santa claus comes to town

santa rides a fire truck around town every year here. we randomly caught it last year and i totally forgot about it. then one saturday this year, caroline was down for her nap and Q and i were just chilling in the living room. i heard a siren (not uncommon since we live pretty close to the fire station.) but then i realized i had been hearing it continuously for over an hour. a light bulb went off. it sounded like it was on the next street over so i made Q put on his coat and come outside. he was very confused. then he saw the fire truck and was excited. then he saw that santa was on the fire truck and he got really excited.

that's a sandwich

jeremy and i were having sandwiches for dinner one night. Q wanted to get in on the action and this is what he concocted. yes, those are two giant grinder rolls.

sweet pickle

chocolate world

back in december we took a trip to hershey park (now known as "chocolate world" in our house.) despite the fact that it was 30 degrees outside, the place was packed. the kids had a great time.

caroline checks out a fountain while daddy and Q hit the restroom.

even the dinosaurs had the christmas spirit!

caroline especially loved driving the car. she had her hands on the steering wheel "driving" the whole time the ride was going.

choo-chooing around

the kids thought these lights were the lanterns from "tangled." disney on the brain already, and they didn't even know we were going to orlando yet.

quentin couldn't believe that santa's reindeer were there

attempting to win an angry bird. Q is still disappointed that he won a dolphin and not an angry bird.

another train ride to see all the lights

riding the mini carousel, moments before an unfortunate accident. lilly really had to pee, apparently. sorry kids who were waiting for the next ride... closed for clean-up.

after the park we blew $25 to drive through "sweet lights" - the outdoor light display. we waited in line for over an hour before we even got in. then we crawled around with a million other cars looking at the same few displays for another hour. and the kids both passed out before we even got in so they didn't see any of it. giant waste of $25 and almost 3 hours of our time.

fashion plate

caroline is a girly girl. a true diva. she introduces herself as princess. she insists on picking out her own clothes (always a dress or skirt, described as "cute" when selecting from the closet.) she must pick her own shoes. she must accessorize as much as possible (bows, headbands, jewelry.) once she's dressed, she simply must check herself out in the full-length mirror, always remarking, "i look beautiful today." the other day she asked me if she could get sparklies in her ears like her friend briston at school (pierced ears.) she's 2 and a half. where did she get all this from??

let's eat

playing restaurant in the playroom (note: pickle's outfit is entirely of her own choosing, and it is one of her favorites.)

christmas card photo shoot

an attempt to get that single awesome christmas card shot. i actually like them better as a series. goofballs.