Festiveness

This season has been an absolutely crazy one for us. Between Cotton Bowl prep, Tonto working lots of hours, Taylor wrapping up her first semester in high school (sniff sniff) and keeping up with Tiny, it feels like we haven't looked up - much less had many home cooked meals - in the last three weeks.

That being said, we've tried to make some time to be festive. Because, you know, Christmas only happens once a year and all.

Last Friday we hit up Waco Wonderland downtown but, honestly, most of the activities - with the exception of some CLASSIC Santa photos that I can't currently show - were either too old for Tiny or too young for Taylor. So it was kind of a bust for us but I think it will probably be fun in a couple more years.

They do have quite a lovely Christmas tree...

...and ferris wheel....

...and a lovely stage area where different entertainment acts perform each evening.

I even convinced the girls to take a few photos in front of the Christmas tree. Oh, how I love them...

After dinner at La Fiesta (yum!), we hit up a couple of local neighborhoods that have amazing Christmas light displays. 

Such a fun and sweet time of year.

We've also managed to do a few fun things at home. Taylor and I decorated this gingerbread house one night and I learned that any and all OCD tendencies she has (generally NONE) all appear when decorating tiny houses made of sugar. Who knew?

And, in the midst of me being FRIED from work, Taylor baked some fabulous snowman sugar cookies one evening. Tiny loves them so much you have to give her small pieces because she will literally shove the entire thing in her mouth at once.

And, though it took over a week, the house is decorated for the holidays. I went simple this year and didn't even take everything out of boxes (there's just not room this time around) but it's simple and fun. And I kind of love it. :)

There have also been lots of festive outfits for one small tot.

So, basically, a lot has changed in the past year. But a lot of things - like our Christmas traditions - have stayed the same. And I'm so looking forward to experiencing the holidays through the eyes of BOTH of my girls' eyes.

Christmas at The San Luis

Our final day at the coast (Black Friday) was pretty laid back and relaxing. Just like the rest of the trip, honestly. Tonto and I got up early with Tiny and explored the Christmas decorations in the lobby. She was wearing festive pajamas so it seemed like the right thing to do was to take some pics.

She loved the boxes and the shiny wrapping paper. A great deal.

Exploring is kind of her thing right now. :)

The three of us ended up at IHOP for some breakfast (Taylor chose to stay in the hotel for a bit more shut eye) and let's just say she made her presence known by throwing almost every bite of food offered onto the floor. Yes, we cleaned it up before we left. I am a former server after all! :)

Eventually, we all got dressed and packed and loaded up. Our one requirement for the day from the teen was to hit up some shops on The Strand. She absolutely LOVES shopping here. Not exactly sure what the draw is but, hey, it makes her happy and she really didn't even ask for much.

And, I have to say, Black Friday is so much more calm and relaxing on The Strand. 

We did stop at Buc-ee's on the way home because, you know, FUDGE. And then we ate at Texas Roadhouse because Taylor just felt it had been too long since she'd had their food. Probably a couple of years, honestly. 

All in all, we had a FANTASTIC trip. And I was so relaxed and ready for a quiet week leading up to the bowl selection show. That was until Sunday when College GameDay decided they were making their way to Waco. But that's another post. Because it was NUTS. And AWESOME. 

Festival of Lights

After seeing the Ice Land exhibit, we hit up Moody Gardens' Festival of Lights. It's a lot like the BLORA exhibit around here except that you walk through it. It was super fun and there were refreshment stands throughout. In the middle you could even purchase marshmallows and make s'mores over giant open flames. Super. Awesome.

Again, picture overload. The main points to this story are that it ended up being kind of a long walk, the baby totally fell asleep about 1/3 of the way through, Taylor took some pics with her new stuffed moose and they told the Christmas story - the real one - at the end of the display.

Which means I love Moody Gardens even more now. :)

Ice Land!

On Thanksgiving Day, we had a very non-conventional experience. I love turkey and dressing as much as the next girl but it was fun to break the mold and hang out on the beach, around the pool, and in the hotel room with my peeps for most of the day.

We actually did have Thanksgiving dinner. At Golden Corral. And it was cheap, easy and there was nothing to clean up. :)

We had tickets for Ice Land at Moody Gardens, which is coincidentally the main reason we went back to Galveston for the holiday. Taylor saw the promo for it while we were visiting the rainforest over the summer and an idea was born. 

This is the first time they've had an ice exhibit here and it was so fun. We generally go to the one at Gaylord Texan but this one allowed you to get a lot closer to the exhibits and there was even an ice maze you mosey through.

Basically, this is picture overload but it will give you the idea...and, yes, Tiny is inside Tonto's parka. She could see AND remained warm. :)

A fantastic way to get into the Christmas spirit. Loved every very cold second.