Santa Scott was hard at work on Christmas Eve assembling the trampoline after Luke went to bed. Three hours later after working in the conditions of a cold and dimly lit backyard, the trampoline was assembled and ready for action.
Luke was so amazed at what had landed in our backyard. However, it was a bit too chilly to jump at 7 a.m. Frost covered the trampoline, so we had to wait for the weather to warm up. With 70 degree temps later in the day, Luke was outside jumping most of the afternoon.
Tonight we went to one of Phoenix's finest holiday traditions ... Zoolights! The zoo was decked out in a bzillion Christmas lights. Luke was a little concerned before we went that it was too dark to be going to the zoo to see the animals, but he quickly figured it all out when he saw that the Christmas lights outlined a lot of animal figures and that we were just walking around looking at the lights. (We didn't see many of the real-life animals except for the zebra.) Our friend Terese joined us, and we had a ball all bundled up at the zoo on this chilly evening. Here are a few pics.
We don't often get to bust out the coats and hats in AZ, but tonight we did! Brrrr!
Terese and her little buddy Reid.
Luke and Scott create their cookie works of art.
Charity takes a turn at holding Reid. What a treat!
A holly jolly grin from the girls' night group and their guys!
The next generation of the poker group: Zach Kitchen, Lilly Zienkewicz, Luke and Reid, Robby and Ethan Glanville, Kaitlynn Deakins, and LeAira Kitchen.
Reid and his gal Lilly ... and yes, they're holding hands! Too cute!
This morning Reid was a little fussy, so big brother Luke jumped to the rescue. I walked into the nursery to find Luke had scaled the crib and performed this stunt maneuver for feeding Reid.
Last night we enjoyed a festive night out with the playgroup families. We hit Patsy Grimaldi's in Old Town Scottsdale for some delish pizza and then zipped over to the train park to enjoy its holiday light display. Luke LOVES Christmas lights, so he was amazed by the combo of a train and lights together!! He and Mom even stopped for a quick pose aboard this caboose.
We did a little Christmas shopping this week at the mall and met Dad for lunch. We decided not to get a double stroller when Reid was born because we knew Luke would never sit still in it. Usually, he runs alongside or way in front of us, but sometimes he loves to hitch a ride on front of the baby jogger. Hold on tight, boys ... here we go!
This weekend our neighborhood held its annual holiday boat parade. Most of the people who live on the lakes have a boat (nothing fast, more leisurely). At Christmas, they deck them out with lights and decorations. Here's one of the boats complete with Dasher, Dancer, and Prancer (not sure where the other reindeer are!) On top of the boat is one of those big inflatable snow globes.
Today's playgroup outing was to the zoo to check out the new exhibit Sting Ray Bay. The kiddos enjoyed rolling up their sleeves and sticking their hands in the water to touch the sting rays (yes, this was what they were supposed to be doing and they weren't breaking any rules -- it was all safe as their barbs were removed).
The other evening we decided to put the boys in the tub together for bathtime. Luke was in the regular tub and Reid in his baby tub inside the regular tub. Luke provided the entertainment by singing the theme song of "Blue's Clues" while splashing around. This picture shows what Reid thought of the whole event ... it was a hair-raising experience!!
We recently attempted to take some family photos in the backyard to use for our Christmas cards. It was a major feat to get everyone looking pleasant and at the camera. This photos says it all! (This was not staged but rather real life. No stunt actors were used.)
It's been a little colder here lately so the boys had to bust out their hats one day. Luke loves to wear hats, but Reid could take it or leave it sometimes.
