Woodland Park Zoo WildLights

Sunday evening we got together with friends to attend WildLights at Woodland Park Zoo. We, of course, had an enjoyable time and were with great company. The lights were pretty. We came upon an owl exhibit, where we briefly stopped to admire the creature and learn a few facts. We got to see a pair of reindeer. Sadly, Rudolph was not in attendance. The kids and moms enjoyed a night ride on the carousel. This was actually Clifford and Kristjan's first time ever to ride one. I actually started getting nauseous and had to stop looking around during the ride! We bought some fresh popped popcorn to munch on during our tour. The boys each got to press a penny, picking the zoo animal of their choice. Pete joked about how they each just committed their first Federal offense (haha). Before ending our tour, we stopped in at the Day Exhibit to view the reptiles and amphibians. By the end of this evening, this became my favorite part. It was soooo warm inside the building and my toes were starting to freeze from being outside so long. From there, we parted ways with our friends and made our way home. It was far past our normal bedtime, but I'm so happy we went.

Bellevue Garden d'Lights

Monday night after homework and dinner, we headed down to the Bellevue Botanical Garden to tour the Garden d'Lights. Entry is free the first two weeks, M-Th. A mom at school had told me about this last year, but we just got too busy to check it out. So I wanted to make sure to take the boys this year to see it. It was very cold out and we luckily missed the rain until after we were done and heading back to the car(!). The lights were beautiful. I was told due to construction in the surrounding area, it was much smaller than years past, but we were still amazed. We took our time walking and looking, so all in all we spent about half an hour there. Traffic was light, so we made it home just before our normal bedtime (score!). I want to go again next year, as I'm assuming they rotate scenes each year.

Thanksgiving - Redo

Last night I cooked up a Thanksgiving dinner, and we finally got to enjoy the meal that we missed out on a week ago. Instead of a turkey, Pete bought cornish game hens-one for each of us. The boys, particularly Clifford, were really excited about this. They couldn't believe they were getting their own whole bird to eat at dinner! We ate early in the evening, but were too stuffed for homemade pumpkin pie, with the exception of Clifford, who somehow managed a slice.

Boys Visit Santa

Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving weekend this year.....sucked! I'm not gonna sugar coat it. It was awful. We want a redo.

First off, Pete ended up getting really sick. He was miserable for the whole week. Then the day after turkey day, I ended up with allergy/sinus issues that lasted a few days, which then made me feel miserable.

Second, we all got on each other's nerves. It was a short week to begin with at school for the boys, which they only went for one day. So with Pete home sick and boys home from school, all under one roof, we all got tired of each other. Not to mention we've been having behavior issues with the boys. Honestly, it's nothing abnormal for their age, but we're sick of it. The boys constantly pick and fight with each other, whining and crying. Then we're also dealing with Clifford, who has been testing his boundaries by talking back, breathing heavily under his breath when he doesn't like something, not using manners, picking and/or complaining at the food we give him, not being grateful for what he has, etc etc etc etc...So there were a few breakdowns this last weekend. Lots of tears, mostly by me, just out of shear frustration. I couldn't wait until Monday arrived....

Third, Thanksgiving Day itself was extremely disappointing. We were invited to our friends house for dinner. We were excited for this. Every other time we've been to their house, we've had a great time. Not so much this time. The gathering didn't start until 3pm for appetizers. Typically, that's the time we start eating our turkey dinner. Ok, we'll deal with that, we thought. So here's the run down: the hosts (our friends) ignored us, well mainly the wife...The guests they invited were extremely clique the entire night. We figured out they were mainly the wife's friends, since she was the main one of the two hosts who ignored us the entire evening. Pete and I basically just sat there bored (and it wasn't for a lack of trying to interact and mingle)...we didn't eat until after 6 pm, which by then everyone was full from appetizers...AND not only was the food portion unorganized in planning and execution, the food tasted awful. Veggies were under cooked, typical traditional turkey dishes missing...it was disappointing. PLUS the hosts' youngest son was acting like a butthead, being rude to Clifford throughout the evening. Not to mention the kid spit all over some other kid's dinner plate! UGH. We left for home as soon as we could. To try to make up for this, I'm going to cook up a turkey dinner for us this weekend. And next year, we're having our own get together and cooking the meal ourselves.

Visits from Family

A few weeks ago my brother Roddy and his family came over from the Tri-Cities to stay the night at our house. His wife and kids were flying out to California and needed a place to crash, so we said no problem! They have two little boys, Riley and Conner, who are so sweet and cute. We enjoyed dinner together before Pete turned on the Kinect, which Roddy had never played. Him and our boys had fun playing games together. Riley found the boys' overflowing Lego container and was in heaven! We couldn't get him to leave the bedroom. Conner kept trying to be sneaky by putting Lego pieces in his mouth, so we had to keep a close eye on him. The next morning while everyone was still asleep, Roddy and I spent an hour or so talking, which is rare. We've never been close, so this was nice. I really enjoyed it. They took off in the late morning for the airport. It was an enjoyable visit with all of them, and I hope they're able to come back over again sometime.

Then the night before Thanksgiving, Peter's brother Eric and his family stopped by for a quick visit. They were in Seattle for the holiday weekend visiting with Jessica's mom and other family members. Their 3 boys went straight to play with Clifford and Kristjan..and their Legos! (what kid doesn't like Legos??!). Pete and I got to meet their newest addition to the family-their baby girl Rebecca. She's adorable. I held her for the longest time, oohing and ahhing at her. I even got her to smile at me! Pete again turned on the Kinect for Eric and all the boys, which they all had fun bouncing around playing the games. Their oldest William had sweat dripping from his hair by the time they were done playing and had to leave. It was also a nice visit with them. I do enjoy the adult conversations I get with everyone, but my favorite part is seeing my boys interact with their cousins and the memories they're making, since I never had that growing up.