The Once a Year Blog: December 2011

Friday, December 23, 2011

Santa!

Jolly old St. Nick visited our house last night, much to Claire's delight. It seems he knew we were going to be out of town for christmas! What a smart guy. This morning when I announced this to Claire as she was reading stories in her bedroom, her mouth literally dropped open and all she could say was "WHAT?" Then she went running out of her room, giggling and hyperventilating, down the stairs to the pile of presents in the living room. After playing with their new toys all morning, we finally went to see Santa Claus at the shopping mall so the kids could tell him thanks for all the toys. I think Santa was confused about what Claire was blabbering on about (she really did get chocolate ice cream toys and she was awfully appreciative). I know he doesn't look very cheery in the photo, but this Santa was actually really friendly and spent a good bit of time chatting with Claire. It was great! Correction: It was great for Claire. Tyler was pretty much in shock during the whole experience, as you can tell from his deer-in-headlights expression.

Sunday, December 11, 2011

For Great-Grandma Phyllis

Thank you for the holiday activity cards! The kids loved them!

Thursday, December 08, 2011

say cheese!

After living in California for almost a decade and never really getting to experience a true autumn (my favorite season), I am finding the change of seasons here to be so refreshing! We're on the verge of winter weather now after what has felt like a very long fall season. We took advantage of the gorgeous natural backdrop in October, and had family photos taken outdoors.

one step at a time

Here's Tyler starting to take steps with a walker toy:

That was one week ago. This week he is able to push the lion walker all the way around our kitchen island, so long as someone helps him steer it. I'm a proud mama! The best part is that he is laughing as he is doing all of this hard work.

Claire and Tyler's quest to visit all 50 States, all US national parks, and to see the world

Progress:
States: Claire 37/50, Tyler 33/50
Countries: Claire 14/203, Tyler 14/203
National Parks: Claire 11/62, Tyler 8/62
State (Date Claire or Tyler First Visited):
California (C: 1/30/2009, T: 5/15/2011)
Hawaii (C: 4/24/2009, T: 8/7/2021)
Missouri (C: 5/22/2009)
Texas (C: 5/25/2009, T: 5/26/2012)
Colorado (C: 11/25/2009, T:8/16/2014)
Iowa (C: 11/25/2009, T: 7/27/2011)
Oklahoma (C: 12/20/2009, T: 12/24/2011)
Arizona (C: 4/02/2010)
Nevada (C: 4/17/2010)
Virginia (C: 5/29/2010, T: 5/27/2011)
Maryland (C: 5/29/2010, T: 3/16/2011)
Delaware (C: 8/05/2010, T: 6/25/2011)
New Jersey (C: 8/05/2010, T: 6/25/2011)
New York (C: 8/05/2010, T: 11/19/2011)
Connecticut(C: 8/08/2010, T: 11/21/2011)
Massachusetts(C: 8/08/2010, T: 11/21/2011)
Kansas (C: 9/05/2010)
Pennsylvania (C: 10/09/10, T: 6/25/2011)
West Virginia (C: 10/17/10, T: 7/6/2012)
North Carolina (C: 12/24/2010, T:4/12/2014)
Florida (C: 12/24/2010, T:2/14/2015)
Illinois (C: 7/27/2011, T: 7/27/2011)
Michigan (C: 9/2/2011, T: 9/2/2011)
Ohio (C: 11/23/2012, T: 11/23/2012)
Vermont (C: 11/28/2013, T: 11/28/2013)
Washington (C: 8/24/2018, T: 8/24/2018)
Tennessee (C: 11/30/2018, T: 12/6/2019)
Maine (C: 8/24/2019, T: 8/24/2019)
South Carolina (C: 11/24/2020, T: 11/24/2020)
Georgia (C: 12/1/2020, T: 12/1/2020)
Louisiana (C: 12/28/2021, T: 12/28/2021)
Mississippi (C: 12/30/2021, T: 12/30/2021)
Oregon (C: 7/19/2022, T: 7/19/2022)
Montana (C: 8/20/2022, T: 8/20/2022)
Wyoming (C: 8/20/2022, T: 8/20/2022)
Idaho (C: 8/20/2022, T: 8/20/2022)

Country (Date Claire or Tyler First Visited):
United States (C: 1/30/2009, T: 3/16/2011)
United Kingdom (England+Scotland) (C: 6/25/2009 T: 8/18/2017)
Mexico (C: 12/09/2012, T: 12/09/2012)
Switzerland (C: 09/18/2013, T: 09/18/2013)
France (C: 09/18/2013, T: 09/18/2013)
Germany (C: 09/20/2013, T: 09/20/2013
Lichtenstein (C: 09/24/2013, T: 09/24/2013
Cayman Islands (C: 02/16/2016, T: 02/16/2016)
Ireland (C: 08/15/2016, T: 08/15/2016)
Bahamas (C: 04/08/2016, T: 04/08/2016)
Canada (C: 07/25/2017, T: 07/25/2017)
Italy (C: 07/25/2018, T: 07/25/2018)
Iceland (C: 07/21/2019, T: 07/21/2019)
Costa Rica (C: 4/07/2022, T: 4/07/2022)

National Park (Date Claire or Tyler First Visited):
Lassen Volcanic National Park (C: 9/3/2009)
Grand Canyon National Park (C: 4/2/2010)
Yosemite National Park (C: 7/4/2010)
Virgin Islands National Park (C: 12/21/2011, T: 12/21/2011)
Cuyhoga Falls National Park (C: 11/23/2012, T: 11/23/2012)
Shenandoah National Park (C: 10/26/2013, T: 10/26/2013)
Rocky Mountain National Park (C: 8/8/2014, T: 8/8/2014)
Olympic National Park (C: 8/27/2018, T: 8/27/2018)
Acadia National Park (C: 8/25/2019, T: 8/25/2019)
Yellowstone (C: 8/20/2022, T: 8/20/2022)
Grand Tetons (C: 8/24/2022, T: 8/24/2022)

Amusement Parks Visited:
Busch Gardens (Pennsylvania) (C: 07/2010)
Sesame Place (Pennsylvania) (C: 06/2011, T: 06/2011)
Dutch Wonderland (Pennsylvania) (C: 06/2013, T: 06/2013)
Adventure Park USA (Maryland) (C: 07/2013, T: 07/2013)
Disneyland (California) (C: 10/28/2013, T: 10/28/2013)
California Adventure (California)(C: 11/1/2013, T: 11/1/2013)
DisneyWorld*4 Parks (Florida) (C: 2/14/2015, T: 2/14/2015)
Six Flags (Maryland) (C: 6/15/2016, T: 6/15/2016)
Universal Studios (California) (C: 8/7/2021, T: 8/7/2021)

Sports Stadiums Visited:
Busch Stadium, St. Louis Cardinals (C: 05/23/2009)
Nationals Stadium, Washington Nationals
Camden Yards, Baltimore Orioles
XFinity Center, Maryland Terrapins