A Day in THE CITY!

We packed up and head to San Fransisco for the day with the kids....Cute Aunt Melly & Porter! They're the best....my kids are OBSESSED with them!
Hmmm.....I wonder why look at Carter being attacked by Porter, his favorite thing and Kate holding tight to Melly's hand! Love it!

Carter chasing the birds by the ferry docks....He thought is was awesome, but then got a little nervous when they all took off at once!

We headed down to the Ferry building to get some yummy tacos at the Farmers Market...he was having a hard time waiting!

Finally....TACO'S!

Bring an Arizona Baby he doesn't get to see the ocean very much...he was fascinated by the huge Ferries that would come and dock.

Cute Rach and Brad....

The kids decided to put on a little street performance....Goofballs....Who knows!

Carter kept going back to the huge ferry, "Take a picture mom!"

Most of the family!

The Fierce~some Threesome!

Kate not so sure about the cold weather....

The MAN cousins!

Then there is Lou-Lou....Strikin a pose in the middle of the city! Work it!

After lunch we hike over to Yurabuena Gardens....Carter and Drew having a very serious conversion. I'm sure about Star Wars or something!

When we finally made it to the park were Kate went NUTZ! This girl has no fear! These slide are FAST & HUGE! Kate climbed right up and came right down. She is flying...notice the hair!

Giggles all the way down....

Here they are at the top....a little perspective of how tall they are!

Melly had on a long sweater that made her EVEN faster....it got a little crazy....she would actually SHOOT out of the slide!

Little Wes was an animal too....slow and steady he would climb up to the top slide by himself and then come flying out! Love it!

Cousin TRAIN...

Lots of wipe-outs at the bottom!

Kate was not so sure about the POWER SPEED SLIDE with Melly!

I love these because of her hair...shows how fast she is really going....

It was so much fun with a few games of Freeze Tag to top it off at the end.....Love it!

Favorite Spot!

All of the sudden the boys disappeared...found them playing on the computer! It was so funny, both Carter & Drew would just watch and cheer for Cole, they were so content not playing!

FINALLY THERE!!!!

After what seemed like FOREVER for Carter we made it to California for Christmas.
No joke I heard him out back screaming at airplanes as they passed over: "Please, Please take me to California!" Needless to say we hit the ground running as soon as we got there, with a 2 week itinerary of what was happening everyday!
1st on the list: COOKIES!
Meet THE Cousins!
Carter thinks that Cole and Drew are the BEST! It is so great to see him idolizes them, plus the best part about it is they are GREAT examples! Nothing better then cousins!

Carter was more into making frosting colors and eating it then actually decorating the cookies!

Cute & Melly and Sammie Lou...

Some of the crew...Carter was too focused to look

Lou was in charge of making them SPARKLE....That required an endless about of sprinkles!

Some of the final products....

It was loud, messy, & tiring....half way through Uncle Porter decided he need a nap!

Polar Express 2010

This year we headed up to the NorthPole with some friends and had a MAGICAL time...(Besides the crazy fog and no snow!)
As a little side note...Kennedy had a little "thing" if you will, for Carter a few months back, and now seems to be completely over him: but now Carter is all about Kennedy and was making sure he could sit by her on the train!
BOYS! They start young!

The Polar Express!

Waiting to board the train....

Trying to get a picture of the 2 year olds...Good Luck!

The boys were much better listeners.

One of the cooks...taking our tickets....

Finally on the TRAIN! Let the cookies, hot chocolate, singing, and stories begin!

This year Carter was all about following along with the story...so cute!
He is just turning into a Big Man!

Kate decided that Nat & Rex would be a great replacement family. She sat with Rex forever...Lucy was nice enough to share her daddy and Rex was nice enough to put up with The Kat!

Looking at the NORTH POLE! We made it!

Then we heard that Santa came on board at the North Pole....Looking for him!

Oh they spotted him....Kate was so excited clapping & screaming
(since that is pretty much her only volume level)
"A give Santa a Hug! A give Santa a Hug!"

But when Santa came she panicked and settled for a High-Five! Carter giving Santa very specific instructions on what he wanted!

This is my FAVORITE picture....Santa told him "Yes" that he would work on that for Christmas! Look how excited he is....Ahhhh the pure MAGIC of Christmas!

And of course no trip is complete to the North Pole without a new shiny Christmas Bell!

It is always a little sad when the train pulls back into the station....Carter said,
"Hey mom, can we go again tonight to the North Pole?"
When explained he had to wait until he was 6 there were almost tears!

I love Christmas Time & how Magical it is for little kids!
It was a great trip...ready to book for 2011!