Big shoes to fill

Okay, so Saturday's game was sorely disappointing...but at least we had good entertainment aside from the TV. Eli had a great time playing with Dada's shoes. He tried to walk in them, but couldn't get anywhere, so he just stayed in one spot putting his feet in them, taking them out again, and so on. You may also notice the cheesy smile on his face. It's a trend lately for him to scrunch up his nose and show off his teeth the second he sees the camera. By the way, he's not picking his nose here...I asked him to show me his "scrunchy nose smile," so pointed to his nose, smiled, and said "noh" (that's "nose" for anyone not fluent in Eli-ese). Such a cutie!

Puddlejumper

We may not have had sun or rainbows after the rain, but we had plenty of fun puddles to stomp in. We put on Eli's rainboots and finally got some outside play time...and it sure was fun! Eli found this one long puddle at the end of our neighbor's driveway and just stomped back and forth over and over. As you can see, he was having a great time.

If funnest was a word, this would be the funnest place ever!

We've discovered a new favorite place to play...KidsQuest children's museum in Factoria (for those who aren't local, it's about 20 minutes from home). We decided to get a membership since it was comparatively inexpensive, nearby, and most important - Eli has a blast there! There are so many things to do and explore. Take a look...

A really cool rocking boat with steering wheel,

a xylophone and other instruments,

a "pots and pans" drum set (and a "sole-ful" piano made of sneakers (not shown)), a lawnmower (always the first thing Eli looks for when we go!),
a huge train table with lots of trains,
and maybe best of all...an amazing water play area!

...where Eli gets soaked (despite the smock)!

and that's not even close to everything they have at this place. Fellow moms who live nearby, we definitely recommend it!

Jessica Seinfeld rocks!

For those who haven't heard, the latest rave among moms of toddlers in Jessica Seinfeld's new cookbook Deceptively Delicious. The whole premise is "hiding" vegetables in regular foods. You puree the vegetables and use them in foods that can mask their real flavors. The first receipe I tried was a bust, but tonight was attempt number two, and boy was it a whopping success! I made macaroni and cheese with "hidden" beans and cauliflower, adding tons protein and lots of great vitamins to a common kid-favorite. I wasn't sure Eli would eat it in the first place because he's never really had mac & cheese before. However, our little man sat at the table and ate two bowlfuls of this healthy concoction - grinning ear to ear the entire time! Phenomenal! Thank you, Unkie, for the awesome Christmas gift! And thanks Mrs. Seinfeld for your great innovations. :)

On the sixth day of Christmas...

Alright, at long last...the Christmas post! Sorry it took so long. Now that we're back to "normal" life, it's harder to find time to post...especially a long post like this is bound to be. Besides, Christmas lasted several days due to the start of our celebration on Christmas Eve and the continuous arrival of packages for several days after Christmas! Anyway, we had a great Christmas! We continue to be so blessed by the Lord, and so grateful for the ultimate gift of salvation through Jesus. As far as earthly gifts, we were generously blessed there, too. Eli had a great time opening his presents, particularly ripping the wrapping paper. Obviously we don't often tell him to rip things, so being encouraged to tear paper was quite exciting! In several cases when he reached the gift he would toss it aside and keep ripping the wrapping. It was very amusing! Not to worry, though, gift-givers; Eli is loving all of his new toys! He is having a great time breaking them all in, while (fortunately) not actually breaking them. :) We spent parts of three days in a row at Nana and Pa's house. We had the pleasure of spending a few hours with Andrew and Jill before they headed back to Spokane for Jill to sing in their church's Christmas Eve service. We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas Eve service with our own congregation, too. On Christmas day Eli spent the whole day (including dinner at Nana & Pa's) in his new pajamas - which are his new favorites thanks to the cars, trucks, trains, and helicopters all over them! The day after Christmas we returned for dinner again, and Eli had a grand old time helping Nana make the dinner rolls! Needles to say, we had a wonderful Christmas. Thank you to everyone who sent gifts, we deeply appreciate your generosity. Merry Christmas to everyone, and may God bless you tremendously in the new year!

Oh, the beautiful sun!

