Christmas - Bavarian Style

I'm not sure what Santa told them, but those are the faces of kids that think they're getting more than coal in their stocking.

We're definitely at the age where Audrey can be very helpful. In other words, she's past the stage where she thinks she's being "helpful", but really you have to redo whatever task you've delegated to her and it takes you twice as long. Lisa would argue I'm still in the "helpful" stage.

Sam doesn't even qualify for the "helpful" stage. He's still in the "don't touch anything" stage. Here he's claiming he will cast a spell and the tree will be done. ABRA-CADABRA!!!!

WHOA SAM!!!!

We tagged along with good friends on their holiday tradition and went to Leavenworth for a couple of nights. My previous experience in Leavenworth was a LOT of drive by's and one Oktoberfest. Safe to say, this place is on its game in December. The town hadn't seen snow since Thanksgiving, so the small sledding hill in town was actually just a series of ice-chutes. Bring it on said Sam! Faster, faster!!!

Ice down the back of my pants?! Who cares, let's do it again!

Little miss cautious on the other hand decided that the "snow" was unfit for sledding. "Dad, snow is actually soft. This is not soft, so this is not snow".

A day later, and maybe a bribe or two later . . . she jumped on. It's safe to say when these kids are teenagers and we get a call from the school or heaven forbid the "authorities", we'll be 99% sure who the call is about.

The classic "Hey this is fun . . . why was I so scared" smile.

Okay, maybe a sleigh ride was one of the bribes to get Audrey on the sled. : )

Oh Leavenworth . . . where else are you going to get random table side visits from Father Christmas?!

Dylan and Dalanie, great neighborhood friends of the kids. The danger with friend vacations is a simple family vacation is going to seem downright boring.

Sam and Dalanie led the restaurant in a rousing rendition of the Chicken Dance. Sure, it's fun at a randmon wedding. But a live accordian in a Bavarian restaurant is tough to beat.

In the classic "arranged marriage" joke, here go Sam and Dalanie with their wedding coordinator to talk rates at the Enzian Inn for a December 2037 wedding. I mean, they already know how to bring down the house with the Chicken Dance!

Fall has fallen!

I don't have much to say other than this is easily one of my favorite pictures of all time. Classic fall picture that reminds us of what a beautiful area we live in.

OK . . . in what can only be described as a textbook sibling rivalry example, listen to the exchange:

Audrey: I'm winning, I'm winning, I'm winning!!!!!

Sam: No you're not, no you're not, no you're not!

Over . . . and over . . . and over again.

Lisa's (and now our) family tradition is to head to Stanwood on the weekend after Thanksgiving to cut down the Christmas tree.

Dad: Hey Sam, Dad's been cutting down the tree for 10 years now. How 'bout you get down here and take a pull.

Sam: Dad, I'm not allowed to play with saws. Plus, I helped with the lights, remember.

Dad: Sam, I'm not sure what you did with the lights can be classified as helping.

Sam: True dat Dad. Fair enough, want some of my hot cocoa?

Dad: Hey Audrey, how about a little help from you?

Audrey: Dad, you know I'm really only here for the picture!

If you've received our Christmas card you know the while Audrey lobbied for this to be the central picture, she did not get her wish.

Dad: Lisa?

Lisa: I'm on it. Don't lose the kids.

Dad: Don't look now, but they may be getting along! No seriously Lisa, don't look . . . keep cutting.

Oooohhhh Mexico!

Okay, quick window into one of the ongoing Lisa and Tony marital "discussions".
Lisa: I hate those stupid cars! You bump into every grocery display!
Tony: Those cars are awesome. I want to ride in one!

So here we are, Audrey taking dad's side and wanting to ride with Sam. Ignoring the fact that she's 6 and he's 3 and they are both . . . well . . . huge for their age. As you can see, it turned out poorly. Score one for Lisa.

We recently got a brand new fire station near our house. Nothing christens a new fire station like a neighborhood pancake feed.

It's always funny to see the shock on the kid's faces when they run in to neighbors at a "neighborhood event". I love how small the world is to them.

Little punks.

Oh how kind the last year has been to Audrey and Sam's relationship. He's truly grown into a playmate vs. simply an "attention stealer" . . .

