Days of Creation

It's time to go get our Christmas Tree!!

I look forward to coming out to Days of Creation tree farm every year.  Our schedule is alot fuller this year, so finding a day we could go was a bit of a challenge, but tonight is the night!  I prefer to find a tree in daylight, but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do.  The kids still had a blast and we found a beautiful tree...what more can I ask for?!?

Once we had our wagon we headed out to the trees, but first we made a quick stop to see the goats.

Beautiful trees everywhere!!  Let's go find our perfect tree!!!

Racing the setting sun, we ran through the fields until we finally found a tree that was just right!

Kate always wants a Charlie Brown Christmas tree...maybe for her room next year...but she too was happy with this beautiful tree.  Time to chop it down and bring it home!

While Daddy figured out how to cut down the tree, the kids took the time to play and "surf" in the wagon.

Now the real work begins...

Kate helped saw, Gabe held the flashlight, and Grant supervised the whole operation.

This picture captures Kate & Gabe's very different personalities almost perfectly!  :)  Love them both!!

Final steps:  Shake out the bugs and dead limbs, bag it, tie it on top of the van, and bring home our Christmas Tree!!  Thank you Day of Creation tree farm for another year of great family fun and memories!!

Christmas snack

The kids and I decided to make a Christmas snack...then they wanted to take pictures.  :)

St Marys White Lighting

Tonight is our city's turn to light up the streets!!  Santa and Mrs Claus will soon be riding in on a horse drawn carriage, followed by dancers and carolers, lighting the street and ending at the big Christmas tree at the waterfront.  We met up with lots of friends and had fun while watching for Santa.

Once Santa arrived where we waited, we followed in line with everyone else and eventually made our way to the giant Christmas tree.  Santa lifted his arms and like magic, the tree was lit!

My dad drove to pick us up at the waterfront to drive us back to our cars, several blocks back.  It was beginning to rain as we reached the tree and we were several blocks from our car.  But, you might notice that Gabe doesn't look too happy in this picture. Well, that's because he wasn't.  About a block before the Christmas tree he realized that he didn't have his loveys with him and went into a total meltdown!!  He was pulling my arms to go back to the car, crying, and refusing to keep walking.  Gabe loves his loveys, but this was crazy!  I don't know if something scared him or what prompted this meltdown, but it was awful!  In his 5 years of life I don't think Gabe has ever had this kind of reaction to missing his loveys...or anything for that matter!  Let's hope this is also the last time....  He cried all the way home until he was reunited with his loveys.

Jax Electric Boat Parade

Typically, we would be going to Jekyll Island tonight for their annual Christmas Tree Lighting.  But this year, we decided to try something different.  The Jacksonville Electric Boat Parade has always sounded like something the kids would enjoy, so we picked this year to go see what it's all about.  We arrived early enough to get a great parking space, enjoy a quick dinner, then find a perfect spot to watch the parade.  It was FREEZING tonight, but it sure was beautiful to watch the sunset across the water!!

Sadly, this turned out a little blurry, but you can see we have

a front row spot on the second floor looking over the water...

As the sun completely disappeared below the horizon, hundreds of people began to arrive and the bridge lights began to shine.  We also spotted Santa Claus hiding out in plain clothes to watch the parade!!

I mentioned that we got here early for a good spot.  Well, we got a great spot, but then we waited and waited and froze while we waited.  :)  But, the kids were amazing under the circumstances.

Once the parade finally began the boats were pretty cool.  We all loved seeing them go by and circle the pond....the first time.  I'm going to try and paint a picture of our evening...  Remember, it's freezing!!!  And these boats move really slow, around a pretty big body of water, making a giant circle.  We had waited over an hour for the parade to start, then the parade lasted about an hour.  We expected the fireworks would begin soon....we were very wrong!!  The boats began to circle around again!  Another 45 minutes or so go by.  The kids loved the first time around, the second time around they were beginning to lose interest and we were all getting colder.  A man standing nearby said they always circle twice.  Okay, I don't understand twice, but I guess these boat owners did work hard and want to be remembered.  Now, let the fireworks begin!!  But wait, tell me it isn't so.....the boats are coming around again!!!!  NOOOOOO!  :/  It was almost comical, we couldn't believe what we were seeing!  The kids had completely stopped watching by the third round.

