Cosmic Golf

One of the activities at the mall of randomness (aka Great Mall in Olathe) is Cosmic Golf.  Brady LOVES mini golf so went there Friday night.  Both Cory and Brady won free rounds of golf on the final hole (similar concept to Plinko on the Price is Right) so I guess we're going back.

Caterpillar Visitor Center

While we were in Peoria we visited the Caterpillar Visitor Center that recently opened.  Brady had lots of fun driving the various equipment.  His favorite of course was the simulator.  I was impressed by the experience because I saw three people wearing Wildcat gear which beat out both the Hawkeyes and Illini. 
Go Cats!

Christmas in Peoria

On Christmas Eve we went to church with the family.  I filled a small bag with M&Ms for Brady thinking they could be a motivator for good behavior if needed.  He apparently got a hold of the bag and decided to top it off without me realizing it.  Brady pulled out of his pocket the biggest baggie of M&Ms ever just seconds into church and starts scarfing them down.  A little boy who was about 10 kept telling his dad how he wished he could have M&Ms in church.  Way to go me, setting a terrible example for other children.  Perhaps the lesson here is if the kid has graduated beyond gold fish or cheerios they do not need snacks in church.

After church we had appetizers and opened gifts with the Woods family.  Ellie enjoyed eating these gifts just as much as the previous ones.  Here are some pictures from the evening.

Limo and Lights

Cory and I rented a limo for the family to look at Christmas lights while we were visiting Peoria.  It was a very nice way to spend some time together and see the lights without the stress of driving.  The wait to get into the Peoria Festival of Lights was a little long, but we still had a good time.  Favorite line of the night was Granny Ruth saying, "it sure would be good to have some Christmas music playing."  Katie says, "Grandma it is playing."  Granny Ruth then says "What song is that? I can't hear it."  Katie, "Grandma got run over by a reindeer."  Granny Ruth, "Ohhhh."  Hilarious.

Christmas in KC

Santa happened to visit our house early as we wanted to avoid transporting things back and forth.  What's great with an infant and 4 year old Christmas can be any day of the week and they don't have to know the difference.  Brady was really excited for his gifts and enjoyed helping Ellie with her gifts as well.  She would be perfectly happy just eating the paper.  Brady thought it was funny that she got chew toys as presents.  We don't need a dog to buy chew toys, we just buy them for our infant.

First Snow 2012

All I can say is that I was so happy Cory was home.  Brrrrr!

Letter to Santa and Wrapping Presents

Brady wrote multiple letters to Santa this year.  He wanted to keep the letters simple and just focus on his list.  Here are a couple of his wishes.  Supper Mario Tennis, Drums, Phone. I get a lot of  "how do you spell....?"   I'm ashamed to admit that sometimes I will leave out words.  Hence, why Super Mario Tennis is missing the Mario and we ran out of room for the S.  We asked Brady why he wanted a phone for Christmas and who was he planning to call.  He told us that he didn't want it to make calls, he wanted it for the games.  We tried to reason with him that games can be played on the iPad, but he remains convinced that a phone would bring him new games that are not available on the iPad.  What did we do before technology.

Brady also had fun helping wrap presents.  This particular present took a good 20 mins and a lot of tape to wrap.  I rewrapped it which I think hurt his feelings a little bit.  He did say it was good I wrapped it again because Kyle could probably see the present and that "wouldn't be good".

Christmas Program

Brady and Ellie both had Christmas programs at school this year.  Program should be used lightly as Ellie's class performance lasted about a minute and Brady's was finished in five minutes. 

Ellie's class sang the 12 days of Christmas.  Ellie did a great job smiling, eating her sign and banging her hand on the ground.   She also loved Santa's beard and had no fear of him.  I have a feeling next year she will not be so welcoming.

Brady's class sang and did actions to a Alvin and the Chipmunks song.  He did a good job with the singing and actions.  Coordinating twenty 3 - 4 year olds is no easy task.  After the program Santa visited and talked with the kids.  One of the kids asked if he was the real Santa Clause.  Santa responded simply with "No".   All of the parents gave a surprising look expecting some type of explanation, but the conversation just moved onto the next topic.  No more questions about the true identity of Santa.

Brady and his best friend Marcus.

Videos of the performances:

Christmas in Wichita

We had a busy weekend in Wichita.  We celebrated Christmas with my mom & sisters, saw my dad, Christmas with grandparents and celebrated my Grandpa Larry, Lexi and Pam's birthdays.  Exhausted just thinking about everything we fit into the 24 hours.  Here are a few pictures of the kids. 

Ellie is surrounded by the Christmas talking, noise making stuffed animals.  She's not sure what to think.  Grandma Janet tried to send us home with some of these, but I thought it made more sense for them to continue to live in Wichita.