. . . or he does whatever the heck she tells him to do! "Whatever dad, we all have our price!".

October brought the much awaited trip to Mexico (Sam's first trip on a plane). The sad thing is, he really thought he was going to get to fly the plane!

Instead, we piled into bulkhead row 6. That's a very minor barrier to first class! Whatever they paid for those seats, I'm sure it wasn't worth the mayhem directly behind them.

Whoever had seat 6F after us had a surprise waiting for them. I hope they like Cars!

Finally, the beach!!!! Hey kids, check out the nice calm waves . . .

SAM, GRAB MY HAND!!! AUDREY, HOLD YOUR BREATH AND SWIM!!! SWIM AUDREY, SWIM!!!

Much to my delight, and Lisa's chagrin, the kids absolutely loved the ocean. Though a life jacket for Audrey would have made everyone feel a little better.

Ahhhh, much safer territory.

We cut the vacation one day short to make sure we got home the day before Halloween. However, getting to a pumpkin patch was out of the question. So, for the 3rd year in a row we rolled down to the Yakima Fruit Stand to "hunt" for pumpkins. At this point, the kids have no idea this isn't really a pumpkin patch.

"Audrey, would you rather have one more day in Mexico?". "Ummm, dad, are you kidding me?!". "Would you trade that KitKat for one more day?". "Dad, are you going to take my candy when I go to bed?".

If you are one of those people who put out an "honor bowl" and then go trick-or-treating with your kids, well then Sam is your nemesis. I can't count how many pieces of candy I had to return to the bowl because he simply doesn't have the will power to take just one.

"Dad, I need to put some meat on these bones! Give me a break!". "Oh, but have you seen my new toe nail polish?".

Goodbye Summer & Hello PreSchool!

If you scroll down to last month's blog you'll see the extreme disappointment in Sam's face as Audrey took her 1st day of school pictures. He knew he was starting school this year, but didn't get the concept of . . .
Mom = Sam honey, you start on September 6th, after Labor Day. Audrey starts on August 31st, before Labor Day.
Sam = LABOR WHAT?!!!! I WANT TO GO TO PRESCHOOL!!!!!
Well here's your chance knucklehead . . . but you better take school seriously!

"OK guys, I'll take is super-sam-serious!". Oh boy, expectations are low for this little guy!

If you know our kids, you know that the concept of sibling love takes a MAJOR backseat to sibling rivalry.

Here Audrey is holding Sam's hand at his school before his first day started. She's telling him everything is going to be ok. Safe to say daddy tears up everytime he thinks about this little exchange.

Alright Sam, one of these knuckleheads next to you will either be your best-bud, or your playground rival . . . choose wisely!

September ended summer with some great final days of sun.

"Hey kids, let's go to the fountain park!".

"Yeah dad, lets go. Hey dad, where is the sand? You told me to bring my swimsuit!".

"SAM!!! Don't trust that boy! He will bait you in to the water cannon!".

In the end, both kids got what they were looking for.

Sam had to be pulled away from the fountain . . . and by pulled I mean "Hey Sam, do you know what cotton-candy is?".

Who remembers hugs so hard that they smash your face? That gives me a good idea, hey Lisa, come here . . . .

Sam decided to practice his cannon-ball instead.

We headed up to Anacortes for a simple bbq and unbelievably we couldn't fit everything in the car. I had to break-out the roof top storage thingy.

"Hey dad, give me some juice and a snack and I'll ride up here!".

Really Sam? What the heck are they teaching you in pre-school?!

"Well Dad, they're teaching me this awesome swing trick. You wind it up, climb on, and then let it gooooo . . . Ummm, Dad . . . I feel kinda sick".

"Oh yeah, and I learned how to chill-out. Audrey taught me this one".

Sorry Sam, I know your sister. In no circumstance do the words "chill-out" apply to her.

OK, so school may not be Sam's thing. He'll have to support himself somehow, so we went to the driving range to see if golf would be "his thing" . . . .

"DAD!!! WHERE DID THE BALL GO?!!!".

Well, I guess we'll keep trying to find "his thing".

Hey! I think we've found it! A couple of streets away from us a new housing development has started construction. This is darn-near Disneyland for a 3 year old boy!

See you next month!