Christmas Eve Day

We had a pretty laid back Christmas Eve day. This morning, Michael went to set a good haircutting example for Colin. He did great (reportedly much better than when he was Colin's age).
Colin was not as good as Michael was today. He did not like it much better than last time.
Terry was teasing Michael about "payback".
Afterward, Mr. Terry gave him some big hugs and even dug for a sucker that didn't have gum in it that Colin could eat.
Once it was over, Colin could talk nicely to Mr. Terry!
When we got back to the house, Colin and I played outside for a while.
Then daddy and Percy joined in. We had a fun afternoon here in Arkansas.
We opened our Christmas presents this evening before heading over for the Gray family Christmas party. Colin definitely enjoyed the process of opening as much as he enjoyed the gifts!
Now we're off to spend some more time with family before heading up to Missouri!

Merry Ch-is-mas, Santa!

After basically giving up on visiting Santa last week, we had such a good morning today that this afternoon I decided to give it one more shot. I knew the lines would be crazy since school was out, but we hauled up to North Star Mall to visit the best Santa I've ever seen. They have had the same Santa the past three years we've been in town and he is just amazing and worth a wait.

I was right: the lines were insane, but Colin was such a trooper and actually seemed to enjoy the time we spent in line (the juice and sandwich we got from one of the mall vendors might have helped a little).
He also enjoyed the pink dog in the Victoria's Secret display! LOL!
About the time I was beginning to worry if he'd last much longer, we arrived at Santa's house.
Colin was very excited to run up and see Santa, so as soon as the little girls in front of us were finished, I let go of his hand and got out my camera as he ran up. I should have known that despite his glee at Santa being there, he had to pass Santa's bag of books first and that brought him to a screeching halt!
After some coaxing from me, he shook Santa's hand and climbed up into his lap.
But he had not forgotten the book. The super-sweet Santa read a couple pages to him and encouraged me to get as many pics as I wanted. :) Colin loved this (despite being bummed that the reindeer were not available).
Then it was time to leave and Colin got down and said, "bye Santa, Merry Ch-is-mas" and then...pricelessly, reached up for a hug! I quickly grabbed my camera again and snapped a few more pictures. The sweet mothers behind me were like, "take your time and get a good one, this is precious!" What good sports!
All in all it was the most perfect trip to visit Santa I could have hoped for! Here's the "official" pic:

Lunch With A "Friend"

Colin had lunch with a "friend" today. Mr. Bear, handmade by Aunt Kristen for his birthday, has been doing everything with him lately and today Colin decided he must be hungry too, so Bear had to have a bowl, a fork, and some 'milk,' just like Colin. Bear also watches him play basketball, sleeps with him, and listens to Colin read books.
And finally, a picture of Colin "shaving" with daddy. Apparently he has been watching me fix my hair too much lately because he used to put the shaving cream on his face and then wipe it off, like daddy. Today, it went in the hair like mousse. :)

Cowboy Colin

Today we joined the Townsends for a day at Cowboy Christmas at Enchanted Springs Ranch. We had such a good time and enjoyed exploring everything with our own little cowboy.
While we waited for them to arrive, Colin took a ride on Woodrow, a 9-year old longhorn. Mrs. Claus was there handling him and Colin enjoyed talking to her for a while about cows!
They had fun pony rides with three different ponies. Colin was of course quick to check these out.
And to ask for a ride.
They also had a kid play area, so we checked that out.
Colin found a fun tire horse to ride.
Here's where we decided to put Colin after a rough week. Forget coal...it's off to jail!
He didn't seem to mind though.
Lily and Colin both enjoyed climbing up on the playground equipment.
When we were done, it was time to go visit Cowboy Santa. Colin really enjoyed chatting him up and talking about his boots and cowboy hat!
Since it's a working ranch, they have a wagon ride through some of their fields. Amongst other things, we got to see some antelope, longhorns, pronghorns, and zebras up close.
Colin loved watching the animals.
After he finished his lunch, Colin rode another longhorn!
Lily quickly finished hers to join in the action.
Lily was sceptical of the real longhorn, but really enjoyed this one!
Aren't the two of them just darling together? Lauren and I often get a taste of what twins might be like...today was one of those. :)
Michael and Colin took a few moments to sit by the campfire.
Then it was off to the blacksmith's (one of my personal favorites at any reenactment camp).
I gave Colin a running narrative of what was happening and we got to watch the blacksmith make something from start to finish.
After a while he was even joining in the narrative with "hammer, hammer," "get hot," and "put in water" (things that happened at least a dozen times over the course of the little piece he was making) and trying to guess what he might do with it next. We were the only ones there, so thankfully we were not annoying anyone besides the poor blacksmith!
When he was finished, he showed us what he had made...and then gave it to us! What a sweet man! I think I'll find a piece of black leather to string it on.
Afterward, we decided to join the Townsends on another wagon ride through the fields.
And here's a little family pic to end the post. Happy Cowboy Christmas!