Weekend Review- Relatives, Party, Santa, & Shopping

We had very busy weekend!  My baby sister (well, she just turned 29, but she is still my baby sister), was visiting this weekend from out-of-state. 

On Saturday morning, we met her, my sister, my brother-their spouses, and of course my niece for breakfast.  Then we took the kids to the park for an hour.  Ryan had a great time playing with his aunts and uncles, and Cole, just loves slides.  He has no fear.  He climbed up the tallest slide at the park, which had to be about 30 feet, turns around and slides down, feet first.  He laughs, and just wants to do it again, and again.

On Saturday night, Ryan and I attended a house-warming party of a friend, who moved into a new house (they had it built), about two months ago.  Unfortunately, Cole has been teething, and the excitement of the park and with his teething, he was very cranky.  Joe stayed home with Cole, since he was not in a very good party mood. 

Ryan had fun at the party, playing with a new set of three-year-old boy toys, which included new Thomas toys, he doesn’t have, and a little airplane, which was the hit of the evening.  I had fun too, visiting with some friends, and meeting some new people.  My friend’s new house is beautiful.  One of the things I liked best about it, is it has the laundry room upstairs, right next to the bedrooms.  I have seen that in new home models, and it always seemed like it makes a lot of sense- saving you time from lugging the laundry downstairs, and then lugging it back again.  At any rate, we were both having such a nice time, we were one of the last people to leave, which doesn’t happen very often. 

On Sunday, we met Joe’s sister, her kids (the cousins), and her husband at a amusement park, about two hours from our house. It had lots of rides that were just right for Ryan and Cole, and Santa was there! When it was Ryan’s turn, he just hopped on Santa’s lap, and started to tell him the one gift he wants, and how hold he is. 

The rest of the day was spent riding rides with the cousins. We left about three, and then went to my dad’s house, who made a wonderful Mexican food meal for us.  We finally arrived back home at 7. The boys played for a while, took their baths, and were conked out, shortly after.  They slept wonderfully last night. 

Today Ryan, Cole, and I met my sisters at a mall for lunch, so we could see my sister one last time before she left tonight.  It was so nice to see her.  I hope we will be able to go visit her soon.  When Ryan saw her at the mall, he ran to her with his arms wide open for a hug.

After lunch, my sisters had to get to some shops, and get my sister to the airport, so the boys and I returned a shirt at a store, and then went to play at a Pottery Barn Kids.  They always have such neat toys there.  I was bummed to see a lot of the toys were made in China, though.  I just don’t feel confident right now, buying pained toys from China. 

I had been wondering what to get Cole for Christmas- for some reason I have been drawing a blank.  He always plays with what Ryan has, but I want him to have something just for him.  After spending an hour in PBK, I was at a loss, no more.  He absolutely LOVED their cash register.   I was going to get it for him, but it was $59, and the money was $9.  I think that is kind of expensive.  I think I’ll look around and see if I can find something that may be more reasonably priced first.  He really just liked putting the credit card in the slot, which beeped.  So, a cash register with a credit card slot that beeps, is now on my list. 

(***UPDATE*** As soon as I was done writing this, I Googled play cash registers, and this one from Target came up- I’ll be making a stop there tomorrow- it even has TWO credit cards!****)

I did end up buying this play-mat for their train table.  Ryan really likes lining up his cars, and pretending they are on the street, so this should be a big hit, come Christmas. 

I am really excited for Christmas this year.  I think because finally, at least Ryan is old enough to really be in to it.  In previous years, it seemed like a lot of work, when the boys really wouldn’t have cared one way or another.  Ryan is talking about the Christmas tree, the lights, and the decorations.  It makes it that much more exciting for me, to try to make this time special and memorable for them.  I want them to always remember Christmas time as being special, magical, and fun.