Christmas Carousel

After the Reindog Parade, we took the girls for a ride (or two) on the carousel. It was all decorated for Christmas, and the girls got a big kick out of it.

The Reindog Parade

This is the first time since we've lived in Michigan that we were in town for the annual Reindog Parade. For this parade, people dress up their dogs (and apparently goats and llamas as well), and walk through downtown. Santa arrives at the end of the parade.

Light the Bluff

We went to our town's annual tree lighting event this weekend. I don't have any pictures from the night, but I got a few of the girls in front of the "tree" the next day. It's a fun little event where the town flips the switch and all of the lights come on on the bluff.

We arrived downtown and it was packed. We were supposed to meet some of my coworkers at a local chocolate shop to grab hot cocoa before heading to the tree. We grabbed sandwiches for the girls for dinner, and by the time we made it to the chocolate shop we had to wait about 20 minutes for the hot cocoa.

We just made it to the tree lighting. The girls were getting tired and whiny, so we couldn't stick around to see the live mannequin displays in the store, but it was still a fun evening.

Three Years and Eight Months!

Just a few short months from four, and the girls are a blast. Christmas is going to be so much fun this year!

 

At three years and eight months:

 

The girls still love dogs. They ask to pet just about every dog they see when we're out and about. Tannah has also asked if Santa can bring her a dog

Their most requested show is Sheriff Callie. Sometimes they also ask for Paw Patrol and Sophia.

They love going to preschool. They get to bring things for show and tell on Tuesdays and have library on Thursdays, and they think this is the coolest thing ever.

The girls love to color and paint. Tannah especially loves to make fans and cards. She will sit for hours making these over and over and over.

They wear size 4T shirts and pants. They wear size 9/10 shoes.

They sleep from about 8:30 until 7 and nap for about 45 minutes

They love their blankies and puppies and night lights. Tannah uses a twilight turtle and a Hello Kitty light up toy, and Harper has a lightning bug and a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle light up toy. 

They love to read, and they love going to the library.

They are vey opinionated about what they wear. They choose their clothes pretty much every day.

They love weekends because we let them "sneak" into our bed and sleep with us until the morning (and they generally sleep until 7:30 or 8 in our bed).

They love Beauty and the Beast, and ever since they watched it, they will pick up mirrors like Belle and say "Mirror, Mirror, show me my ____". The blank is usually filled with "Grandpa" or "Daddy".

This year's Christmas lists consists of a suitcase, a sleeping bag, and a kitty for Tannah and a silly puppy for Harper.

Decorating the Tree

The girls passed their cold on to me, so it took us the better part of the week to get the tree decorated. We did it in phases. The girls helped wherever I would let them:)

They have chappy lips and puffy eyes, but they loved decorating for Christmas!

Princesses

I've probably mentioned before that I was pretty anti-Disney princesses until I watched the girls play dress up at a friend's house. The joy on their faces was enough to send me running to the store for dress up clothes. I picked up Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty dresses prior to Halloween, and they've been hanging in the closet waiting for our trip to Disney next year. The dresses are a little to big to wear at Disney, and Harper was begging to wear them, so out they came.

Note: the girls were exhausted after several nights of staying up way too late with their cousins and a very late night drive the night before. They definitely look it in these pictures.

 

St. Louis Zoo

We went to visit Nai-Nai and Ye-Ye for Thanksgiving, and we got a chance to visit the St. Louis zoo one day. We were fortunate that it was 63 degrees and beautiful. The girls loved it, but they definitely got tired out.

The kids said that they wanted to see cheetahs and giraffes at the zoo. Of course they were on opposite sides of the zoo.

I'm pretty sure this elephant used to be in the circus. It was definitely putting on a show.

Happy Thanksgiving

So thankful. Always.

 

Getting Ready for Christmas

I've avoided taking the girls to the mall to sit on Santa's lap in the past because I had a pretty good indication of how it would go. Both girls would cling to me and refuse to sit on Santa's lap. That's what happened for the past two years at our twins club Christmas party. I decided that they might finally be brave enough this year, so we tried it out when we were at the mall last weekend.

As usual, they both talked a good game saying that they would sit on Santa's lap and tell him what they want for Christmas. Tannah wants a suitcase and a sleeping bag, and Harper wants a "silly puppy" and a suitcase and a sleeping bag. Harper said she would talk to Santa, but she wanted me to go too.

The girls got dressed up in their adorable Christmas plaid (apparently, I'm super into plaid this year).

Tannah jumped right up on Santa's chair and sat next to him. Harper wouldn't even sit on the side of my lap that was close to Santa. She told me what she wanted, and I relayed it to Santa.

Maybe next year:)

Pumpkin Carving

The girls got really into carving pumpkins this year. They were super excited about it and helped pick out their designs. They both did a great job scooping out the insides, and I had picked up some pumpkin "bling" last year on clearance, and the girls thought that was great.