Christmas All Around

Week two of December is definitely looking more and more like Christmas. We've done quite a bit this week. What was supposed to be a relaxing weekend was anything but relaxing. I was pretty beat the entire weekend with all the festivities. It doesn't help that I'm officially in my third trimester right now and I've learned that I can't just bend over to pick things up anymore, instead I have to squat. Anyway, the kids had a great weekend. So I guess it's a win.

How our Saturday began...

It still boggles my mind. When it's a school day, it takes them way longer to get out of bed. However, on the weekend, they can go to sleep much later and still wake up earlier than school. Why, children, why?!

Cousins get together

Apple Holiday Party

 ... at the Tech Museum (with Rogue One in the background)

On the way to the Apple party, a friend texted and asked if we would be interested in taking their Polar Express tickets tomorrow. I couldn't say no to that. This was something that's always been on my bucket list, but not on the high priority list. The kids had never seen the movie, so I had them watch it before going to church so that the ride would make sense to them. I'm so glad I did that! 

It was COLD in Santa Cruz

How we killed time before going to the "North Pole"

All aboard the Polar Express

 Lucas's golden ticket

 Charlotte's golden ticket

 I'm not so sure about the conductor...

We normally stay home on Monday nights. However, this past Monday was the last day of Bethlehem (in Santa Clara). We've been going there since we've been dating. I am positive I was in my early 20s during that time. Lucas also asked to go, how can we say no to the boy and seeing the real meaning of Christmas? Of course, his favorite part was the FREE hot chocolate (yes, he emphasized the free part for so odd reason). I always thought everything was free for him, he's one spoiled kid! 

You can't really tell, but there's Bethlehem!

And finally, I ordered family elf sweaters sometime last week and was glad it came before Christmas. I would be pretty mad if it came after Christmas! We're going to rock these next week since the kids will definitely grow out of them next year.

Elfie selfie

And it's already Wednesday tomorrow! Three more days till Christmas break! I can't hardly wait!

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas...

Did I mention that Christmas is my favorite time of the year? There's presents, the joy of moving our elves (Chippy and Snowflake) every night, a nicely decorated Christmas tree, etc. As the kids are growing older, it's nice to hear their conversations about the real meaning of Christmas too. Lucas remembers Bethlehem from last year and is excited to go there again this year. 

 Lucas was adamant about putting the star on the tree this year

 Two Advent calendars: Tsum Tsum and Star Wars

 So proud of their tree

 Waiting for Char to perform (Christmas performance)

 Char and her teacher

 Kids taking a break in my room while waiting for the 4's performance to end

 Lucas and his Kinder teacher

 Went out for a special treat (and games) after their Christmas performance

Bass Pro Shops is a great place for young kids to be during Christmas time

One of our traditions (I think this started a decade ago when we first started dating) is Christmas in the Park (A San Jose Tradition). Back story: Dan and I went to Il Fornaio for lunch one day before watching The Sound of Music. It was around 1 or so, we sat down, and no one came for nearly 15 minutes. We decided to walk out and go elsewhere for a late lunch. I quit yelping a few years back, so Dan took over. He wrote a review about our experience and the manager at Il Fornaio actually responded back to him and told him to bring his family back for a do over. So, that's what we did Saturday night! We had spectacular service and everything was grand spankin' free! The manager didn't even ask Dan to get rid of his review. That's class right there. (Don't worry - I told him to delete his original review and write a new one, without mentioning the mulligan.)

 Nice view by the window during prime dinner hour on a Saturday night

 Kids were happy

 Every Christmas tree = photo op

 Shinn tradition going strong...

Tonight was pretty low key. Most Sundays are. It involved laundry, tiding up the house a bit, and meal prepping for the week. I also like to experiment and create fancier than normal meals on Sunday nights. I couldn't get a prime rib today, so I decided to go back to our Chinese roots and have a nice (but simple enough) Chinese dinner.

 My view this afternoon

 Yup, she voluntarily passed out

 "Reading" a Star Wars book while waiting for their gingerbread house to dry

Their first time putting a gingerbread house together

The kids are super independent nowadays. It's hard to imagine what life will be like come March when we reset on life. We're dining at fancy restaurants, vacationing freely, and just enjoying life. March will be an interesting transition...

In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy life with two "big" kids and celebrate our December traditions.

Thanksgiving Weekend

I can't believe Thanksgiving has come and gone now. This means that Christmas is officially in full gear. We're still waiting for our tree to arrive and Charlotte is getting a bit restless. I'm a bit restless too, especially since everyone seems to have their tree up except for us. 

 

Before the festivities, we had some fun at home. 

 Char is happy about "her" two big stuffed animals

 Our baby announcement with Baby Margaret wearing a Princess Leia beanie

 Nutcracker tea party

 Mommy & Charlotte tea party

 Decorating our sliding door with Christmas stuff

 Thanksgiving lunch

Since the kids are old enough and can sit through anything as well as feed themselves, we decided to indulge in Fogo de Chao to start off our Thanksgiving break. Plus, kids are free (so why not?!). We figure we should enjoy this time before baby comes and we have to reset on life.

 Our meat eater

 Our not as big of a fan meat eater

 Strolling around Santana Row

Found our way into Cocola

 

 
Right after Thanksgiving, we headed up for a 24 hour mini vacay in SSF. A part of me wishes we hadn't done that and just took it easy at home with Black Friday shopping. Well, the kids had fun. On the way to school this morning, Lucas told me how he misses Embassay Suites and wants their breakfast again. He also wants to take a bath there.

 

 Christmas in San Francisco

 Spent way too much time waiting for the tree at Union Square to light up

 In front of their favorite hotel

 

Well, that sums up Thanksgiving weekend. Next up - December and all things Christmas! 

More Weekend Shinnanigans

Wow! Thanksgiving is next week! And yes, once again I've been slacking off on updating on a weekly basis.

 How I want to spend my entire weekend...

 Special time with my special boy

We're preparing for Baby Girl to arrive in roughly four months. That still seems like a long time coming, but we are slowly making our plans. Dan and I decided to spend some quality one-on-one time with each child to get to know them more and to prep them for baby.

 Veteran's Day

 Packing our OCC boxes

 Friday steak night!

I usually have Sunday steak night, but since there was no school on Friday... why not?! Porterhouse FTW!

Typical Saturday morning breakfast

What happens before Saturday morning breakfast

 Surprise fire truck visit

We usually go to Home Depot on the first Saturday of each month to build something. On this particular Saturday morning, some firemen parked their fire engine and let kids roam around the inside of it. It turns out that they went to Starbucks for a drink, noticed that there was a Home Depot kids' workshop, and parked their car to spend some time with the kids.

 Walking around Levi's Stadium

Sort of cool holiday shot?

Since the Niners are doing so crummy nowadays, they are giving away things left and right! Since we're season ticket holders, we got to get a free holiday photo at Levi's Stadium. It was a fun and free experience.