After that final time around we had begun to wonder if maybe the fireworks just weren't going to happen this year...  But, several hours later, a most spectacular fireworks display began!!  I don't know if we will come back to this event again, but these were by far the best fireworks we have ever seen!!!  The bridges exploded in beautiful colors and then a waterfall of fireworks cascaded down the sides....amazing!!!

We loved the fireworks just as much as the kids!!!

Okay, so I can't let this evening's adventure be told without also including a side story about the little lady in the picture below...to the right of Grant.  We got here early to get a great spot...so did many others.  Well, this little lady might be little, but she is very aggressive and during the 30 minutes or so before the parade began, she pushed and prodded and weaseled her way right up to the front!  I did my best for the longest time to keep her back, even suggesting spots down below with openings.  But, this woman was unbelievable and slowly but surely pushed into all of us on the front line enough to get a spot.  She also kept talking about all her supposed ailments and the fact that she was as short as a child in hopes that somebody would let her in front of them.  But when that wasn't working, she just kept pushing.  I couldn't believe that she actually made it right next to us by the time it all started!  It was almost as amazing as the fireworks...  :)

 BEAUTIFUL!!!!!

We were all frozen by this point, but we decided to walk back to the big Christmas tree for a picture.

Fun night....full of great memories....but I think you'll find us back at Jekyll next year!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Life has been moving way too fast lately!!!  I can't believe it is Thanksgiving....and Christmas is just around the corner!  Grant's first year is just flying by....  Looking back over 2012, we have so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.  God has blessed our family beyond what we could have ever imagined possible this year.  He has given us a precious baby boy to add to our family, blessed us with an amazing home, provided for all of our needs, and surrounded us with so many wonderful family and friends!!

Thank you God for these three little blessings!!!

We had a fairly slow start to our day, but then it was time to head down to Jacksonville to spend the evening with family.  We had less family in town this year than usual, but we still had a wonderful time and ate way too much yummy food!  :)

The Bare Family Thanksgiving....minus a few.  ;)

These crazy cousins always have so much fun together,

but getting them to stay still long enough for a picture is NOT an easy task!  :)

Love these kiddos!!!

My sweet boy!

I thought this was such a sweet picture of my Grandma and Grant.

Is it time to eat??!?

My aunt is long past the days of a high chair, and I didn't think about the fact we would need one, so she and I came up with a make-shift solution for Grant: a chair, covered with a towel, using a belt to strap him in.  Kind of did the trick...but Grant knew it wasn't right and wanted out after a few minutes.  the kids and I also pureed the food to make baby food for Grant.  I thought he would LOVE it but I think being in this chair totally threw him off.  He tasted a few bites but then wanted out for a bottle instead.  And obviously we weren't actually going to let him eat this giant turkey leg, but we had to at least show it to him for his 1st Thanksgiving!

Santa arrive at The Ritz

Tonight we are headed south to see Santa arrive at The Ritz Carlton to light up their big tree!  We have never come to this particular tree lighting in the past, but were excited it worked out for us this year because free evenings are few and far between and I wanted to bring the kids to see the giant gingerbread boat!  I'm not so sure they appreciated how amazing it is that this giant ship is edible, but they thought it was pretty cool.  :)

We also decided to invite the kids' good friend Griffin to join us for an evening of fun!

While waiting for the events to begin, the kids enjoyed running around

and listening to the music of several children's choirs and watching festive dance groups.

We also snacked on not-so-yummy cookies and delicious hot chocolate.  LOL!

I think the cookies were a bit too gourmet for the kiddos.  ;)

Finally....time for the main event!!!

Santa & Mrs Claus rode in on a fancy car and lit up the tree and the sky!

Beautiful fireworks.....wonderful night!

The weather was perfect, the kids had a blast, and we are ready for Christmas!!!

Grant was so cute tonight and loved flirting with the crowd, but he was a little thrown off by the fireworks...

Magic wishing dust was passed out to everyone.  The kids threw it in the air and made their wishes!

No one would tell me what they wished for.....

Grant found his Elf Family!

These ladies were ready to take him back to the North Pole with them, but Kate and I weren't letting him out of our sight!  :)