Fire Station Visit!!!

We finally got to go visit our friend Mike at his fire station! The kids had a great time and got to do so much fun stuff! Here is firefighter Zack helping Mattie try on his fire clothes!The kids got to take turns using and holding the huge fire hose!

Sylvie's dad was able to come along and help, good thing, that hose was heavy!

The top of the fire truck had a huge latter that Mattie balanced her way across a couple of times...

Driving the back of the truck w/ Mike!

Thanks firefighter Mike, for a great field trip!

Christmas Day 2009

Santa brought Mattie the scooter she asked for... she was quite thrilled...

Too bad Santa didn't assemble it, before he left it... Mattie waited patiently while daddy used the "mouse-ka-tools" to put it together...

Then she rode at our place and again at Grandma and Papa's later...

She also got a harmonica and had fun showing off for Papa....
Her other grandparents came over for dinner, but I did not get any good pics.... but I have a cute video that I will put on FB if anyone wants to check it out...
So sad Christmas is already over!

Christmas Eve 2009

Mattie and I started the day with a visit to Spectrum to watch ice skating, watch Santa at Nordstroms, and ride the carousel....

Then we headed to the Family Holiday Party when daddy got home from work... there was some running around outside...

Some pool table fun....

And some dress-up, which is Mattie's favorite thing to do... what a fantastic party!

The Week Before Christmas...

We have been way too busy, but we just can't turn down fun!
We hit up D-land on Sunday night w/ the Gordys, and Mattie had fun w/ Aaron, despite the long lines and holiday crowds...

Then we hit up D-land again on Monday b/c grandma got in for free on her B-day... the lines and crowds were way worse, and we only stayed for a couple of hours... but Mattie was happy to show grandma around...

We had a BC reunion brunch on Wednesday at our house b/c there are so many kids now... a restaurant probably would have kicked us out ;) Another good time, of course, including some friends that we rarely get to play with... Here is the kids table, w/ Mattie, Mollie, Aaron, and Sylvie, and Will in the background... Wes is too small to sit at a table this year and AJ was sleeping....

We also got to play w/ Cousin Helia, who is going to Law School in Montana, and we only see about once a year lately! Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, more pics to come!

Mattie loves....

Eating at and visiting Rainforest Cafe....REALLY LOOOOVVVEEESSSS Dress-up/fancy dresses.....

Watching bears at the Irvine Park Zoo with Grandma...

And talking about Santa... but when it comes to visiting him, this is the best we could do- Mommy holding Mattie near him, and her giving the shy/scared stare- at least she didn't cry like last year ;)

Good thing Mommy told Santa what Mattie wants for Christmas.... which is just 5 days away!

December has been busy!

Lots of pics to sort through over the last month... here is a recap of December thus far....We visited Olwyn street again on a cold night to see the fanstastic Christmas decorations....

Mattie was thrilled that Tatum got to come along this year!

We met my cousins at Disneyland and Mattie loved playing w/ cousin Emma, who she has not seen since last February!

The castle at night was really cool...

Saying hi to Minnie in her Christmas get-up

The Main Street Tree

The "Fam" Holiday Reunion party.... the kids are starting to outnumber us!

Thanksgiving in Phoenix!

After a 5 hour drive to see the Melaras, the cousins were reunited at last!

Daddy's first time in The Pit at gymnastics!

Mattie loves dress-up, and Ryan had quite a few choices, so Mattie spent A LOT of time in fancy clothes!

Nice park weather before the big feast...

"The kids table" at Thanksgiving dinner.

We went to The Children's Museum of Phoenix again, and it was just as much fun as last time!

We saw a commercial for a Christmas parade in Tempe, so we went to check it out!

Lots of play time, including a Father-daughter dance!
We came home Saturday, thinking traffic would be awful Sunday... it took 6 hours to get home instead of 5, still better than if we would have waited until Sunday... But the trip was well worth the drive... We LOVE playing with the Melaras!

Lately...

Mattie has been testing out her new helmet (that goes along with her Christmas present) while learning how to ride her tricycle. Her legs could still use another inch before pedaling gets easier...

Mattie's friend Aaron is apparently very comfortable in his manlihood, seeing as how he picked out the princess Minnie ears to wear at a recent play date... too cute... ;)

Happy Halloween 2009

Minnie Mouse Cousins... totally unplanned... but how perfect that they got to trick or treat together!

Fall Fun!

Tanaka Farms Pumpkin Patch!
The giant corn maze is always fun...

Soooo many pumpkins to choose from, but Mattie seemed more interested in just tromping around the farm and exploring...

Mattie and Tatum give us a quick pose by the scarecrow

We BBQ'd later in the evening so the adults, and the kids, could play some more... the bed jumping is becoming a classic pose around here ;)

You know it's Fall when...

You drive around and see 2 carnival-like pumpkin patches within 1 mile of each other!

So of course, we went to one... Mattie chose the mini merry-go-round as her ride-on toy....
And she thoroughly enjoyed watching the animals in the "petting zoo."
Mattie has not ridden a pony since Easter so that is why we initially stopped, but the ponies apparently didn't start offering rides until 1pm, and we were there at 11am! Maybe next time!

Boating with Baby Christine

Mattie got all dressed up to go boating on Saturday... apparently she is already posing like a model... it must be all the ANTM I watched while pregnant with her!

Cheesing with daddy!

Melissa and Christine try to figure out the ginormous life vest....

Mattie and Mama enjoy the breeze on Lake Mission Viejo!