Welcome to Anaheim! Almost from the moment our plane touched the ground, the California native in me was jumping for joy! I can't tell you how nice it was to wear flip-flops and t-shirts in December. :) I know you Northwest natives (and those elsewhere) appreciate your four distinct seasons, but I still miss the beautiful year-round sunshine. As I've said before, you can take the girl out of CA, but you can't take CA out of the girl. :) Anyway, about the trip...

First, our little man did an amazing job handling getting up at 4:30 a.m.! We also experienced an unheard-of blessing on the plane...it wasn't full, and we were able to get a row of three seats together. It really helped Eli to have his own seat. He enjoyed looking out the window and pushing the buttons (don't worry, we didn't let him push the button to beckon the flight attendant!).

The highlight of the trip for Eli was his new best friend, Sierra, who is the daughter of one of the other coaches. Sierra is 10 months older than Eli, and boy did the two of them bond! Our rooms were just across the hall from each other, and anytime Eli heard Sierra in the hall, his face lit up and he said "Sierra! Friend!" They played together the entire trip, went to Disneyland and a basketball game together, shared toys and snacks, danced together (even under tables), and ran and ran and ran...it was great! Not a day has gone by since returning home that Eli hasn't asked for Sierra. It was also a real blessing for me to have another mom around, especially one whose company I really enjoy (thanks, Lena!).

We did, of course, go to Disneyland - twice! Eli's still too young to really "get" it, but there were definitely some things he enjoyed. The "It's a Small World" ride was his favorite, and we rode it twice (would have done more had it not been for the lines!). His eyes were wider than they've ever been as we rode the boat through the brightly decorated tunnel. He pointed, danced, and asked for more! :) He also really enjoyed the Christmas parade, and was a huge fan of the Disneyland Railroad train that goes around the park. We planned to ride it just from one side of the park to the other, but Eli enjoyed it so much that we made a round and a half! Eli's other favorite thing at Disneyland was Goofy's house. Goofy's playground (specifically the slide) was a big hit with our little guy. Goofy also has a kid-size piano that plays some pretty goofy notes, and Eli had a great time playing it.

Eli got to hang out with a couple of different Santas. One in our hotel, and one in the California Adventure hotel. He never got around to actually sitting on Santa's lap, but he did become more comfortable with the big man in red.

Two of our favorite photos from the trip were both taken on the day we returned home. We had a lot of time to kill at the Long Beach airport, and fortunately we were able to spend most of it outside. Their baggage claim is outside, and Eli was very intrigued by it. He really wanted to walk on it, and once he managed to climb up onto it before I got to him. As soon as I said "Eli, we need to get down from there" he layed down on the conveyer belt! Fortunately I had the camera in my pocket to catch the cute shot. We didn't realize until later that he had layed down right next to the sign that says (in more words) "stay off!" When we arrived in the Seattle airport, Eli insisted on carrying his own backpack. The amusing thing was the way he carried it...which made perfect sense since everyone else was dragging their bags behind them! Pretty clever kid! :)

It was a great trip, but we were also glad to get back home...especially for Christmas! I promise to do a Christmas post very soon, but this one took a really long time, and I need a break. :)

Reindeer!

Here's a little-known fact about Santa's reindeer...they live in Issaquah, WA at the Cougar Mountain Zoo! Each December, the zoo hosts the Issaquah Reindeer Festival where the young and young-at-heart can come visit Santa in his house, feed his reindeer, enjoy story times with elves, etc. Eli has been very into Santa, and maybe even more into his reindeer ("dee!") this Christmas season, so we just had to go! Despite the forecast of rain all day, we got up and out this morning, praying through the whole drive that we'd get at least a short time at the zoo rain-free. God was faithful, and we had a clear (albeit cold!) day to enjoy the festivities. Needless to say, Eli absolutely loved the reindeer!! He was a bit shy with Santa, but after much coaxing he did give old St. Nick a high-five. :) I, of course, missed the shot with the camera...catching only the shy moments. The really cute thing was when nap time rolled around and we read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas; Eli pointed to his jolly pal and said "five" and gave the illustrated Santa a high-five! It was so cute! Anyway, we had a great trip to the zoo, and Eli even got to ride in Santa's sleigh!