Waiting to see Santa
Ian hasn't shown any fear of Santa Claus from the beginning and this year was no different. He patiently waited his turn and told Santa all about his Christmas list: Wingo, DJ, Snot Rod, Boost, Sally, Flo, helicopter, Frank, and tractor are his most important items this year...all characters from Disney's Cars 1. I hope Santa knows how to shop on eBay because those characters were first released in 2006!
We took Ian to Busch Gardens for Christmas Town. The lights were incredible but for Ian the biggest surprise was getting to see the Sesame Street Christmas Show. He's missed his weekly Elmo visits! Of course we had to stop by the bumper cars on the way out!
Ian's first metro ride
Sweet cousins
We spent Thanksgiving in Alexandria with Papaw and the Haverstick crew this year. Ian loves playing football and wrestling with his cousins and Fred and Paul enjoy frying up the Thanksgiving bird! We rode the metro to the zoo for Zoo Lights and attempted a little ice skating. It was a great trip and we're very thankful that Elana and Paul have lived so close over the last year and half. Maybe we'll venture out to Kansas next Thanksgiving!
After much deliberation, Ian finally chose to be Buzz Lightyear for Halloween. It came as a surprise since Cars are his true love, but Buzz does have a cool factor that little boys seem to like. He's been practicing his best Buzz impression by leaping (and I mean leaping) off the couch while exclaiming "To infinity and beyond!" We spent Halloween with Coco and Big Daddy (who were visiting for the week) while eating pizza by the firepit. Ian really enjoyed going door to door asking for candy from our neighbors and made a few attempts the next day to continue Halloween. Explaining that it's socially acceptable to do this one time a year seems cruel to a two year old!
We took a drive to Pumpkinville to choose the perfect pumpkin for the season. As always, Ian was a huge help and picked an "Ian-sized" pumpkin just for him!
One of Ian's absolute favorite things to do is play football outside with Daddy and the "big boys." He's catching the ball really well and learning to kick with Daddy's help.
This is the second year for us to visit Renwood Farms in the fall. There's so much to do and explore. Petting farm, tractor hayride, kiddie maze, slides and haybails...it's all about fall fun at the farm!
Fred and Ian spent some time learning how to make "scared faces" for Halloween while Ian was wearing his new Halloween pjs. Love seeing his personality come out!
We took Ian to see Sesame Street Live and watched him dance, bounce, and wave at Elmo and friends for an hour. He couldn't understand why he wasn't allowed on stage for hugs and pictures like at Busch Gardens but really enjoyed watching the show.
We got to spend the week in Nags Head, NC enjoying one of my favorite things on earth! Ian loved running up and down the shore, playing in the water, and building sand castles. He even got to pet a blowfish that a man caught off shore. Unfortunately Fred developed viral meningitis during the trip and spent several days in bed before returning home for an extensive hospital stay. But, we did get a few playtime pictures before the sickness set in!
Ian got to "drive" his first race car with Fred at a race car track in Nags Head. His smile was huge during each turn. It was a priceless moment for us to see Ian experience in "real life" what he plays with every day.
We took Ian to the North Carolina Aquarium while on vacation in Nags Head. He liked seeing the "big fishy" (better known as a shark) and thought the baby alligator was funny. He especially enjoyed the sea turtle display.
