The minis and I had a VERY full weekend while the Hubs was off at work (he is a manager at a UPS Store so this is an insane time of year for him). Our Saturday included a coffee date at Starbucks, a visit to the bank (where the minis informed the teller they were running low on "the good kinds of suckers"), Barnes and Noble, Santa at the Zoo, lunch at our fave Chinese place, power naps, looking at Christmas lights, seeing the Santa at the mall, and Christmas present shopping.
Sunday was spent cleaning the house (and making room for new daycare toys that will arriving this week!), prepping for the week ahead, laundry, writing (my oldest started working on our second book--this kid is full of ideas!), and more looking at Christmas lights.
Off on our Mommy and Minis Day!
The best Starbucks coffee dates around!
We visited my sister (also referred to as Aunt Jenny) at Everybody Wins! Iowa's book fair at Barnes and Noble. We happily helped out a great cause by buying LOTS of Christmas books. We also got to stay for story time with Clifford.
We waited in line for nearly two hours to visit the zoo's Santa! Luckily, they had volunteers along the way with cool things for the kids to touch and learn about (their favorite was the turtle shell).
At our favorite Chinese place in Des Moines: Shan Yuen.
We drove down our favorite street for Christmas lights in Beaverdale.
Elizabeth blew us kisses from the mall train as they rode by.
Even though the kids have seen eight Santa's so far this year, they wanted to stop and see the Santa at the mall (again, for the third time), write their lists (in case Santa forgot), and mail it.
We looked at Christmas lights again Sunday night. Unfortunately, the kids were NOT well behaved at all and Matt informed the kids we would not be going to Jolly Holiday Lights next year. However, I do recommend going. Most kids love it (but apparently not mine) and all proceeds go to Make A Wish foundation.
Sunday I was sent into a tizzy when I realized that Christmas is only a week and a half away! Since we got the minis very few gifts this year (http://ashlen-kidspert.blogspot.com/2014/11/experiences-for-christmas.html) I've lost all track of my shopping time for other people. Looks like I'll have a busy week of running around in the evenings after the minis are in bed. Tis' the season. Next weekend is already our very first family Christmas of the season and the kids couldn't be more excited to begin the celebration!