Christmas is almost here!

Our Christmas preparation this year has been fun and exciting! We had the opportunity to continue some previously established traditions and on a couple new and fun traditions.  We started our fun the week before Thanksgiving with our very first trip to the local dinosaur museum.  We had a great time seeing all of the dinosaur bones, but I think Alex was a little disappointed it wasn't as great of an exhibit as the Brookfield Zoo had this past summer.  The day ended with a our first time gold mining.  The girls each brought home a little tiny bag of "gold" from their adventure.  So fun!

The next day we packed our bags and left for a mini vacation to Northern Arizona. We stayed in a little one bedroom condo, so on the drive we explained to the kids that they would be sleeping on the floor in our room.  When we pulled into the parking lot in front of the condo, Alex promptly said "I can't sleep on the floor!  I am NOT A DOG!".  Pat and I couldn't help but to laugh at that one!  As it turned out there was a pull out couch that the girls could share....more on that later.

Our first stop was Jerome, an old mining town near Sedona.  We did all of the standard tourist things and saw the real old ghost town.  It was actually a really fun adventure and we all loved seeing all of the old cars and trucks. 

Peppa, looking for a new practice?

Next we visited Montazuma's Castle and Montazuma's Well.  The Castle was amazing and is a 20 room high-rise apartment, nestled into a towering limestone cliff.  It is amazing to see.  The girls loved running and playing in the leaves and just being outside in the cool air. 

 

The Well was also a great experience and allowed the girls to do a little hiking to get all the way down to the bottom.

 

Later in the evening we made it back to our condo and settled the girls into bed...aren't they cute together?  It didn't last long.  They spent an hour playing and fooling around until we finally had to separate them - Mom slept with one, Dad with the other. 

We decided that we had to take the kids for the very first visit to the Grand Canyon.  They enjoyed it, but really found the trees to be more interesting than the Canyon.   The girls spent a good portion of the afternoon climbing the juniper trees.

Our final destination was a very special trip to the North Pole.  We boarded the Polar Express in Williams, AZ and via a magic tunnel arrive in the North Pole.  While on the train we sang Christmas songs, drank hot chocolate, ate cookies and visited with Santa.  Rory likes to also remind everyone that she got to wear her nightgown on the train. 

Alex and Rory looking at the North Pole on the Polar Express

We arrived back home in time to celebrate Daddy's birthday.  The girls filled the cake with lots of candles!  Good thing they also helped him blow them out.

For the second year in a row we took the kids for a Thanksgiving morning movie.  This years feature film was Planet 51.  We all enjoyed it...and yes Alex and Daddy ate the whole tub of popcorn!

Later in the day we joined Kyle's family for Thanksgiving dinner at his Mom's house.  The food and company was wonderful, but Tricia did make the kids work for their meals!

                                

We celebrated a post-Thanksgiving dinner with Carolee and Bill, Catherine and Kyle, Marion and Bev, and Megan and Joe the day following Thanksgiving.  The poor kids were so tired!  Alex actually slept through dinner.  Rory and Gigi did enjoy a nice little dance together though.

After about a week of rest we finally had the energy to participate in some more fun!  We had a great time at the Chandler Light Parade.  Alex had another change to ride a horse, which you all know she loved.  I think those horseback riding lessons are still on her Christmas list!

We made a pre-Christmas visit to Carolee and Bill's and Alex and Rory had their usually session of dress-up in Gigi's closest.  Check out this outfit Alex put together!  I also have a couple great pictures of Carolee and Bill and the kids that I left on a memory card in Arizona.  I will have to add them later.

As our final Christmas Adventure before leaving for Chicago the girls and I made a visit to see Santa. Alex sat on his lap...yes you read correctly! She really did it and she said it was fun!  The girls and I decided that while we were there we should also take a ride on the little train that runs through the mall.  It was really a fun time!

Well we are now in Chicago and ready for Christmas!  The kids love the snow and being with family.  They are busy counting down the days until Christmas.  It should be a great one this year!  We wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. 

Much Love,

The Angelo Family