Santa's Safari at the Zoo

Sunday morning, we headed to the zoo for Santa's Safari. We'd originally signed up for the previous weekend, but it was cancelled because of snow/ice. We didn't really know what to expect, but it was a really great program! A really big program, too--there was a big room full of tables/chairs, and I'd guess there were 100 people in our session (and they had 3 sessions/day on both Saturday and Sunday).

 We started off with coloring and crafting (we made a foam owl ornament for our tree).

And enjoyed delicious and gigantic snowman cookies.

Lewis wasn't/isn't much for sitting still for long, so he roamed the room and found some friends:

The penguin!

The train!

He spent most of his time looking at the village and train (that wasn't running!). Kevin said he kept asking him to turn on the train. It must have been broken. :/

The snowman!

He kept kind of sneaking up on the penguin and snowman, and I don't think their sight lines let them look at what is directly below them. Lewis ended up kind of goosing them in the butt a few times and just kept going back for more.

Singing Christmas songs

I can't remember what we sang beyond Jingle Bells, but Lewis was right up in there, singing along. 

And finally, Santa!

Again, they gave us a free picture right away which was a nice souvenir from our day. I did hear him say that he wanted a 'Big Tractor' this time. :)

After seeing Santa, we headed out on the safari part. There were ten stations set-up within three buildings (since it was pretty chilly outside), and each had an animal to pet and learn about. Lewis was okay with all of them except for the Sulfur-crested Cockatoo because it was squawking REALLY loudly, and Lewis turned around on the verge of tears and walked quickly out of the room. :( I didn't blame him, poor buddy. Birds can be scary.

Here are the animals he did see and touch and learn about:

 A (dead) brown bat

 Bearded Dragon

 Python

 Ferret

 Hedgehog

 Rabbit

 Also at the rabbit station were some pelts--he's petting a skunk (duh), and that's a beaver next to it.

Also included in the ticket price was a pass for the 4-D theater to see a condensed/13-minute version of The Polar Express, which we've never seen:

Looking rad, dudes. :)

I've never been to the 4-D theater and didn't really know what that extra 'D' was. In case others are wondering, beyond the 3-D effects, our seats rattled as the train went barreling down the tracks, the theater smelled like hot chocolate when the kids were drinking cocoa, and we got sprayed in the face with water as the train skidded across the ice, plus a few other effects. It was tooooo cool! I just kept saying 'wow,' and I know Lewis thought it was awesome, too. He wouldn't stop talking about it all day: 'Train go in water, Mommy.' :)

Afterward, we came home for lunch an attempt at a nap, which has become more of a consistent thing as of late! Keep it up, Lew! Wouldn't you know he slept for over TWO hours on a day when we actually had somewhere else to be (Kevin's family Christmas party). :) Kevin went ahead without us, and Lew and I followed about an hour and a half later once he woke up, quite refreshed. :) I didn't get any pictures from the party, but we had a good time, good food, and a funny gift exchange.

Santa's Wonderland at Bass Pro Shop

Thursday, Tonya, Carlton, Lewis, and I met at Bass Pro Shop to check out their Santa situation. They have lots of free activities, which was great--crafts (which we did not do), a (laser gun) shooting range, remote-controlled monster trucks to play with (and buy, of course), a carousel, a train display, and a free picture with Santa.

First, we visited the carousel:

That's Carlton behind the pole...

Then it was time to check out the ATVs. Lewis knew just what to do:

Look out, here I come! Vroom vroom!

Look at me, Uncle Joe!

Santa

It was really loud, so I'm not sure if Santa even asked him what he wanted for Christmas. But they took a picture and gave it to us right after (for free!), which was a pleasant surprise.

We then went in search of the train table (which ended up being right next to Santa). As we were looking, we found the big fish tank:

And the stream with fish in it, too.

Finally found the train, and Lewis was happy to spend the rest of our time there:

Train going in tunnel!

Here is a video I took of him at the train display, but turn the volume down! It was really loud with kids and Christmas music, and I don't know how to edit the volume. 

He really, really likes to watch it go in of and come out of the tunnel.

Sweet boy would have kept going indefinitely if the train didn't derail every few minutes. :) So, so funny.

Lewis the Truest, Volume III

One morning after waking up

Lewis: (toot)
Mama: (smiled to myself)
Lewis: My farted-ted!
Mama: Hahahaha. Yes, you did!

The fart itself was funny. Even having said 'I farted' would have been funny, but the 'My farted-ted' pushed it over the edge for me. :) He's been using 'My' instead of 'I' as he speaks, and it was particularly adorable in this situation.

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Making observations about Peter

Lewis: Peter has a belly! Peter has a penis!

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He has a book about Mater that we have two copies of, and he's been really into reading 'his' copy while Kevin or I read 'our' copy at the same time. We've read it so much lately that he can finish our sentences and/or recite the whole page. His favorite page talks about Mater and Lightning McQueen going tractor tippin'...'there's nothing in the world better than that!' 
So the other day, he was rolling around a stroller inside the house, leaned it back on the handles, and said...

Lewis: Tractor tippin'!

Maybe you had to be there for that one...it was funny, I promise. And smart. :)

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Trying to get Kevin to take him downstairs to play trains

Lewis: Dada take you downstairs?
Kevin: No, not right now, buddy.
Lewis: Dada take you downstairs? (Answers himself...) Okay!

And he grabbed Kevin's hand and tried to make him go. :)

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Grandma and Grandpa Thompson took him to Kalightoscope at the Galt House yesterday, with Christmas lights and Santa and a train that he got to ride (3 times!). As they were leaving afterwards, I said:

Mama: What do you say to Grandma and Grandpa for taking you on your special day to see the lights and the train?
Lewis: CHOO CHOO!

