waiting for the front end loader to come get our tree.

Our tree on the loader - a very cool way to get it to the car (much easier than dragging it across the field)!!

Christmas Recap - the Polar Express

Yes, I know that Christmas is long over, but we never posted anything from it.  So stay tuned for a bunch of posts about our Christmas activities.

First up was our trip on the Adirondack Polar Express.  We went on the train ride in November and it was a great start to the Christmas season.  The Langes went with us - Cameron and Leah were so excited to see their friends Abby and Bridgette!

Cam and Leah wore their pajamas for the ride

Waiting at the train station to get on the train

 Cam being silly with Daddy

 Bridgette and Leah goofing around

Abby and Cameron love to hug

Cam showing off his ticket

I love this picture - Cam and Abby were holding hands walking to the train.  I love how Cam is completely oblivious, Abby looks enraptured and Bridgette is looking like "what's going on over there?"

We asked Cam and Leah to show us their tickets and they put them on their head - silly kiddos!

All four kids

When the train got going, they played some Christmas music.  Of course, Leah had to show off some of her moves!

An elf stopped by to talk to the kids

When we arrived at the North Pole, we all gathered at the window to watch

The kids thought it was awesome (the adults... not so much)

Cam really enjoyed it.  Santa gave a child the first gift of Christmas and they sang a song.

It was so sweet, they were holding hands while they watched.

Once the train got moving, Santa came to visit the kids.  Cam loved meeting him.  When asked what he wanted for Christmas, Cameron said "A Saw Truck."

Leah was NOT HAPPY to see Santa.  She wasn't even lured by the possibility of a pretty silver bell.

After Mama got Leah's bell for her, then she was willing to sit for a picture, but she definitely kept her eye on Santa and wouldn't even think about sitting on his lap.

She did love the bell though!

I love this picture of Cameron because it shows the tail that he gets when his hair gets long.

Mama with kiddos

Lange Family picture

Walker Family picture

One of the elves was taking a picture of all of us and Santa came running over and jumped in the middle of it.

Lots of elves stopped by to visit and talk to the kids.

They also sang songs and played "Santa Says"

After we got off the train, we got cookies and hot chocolate in the train station

 Cam loved the hot chocolate

So did Leah!

We loved her chocolate mustache and goatee!!

Cameron and Leah really had a great time on the Polar Express train.  We were happy that they had such a good time, although I don't think we were quite as impressed as the kids.

No matter what though, it was such a great way to start of the Christmas season!