A study in contrasts

Laura is completely terrified of Santa. See?

This is my favorite Santa picture so far, as cruel as that may be. I especially like how Will is completely oblivious to her terror, smiling away. These two could not be any more different. It's still kind of disorienting to me that they are actually two separate beings with two very distinct personalities and temperaments. Disorienting but welcome, since I don't think one family can support two Wills.

The one Will that we do have, though, has been a very busy boy here lately. We wrapped up his school year last Friday with a party at school which closed with a preschool mosh pit of sorts as his classmates serenaded us with their own personal jingle bells (and jumping!) and carols. Then we took the kids to their very first wedding on Saturday and we all survived! (It could also have something to do with the fact that my mom and aunt were with us, so we weren't flying solo.)

But backing up a bit, we took the kids on the Polar Express Sunday before last. (Happy birthday to me.) I can laugh about it a little now but at the time, our journey there was anything but laughable. The Polar Express is in Indiana, about an hour and twenty minutes from here (according to Google maps, that is) and we had a bit of a mixup about departure times and boarding times and leaving here times and it culminated in me figuring out that we were an hour away from departure and still sitting here in Cincinnati waiting on our food at Penn Station (priorities, people!). There may have been a little shouting and Will worrying in the backseat the whole drive there (on two squealing wheels, no less) that we weren't going to make it. And I have to say that I had many a vision of arriving there only to watch the train pulling away and then having to come up with some way to make it up to him because his mother has a problem with time and planning and general common sensical-ness. But we made it, with about five minutes to spare, and the kids loved it.

The kids wore pajamas, just like the kids in the book.

The story was read aloud.

Waiting to arrive at the North Pole (actually a field in the middle of nowhere decorated to look like the North Pole, complete with Santa's house).

Waiting for Santa to stop by our seat.

Notice that Laura is not in this picture.

She wouldn't even take the bell (that all the kids got, also just like in the story) from him.

But she perked up after Santa departed and she could play with her bell without the threat of Santa returning.

And then we went back to the station. The kids were looking at the full moon, which was pretty spectacular, especially out in the country with no street lights and other urban disturbances. I tried to take a picture of it but my photography skills are lacking.

Santa Claus is making his appearance after the kids are sleeping tonight and then we're headed to WV for our usual family festivities. I hope everyone enjoys lots of laughter, full bellies, and time with your nearest and dearest over the next few weeks!

We breakfasted with Santa

This picture cracks me up (or, as Will says, cracks my head right off). We continued our merry-making with Breakfast with Santa at the gym this morning. We were one of the last tables called for our turn with Santa and Laura was a little unsure of what this whole Santa bit is really about. By the time I approached him, she was clinging to me for dear life. And while it may sound totally cruel, I was secretly a little bit excited that she was doing the slightly terrified, crying, reaching-for-us pose that so many kids have in their annual Santa photos (she recovered a bit, as you can see from the picture).

Will has never, not once, for even one split second, hesitated to go sit on Santa's lap, so we have no pictures of an unhappy child on Santa's lap, which I personally think is a rite of childhood/parenthood. So I'm kind of glad that Laura appears to be supplying us with the opportunity to check this item off the list. We're still taking them to the mall in their festive Christmas outfits so keep your fingers crossed that Laura doesn't come around to hanging with Santa in the next week or so. (Does this make me cruel?)

We're spending tomorrow evening on the Polar Express. And we're spending this weekend still (STILL) trying to get over whatever this black cloud of sickness is that's been hovering over our house since Halloween or so. I'm back to thinking that contracting a lifelong cold actually is a possibility. And that wellness is some sort of mirage.

More coming soon...happy merry-making!