I was trying to get him to say 'thank you' but quickly realized I was being too wordy. I know he was appreciative--he hasn't stopped talking about riding the green choo-choo train and has been playing with his blue train souvenir. (So thank you!) :)

Let it SNOW!

We have finally had our first big(ish) snowfall in 2 1/2 years--enough for Lewis to play in! We had one last year, but Kevin and I were out of town that weekend. My parents were watching Lewis for us, but he wasn't happy about having to wear boots, I remember.

So, anyway, we've had fun the past 24 hours--Kevin got off work early yesterday, so he and Lewis played outside and shoveled the back steps and driveway last night. This morning Kevin went out and shoveled the front driveway, and then after breakfast we all played outside, built a snowman, and drove down to the high school to go sledding! We feel like we have to load in the fun in case this is our one and only chance this winter. :)

First, the dogs went out to enjoy it. Sweet Hattie Girl won't leave the porch if there is a drop of rain, but she LOVES the snow. And I love watching her play in it:

 

I know Peter's not doing much, but I keep laughing at Hattie leaping in the background. :) 
She took off running laps around the yard. Laid her belly in it. Tried to eat it (she had snow all in her beard). She loves it. Peter's okay with it, too, but doesn't seem to get quite as excited as Hattie does.

Thanks for shoveling, boys!

Finally, a fire in the fireplace after a few years without.

Kevin caught Lewis serenading us at breakfast this morning:

We'll have to give him his jingle bells next time for some accompaniment. :)

Here's our snowman from this morning (that Kevin and I mostly built). The snow wasn't great for building, but we made it work with chunks he'd shoveled last night: 

 We had no coal or carrots on hand, so sticks and mulch will have to do. :)

 Lew and the Snowman

By that time, he was 'all done' playing outside, so we loaded him in the car and drove down to see if there were any areas around the high school where we could sled. We found another family with the same idea, so we joined them. It was just a little hill, but a good size for Lewis to get started on.

Whee!

The terror! And the thrill!

I can't remember the last time I went sledding! I'm sure I'll be sore tomorrow. :)

Lew loved it (for a little while, at least)

He went down the hill with Kevin and I a few times and by himself, too, but then he mostly wanted to climb up the hill and run back down, or slide down on his butt, or follow the two girls around who were there with us.


Snuggle Buddies
After all of the running around, we came home and built another fire and warmed up under a blanket.

This afternoon--Christmas shopping!

Carlton Comes to Play and O, Christmas Tree

Yesterday Carlton came over to play for a few hours. The boys chased each other the whole time, leaving a path of destruction in their wake, of course. They played basketball, golf, trains, and took a brief moment to color--otherwise, they were on the go, go, go. They had a really good time. :)

 Shooting hoops

 Lew's new favorite game, Let's Dump All of the Balls out of the Ball Container and

Wear it On Our Head, Instead

Oh, what fun... :)

 A very brief moment of sitting down :)

 Discussing the day's menu in Lew's kitchen

 Dueling singing refrigerator magnets

We also sang a lot--mostly Jingle Bells, at Lewis' urging. They must be practicing that one for his Christmas program at school because suddenly he knows all of the words! And he brought home some actual jingle bells from school this week that he jingles while singing--it's pretty great. And pretty loud. :)

I finally took a picture of our completed tree just now at lunch--we have ice and now snow falling outside, so it prompted me to get out my camera. Lew knows how to turn the tree lights on/off now, so anytime we are at the house, the lights are on (which is fine by me).

 Nevermind the bald spot to the bottom right. :) 

It's a perfectly imperfect tree. It is also crooked, which I plan to correct this weekend with Kevin's help. Not falling-over, crooked...more just-annoying-enough-to-notice, crooked. :)

Lew's cluster of favorite ornaments

He got really excited about Lightning McQueen, Mater, a Scooby Doo van, and a gourd that is painted as Santa (though he calls it a balloon). Initially they were all 4 very close together, so he must have pulled them off already and had to rehang them.

It's so pretty at night--I'm loving my evenings on the couch with just the tree lights on. One of these nights I need to go ahead and light a fire in the fireplace, now that it's properly swept and ready. Maybe this weekend.

Hope everyone is safe in all of this ice/snow.

Napping and a Thanksgiving Recap

I'm sure that as soon as I type this out, Lewis will prove me wrong, but he is NAPPING this week! (It has been since July that I could say that, FYI, when we made the switch to the twin bed.) I'm not sure why the sudden sleepiness, but I'm not complaining a bit! 

About a month ago, on a tip from a friend, I bought a video monitor with a 2-way radio to watch him and tell him to stay in his bed. After just a few days of that, he would stay in his bed for about an hour to an hour and a half, unprompted, quietly playing or looking at a book. And in the mornings, he stays in his bed until we come and open his door--amazing and unexpected.

He did have a lot of fun over the the long Thanksgiving weekend, so he might have finally just succumbed to the months and months of not getting quite enough sleep. He could also be growing, or I did just put some new soft, cozy, flannel sheets on his bed. Maybe the new sheets were just enough to take him over the edge to Sleepville. Regardless, this week has been good.

Back to Thanksgiving weekend, I did not take as many pictures as I'd hoped to! It was our year to spend with Kevin's family, so we didn't have any travel. We went to his parents' house on Thursday and his friend's house on Friday. Saturday, Kevin and I went to see Catching Fire and Sunday was the day we went to get our Christmas tree.

Here are the few pics that I did take from Thanksgiving Day at Grandma and Grandpa Thompson's house:

 Making sure his plate and fork and spoon were ready for dinnertime

Which is funny since he barely touched the delicious food that Sharon made. :)

 Cheese!

 After-dinner sillies with Mama

 Hi, Grandma!

Lewis took that one, if you couldn't tell. Haha.

And loading up balls in his front end loader