Zachary's Birthday

We made a weekend trip to Atlanta for Zachary's birthday at the end of January--Em had a great time playing with her cousins and seeing her grandparents and uncles. 

She had some piano practice time with Grandma.

And enjoyed a "second Christmas" since we didn't all get together for Christmas this year.  The age difference between Zachary, Landon and Em is becoming a little more apparent as they get more and more into video games and big boy things--she still wants to play kids' games, but they're pretty patient with her, and can always find compromises with wrestling or pillow fights :).

Games! Games! Games!

On the weekends, Em starts asking if we can play games almost the minute she gets up in the morning.  I found some clearance games at Target after Christmas including this one called Who Shook Hook?  We have played it probably 200 times now, and Em was excited to show it to Grandma and Papa when they were here.

It's actually a pretty fun game--I much prefer it over some of her other favorites :).

 Em has gotten pretty skillful at it too!

 Puzzles are another favorite, and I'm always happy to do these with her because I love them too!

Time Off

We really enjoyed our down time over the holidays--I was off for a 5-day weekend at Christmas and then another 4-day weekend for the New Year, so we got productive.  I've been wanting to paint the dining room, and Em of course wanted to help, tiara and all!

She did a pretty good job until she got bored with it, and then I was left with the rest while she went off to play :).

Later that day, we decided we had worked hard enough, and went for pedicures!

Em loved that the water was her favorite color (blue) and she felt like such a big girl!  At one point, the lady told her to just sit back and relax, and Em said "I could just stay here forever!"  This is only the second time I've ever taken her, so I'm not too worried about starting a bad habit :).

The Polar Express

We went back to Bryson City this year for The Polar Express train ride--it had been two years since we went before, and Em didn't really remember it.  It was fun, but I think it will probably be the last time we go--the value just doesn't seem quite worth it.

 Em loves being able to wear her PJs and pose in front of all the train decorations!

It was chilly, but not freezing cold.

Of course she found the golden ticket for a picture.

And she loves that the conductor punches the ticket just like in the movie.

The servers do bring the delicious hot chocolate and cookies, also like the movie.

And once the train stops at the North Pole, Santa gets on the train and comes around to greet each child with a silver sleigh bell.  Em's clothes are different here because she spilled hot chocolate all over her nightgown--luckily, I brought a change of clothes for her since we weren't even halfway through the ride when it happened!

When we got off the train back in Bryson City, we drove to meet my parents to pick up my mom--we're excited for her to come stay with us for a few days!

Christmas Morning

Em really didn't have much of a Christmas list this year--she asked for building blocks, dominos, a Jasmine doll, a sword and shield, and at the last minute, she decided she wanted a lovie parrot (a small stuffed parrot).  Amazon Prime really came in handy for me this year!

We planned to get her a trampoline too (a small 7-foot one), but Mick was putting it together in the garage on Christmas Eve and there was a small tear in the mesh part.  It was obviously too late to take it back and exchange it, so we just decided not to give it to her.

She was super excited Christmas morning--in addition to the things on her list, Santa also brought a View Master (I loved this toy growing up!), a little baby fox that Em had been checking out, and some other cool toys.

She loved Merida and her horse Angus,

along with her lovie parrot and a stuffed kitty.

Her favorite was the sword and shield!

It was a fun Christmas day, spent at home with yummy food and lots of play time!

Christmas Eve

We were off work on Christmas Eve, and Emily was out of school, so we had an action-packed day of cookie baking planned!  Em and I had a ball making multiple kinds of cookies.  She loves helping in the kitchen, and is really good at it too.

I think decorating is really her favorite part though!

These are white chocolate covered Oreos with orange M&Ms for snowman noses.

Here are some of our finished cookies.

And a few more--I saw the idea for the big reindeer on Pinterest (it's a gingerbread man turned upside down).  We had such a great time making these, even though they're not all beautiful :).

And of course, Em had a great time sampling them.

We also had the great privilege of babysitting George, Em's class guinea pig, over the Christmas holiday.  He had a nice spot right on the dining room table where Gracie and Bella couldn't reach him--but they were very curious about a new strange animal in the house.

Em absolutely loved taking care of him--he got lots of yummy treats (strawberries, carrots, cucumbers) and plenty of attention.

After Em's bath that night, she peeled carrots for the reindeer,

and picked out the perfect cookies to put out for Santa!

She hadn't had a nap all day, so she went to bed pretty easily that night!

Nutcracker

A friend of mine at work has a daughter in ballet who was dancing in the Nutcracker, and I'd been wanting to take Em this year, so we got tickets for just the two of us.  At the last minute, I decided we'd take the light rail instead of drive, and it turned out to be a big hit for Em.

 I honestly think she was as excited about taking the train as she was about going to the ballet!

We got to uptown with plenty of time to walk to the theater and pose with the toy soldiers.

Em had asked for seats in the balcony, so she was excited to see how high up we were!

The ballet was beautiful, but a little long still for Em--she loved the story, but the second act felt like it went on forever.  Without much action and with no dialogue, I'm not sure we'll be coming back until she's a little older and can appreciate it a little more!

Frozen Christmas at Blakeney

Blakeney, our go-to shopping center, advertised a Frozen-themed Christmas event on Friday and Saturday night, so of course, we had to be there.  Em enjoyed playing on the sleigh, 

and had to strike a pose--after all, she was wearing her tiara.

They had the main characters from Frozen ready to take pictures with the kids--and yes, we had Em's Elsa dress in tow so she could put it on over her clothes for the festivities.

She decided she wanted a picture with just Kristoff and Sven :).

Here's the lovely Mrs. Claus.

And of course Santa!

One of the Elves.

They also had horse-drawn carriage rides, and Em wanted to pose with the horses.

It was a fun, cold night!  We couldn't get close enough to hear what she asked Santa for, but she's still telling us she wants blocks, dominoes and a Jasmine doll.

Christmas at the Garden

We decided to go back to Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden this year since it was raining when we went last year, but we loved the Santa there so much.

We went on a Saturday night, not long before they closed, and the line to get in was so long that we only had an hour once we got in the door.  We went to see Santa first.

It was the same Santa, and he's really great.  The room is beautifully decorated, and he's so good with the kids.

He called Em out for being sassy this year!

The lights at the garden are really beautiful, but it's tough to get great pictures.

Em enjoyed being outside and seeing all of the displays.

At the end of the night, we were among the last group who got on the horse drawn carriage.

The ride wasn't the best part of the night, but Em loves the horses so much that it topped her list for sure!

Maybe next year we'll actually get there earlier one night and have plenty of time to enjoy the gardens!