I'm just glad it's not November

Greetings from the other side of a straight month of illness and infection of various sorts! My own personal malaise began at the end of October and continued until sometime late last week and I've never been happier to be free from carrying tissues in every pocket, purse, and various available portable receptacle. There were a few weeks there when I actually wondered if it was possible to contract a lifelong cold. But it appears that my despair was for naught, thankfully. Will was also sick for a good bit of this period (cold/ear infection followed by not one but two (!) stomach bugs) and we made what I believe to be three (maybe four?) trips to the doctor during November for a few rounds of antibiotics. Aaaaand, to wrap all that up, Laura now has an awful runny nose after remaining relatively healthy during our marathon germfest.

So, with all the fun that December usually brings in addition to a more desirable general level of wellness and being able to function more normally, we're embracing all the new month has to offer. I've been slowly getting the house Griswold-ified (or not, since my tastes do run on the boring side of things), addressing Christmas cards, and receiving and wrapping presents (almost finished!). We've got a few fun items on the agenda for this weekend but our first chance for official merry-making occurred this past weekend as we took the kids to the zoo for the Festival of Lights.

First and foremost, let me begin with an illustration of my complete lack of common sense. Since we're zoo members, we tend to avoid weekends and other crowded times because it's so much more pleasant when it's not packed. If we do happen to go on just such a crowded day, we stay for an hour or so and head out since we don't feel the need to stay all day to make it worth our money. (The zoo is surprisingly not cheap, especially considering the $10 they charge for parking in addition to fairly pricey admission.) That said, on the days when we normally go, parking isn't an issue, we don't have to wait in line for tickets and we waltz through the "members only" line and go through the zoo at our leisure, stopping here and there to ride the train and carousel with minimal wait, if any.

In my mind, this is what I had envisioned when planning our Festival of Lights outing. When we were sitting three blocks away in standstill traffic, however, I realized my silliness. The final four blocks or so to get to overflow parking took around half an hour. When we first encountered the traffic, I told Jamison that I thought I saw red and blue flashing lights and that there was probably a wreck. Yeah, no. Everyone and their brother and great-aunt and second cousin once-removed decided to go to the Festival of Lights Saturday night at 6:00. We'd been planning on catching the 6:30 puppet show but I don't think we were even parked by 6:30.  We did make it in in time to watch the second one, though. (It was a blacklight puppet show and it was pretty nifty. Will and Laura both cracked up the whole time and as an added comedy bonus, the little boy sitting on his mom's lap next to me sneezed on another older boy who was sitting in front of him and totally grossed him out.)

To say that it was packed is an understatement of huge proportions. It was one of the most stressful situations I've been in with both kids in a long while. I was terrified that Will would let go of us and be lost in a sea of people and Laura wasn't exactly happy with being bundled up and stuffed unceremoniously into the stroller.  There were no less than four million strollers present, too. And lots and lots of people who just stopped right in the middle of the path, causing mayhem and near-collisions every few seconds. I didn't even really get to look around at the zillions of lights since I was focused on keeping our family together. Will, however, was so excited to be there and was unfazed by the crowd, for the most part. The only downside for him was that the line for the train was too long and he didn't get to ride it. I'm still not quite over just how insanely crowded it was.

But there was a nice little moment tucked in there unexpectedly, which I captured in one of three or so pictures I took all evening (phone pictures, so not of the best quality).

There was a giant lit-up Christmas tree in the middle of the pond (Will of course asked how they got it out there) and some Vince Guaraldi Trio was playing and there wasn't a crowd around and we had a nice little Zen moment amid the chaos that kind of made it worth it.

I didn't take any good(ish) pictures of Laura but here's one from last week after a Target run. We had a little Starbucks date and we actually sat at a table for a little while, which we never do, so she was so excited. The atmosphere left a bit to be desired, though, since this particular Starbucks is inside of a Meijer, which Jamison says reminds him of Kmart. And that's not exactly a good thing.

I still find her completely irresistible, Robert-Palmer-style. (Also, check out her TOMS. I also find them completely irresistible.)

And seeing as it's 9:23, my bed is looking pretty irresistible itself. Night, night. (Or "ni, ni," as Laura so sweetly says as she waves at me after I put her in bed and leave the room.)