Pre-Christmas

Well, Christmas 2011 has come and gone and, for us, it was a wonderful time spent with family, too much food, and lots of gifts!  Christmas really is a reminder of how fortunate we are in so many ways.

Our Christmas celebration lasted for a week...starting with a visit from Papa Steve, CC and Uncle Stephen the weekend before.  It was a quick visit but we kicked off the gift exchange extravaganza with them!  Nate actually got his "big" gift from them this year...CC and I were on a mission to find a LeapPad and, after much determination (and a tiny bit of craziness - on my part) we secured our coveted prize!  I got my first taste of having to have the "hot toy" of the season...and I learned that I, in the future, will either go in to the holiday season knowing if there is a toy that might be on this list so that I can buy it before Thanksgiving or NOT at all! :)  Regardless of the frenzy, it turned out to in fact be a perfect gift...he has barely put it down and has been doing a lot of letter tracing and puzzle games so it is serving it's purpose - entertainment and education!  Thanks CC and Papa Steve and hope to see you again soon!

It appears that I captured looks of indifference on my children's faces...I assure you that wasn't the case!

The next day we had our annual pre-Christmas lunch at Alie's. She filled the boys' stockings with fun surprises and made a delicious lunch.  And while she does a great job catering to the boys rather particular taste buds, she did try to expand their palette by serving their carrots with butter and herbs...which prompted Nate to alert her that there was "grass on his carrots".  They forgave her for the "dirty" carrots once the Christmas cupcakes came out!  Thanks Alie!

Breakfast with Santa

Santa dropped in to the boys' school last week for a quick chat and a doughnut...Nate was very clear about what he wanted (he isn't making it easy this year) and Matthew just sat there a little unsure of what was going on!

Nate has been asking for "Frank" (the Combine Tractor in Cars...he is in the movie for 30 seconds when he chases Lightening and Mater after they tip the tractors).  So, not a big character but a memorable one...so memorable that Disney only created a "Mega" die cast version and in very limited supply.  Apparently they have been a collectors item for some time...the only place you can really get one is on Amazon or eBay for $75+...call me crazy but I refuse to spend that much on a car that is just going to get tossed in to the bucket with the other $3 ones!

Luckily for Nate, Santa is less Scrooge-like and discovered that Frank comes with a "Tip the Tractor" game/track so we have our fingers crossed that Santa's version of Frank will satisfy our little Cars connoisseur.  Let's just hope he can stay on the "nice" list so that Santa makes a stop at the Cox house! 

City Lights

The past couple of years we have gone to the Lights at Lake Lanier...but once we saw that the Botanical Gardens was starting "Garden Lights" we knew we were going to check that out instead.  So we put our membership to use and headed in to town...actually, we went on Friday night (Black Friday) and it was chaos...we sat on Piedmont for 45 mins, only to finally inch up to the gate to see them put a "SOLD OUT" sign at the entrance.  But we were determined so we went back MUCH earlier the next night and had a MUCH better experience.

The weather was perfect...just cool enough for hot chocolate.  It was so much nicer to walk through the lights in the garden than to sit in a line of cars at the lake.  We all agreed that this was going to be our new annual holiday light event!


Snowflakes in the trees



The Orbs on the lawn were choreographed and changed colors to the holiday music



looking out over the lights with the city skyline behind



They had several fire pits set up for smore making



pretty sure he has a marshmallow squooshed between his teeth here

There was also a model train area (that the boys watched until we finally dragged them away).  It was a great evening...so we recommend it if you are looking for something festive to do around town.  Just go at 5:00 when it opens because it gets crowded after 7:00 on the weekends!

Last Hoorah

I am still not sure I will ever get caught up...but I am determined to recap October before I start posting Christmas festivities!!
Late October we took a quick trip down to the beach to celebrate Cousin Rayne's 3rd Birthday....we rented a condo on the beach in Navarre and had an amazing weekend.  The weather was PERFECT - October is the perfect time of year to visit the gulf - and we had so much fun together...we crammed a LOT in so it's easier just to post pictures....

Fun in the Condo - nothing warms my heart more than the two of them playing together

Catching Minnows

Then we hit the Kiddie Amusement Park in Ft Walton...they had a BLAST

Matthew learned to play skee ball - not a good idea.  (By the way, he had removed his jacket because it had gotten warm...I don't typically dress him like a Greaser.)

Nate cashed his game tickets in for a Pirate Eye Patch and a squishy Octopus

I am pretty sure this pictures sums out how he felt about the Swing Ride

Nate and Daddy drove go-karts together

He steered the entire time...he took driving very seriously!

Then Nate and Mommy rode bumper boats together...I pulled the short straw on that one!!  Nate manned the water gun while I tried to steer us away from the other "shooters"...but Nate would grab the wheel and drive us towards them!  We were soaked.

Then we went to Rayne's house to celebrate her Big Day with a Halloween cupcake cake!  (Rayne gave herself a "bang trim" recently...it's growing in nicely)  :)

Guess who liked the cupcakes??

A trip to Navarre Beach wouldn't be complete with dinner at Juana's...it's so nice to sit out on the water to eat dinner and let the kids play.

Gorgeous sunset (and Neena and Fred) :)

After dinner, Neena, Nate and I took a walk on the beach...and Nate decided to go skinny-dipping in the hot tub. 

On Sunday we had breakfast on the beach and then loaded up...but first stopped by the Air Force base to check out some retired planes (those pics didn't pull in for some reason).

It was really a great weekend...it might have to be an annual trip.  The only downside was that all four of the children came down with pink eye and ear infections after the weekend...but the fun we had made it worth it! ;)