Christmas Eve! - 358/365

Christmas Eve! Time sure flies!

Today, Reagan and I spent the day cleaning and getting everything ready for Christmas Morning. 

Jim only had to work a half day, which was nice!

This evening, we were heading over to Jim's mom and dad's for our dinner and gift exchange with them. 

We started with a yummy dinner of roast, mashed potatoes, yams, and veggies. So good! We were all stuffed!!! 

After that, we headed into the living room for our gift exchange. The kids were SO excited!!! Everyone got some wonderful presents! The girls both got a Frozen Karaoke Machine. Even got a Planes Bike. The adults got lots of fun gift cards. 

Grandma and Papa loves the personalized gifts. We made Papa Greg a YSU Penguin plate. The penguins were Reagan's feet prints. It was adorable! We made Jim's mom a photo blanket of our trip to the Outer Banks! She loved it! 

Everyone had a great time!

When we got home, we put out our cookies and milk for Santa. She even counted out carrots for each reindeer. Too funny! On Eppie's last night, we let Reagan hug and kiss him. She actually started crying that he was leaving us. It was so precious and sad, all at the same time.  

She can't wait for him to come back next year!

It was a fabulous Christmas Eve!

 Jim getting in some cuddles with the kiddos.

Three little sweeties!

 Reagan showing Papa Greg how she made his plate.

 Counting carrots for the reindeer!

Ready! Someone already nibbled some...LOL!

 Eppie the Elf kisses!

Baking Sugar Cookies - 356/365

Tonight, we spent some time baking our annual sugar cookies for Santa. Reagan just loves baking her Santa cookies. Her favorite part is stealing pieces of dough to eat, but who doesn't. She is an expert at rolling and loves arranging the cookie cutters on the dough. 

Her next favorite part is the sprinkles. She LOVES pouring the sprinkles. If you let her, she will pour half a bottle on one cookie. What a hoot!

They all came out great and I think Santa will be thrilled!

Baking Beauty!

 Frosting!

 Frosting Face!

 Done!

Breakfast with Santa - 354/365

This morning we were up and out early to the Akron Zoo to have breakfast with Santa and the Animals! 

We have gone the last two years and just love going. The zoo is closed until 11, except to the people who are there for the event. It's so nice! 

The have a huge buffet, visits with Santa, cookie decorating, and a craft. As a bonus, you get to feed the penguins. When you are all done with that, you are free to walk around the zoo. It's so nice!

We started with pictures with Santa. There was no line, so it was nice. Santa really took his time with Reagan. It was so sweet! Each child gets a little gift. There was a little stuffed elf in there, and some candy and pretzels. She was so excited. 

After Santa, we went and had our breakfast. The buffet was great! There were scrambled eggs, vegetable scrambled eggs, pancakes, hash browns, sausage, bacon and muffins. YUM! Reagan was loving the hot chocolate to drink, too. When we were all done, we were cleaning off our table and taking our garbage over to the trash. Their was a man, separating the garbage into three categories. Reagan had her cup of hot chocolate she was finishing and handed it to the man. He didn't quite grab it all the way and it fell right onto his shoe. There was still a bit still in there and it dumped right on his shoe. We felt so bad! He was a really good sport about it though and just said, "accidents happen!"

After that, we decided to take a walk around the zoo, while it was still technically closed.  We went up around Grizzly Ridge to check out the otters and bears. On the way up, there was a little gray cat that started following us everywhere. He was so cute and I thought for a second, we would have to take him home. When we got over to the coyotes, they went nuts trying to get the cat. It was crazy! They were pouncing and banging on the glass! We got a pretty cool video of the whole thing.
By this time, Reagan was crying that she was cold, so we went back down to the aquarium part for a little bit. She loved that and we couldn't get her out of there!
It was a great day!
Reagan and Santa

 The pouncing coyotes.

 Our traditional Akron Zoo picture with the sign.

Sunrise Lunch & First Ballet Class- 338/365

Today, Reagan went off to school. She had a good day!

After I picked her up, we went over to Tippy, to meet Nana for the annual Sunrise Christmas Lunch. Every December, Nana invites some of the residents from Sunrise to have a nice lunch at Tippy. They just love getting out and having a nice day. They always enjoy seeing Reagan, too! And Reagan loves passing out the little treats Nana gets for them. This year it was a box of chocolate and a lottery ticket. They loved it. They all immediately started scratching and a few had winners which was great! They were thrilled! 

They brought Reagan a little present, too! It was a huge princess activity kit which really kept Reagan busy during lunch! She loved her present, too!

After lunch, we headed down to Columbiana for Reagan's first ballet class at Generation Dance Academy! She was SO pumped!  We wanted somewhere where it wasn't too competitive at this young age. We just somewhere where she can just focus on having fun. This place came highly recommended from a good friend. We immediately loved it. Reagan loved her special ballet shoes and her little skirt. I think she will really enjoy it. We can't wait for her little recital in May! YAY!

This evening, we had our annual pictures at Robert Senn with Santa Claus. We just love doing this mini session. We love seeing the difference in Reagan every year, too! She did great and just loved her gown! 

Busy, but good day!

Reagan passing out her treats!

 I just loved this picture!

Our little ballerina!

Precious moments with Santa!

                                             

Christmas Eve - 358/365

It's Christmas Eve! 

Goodness, time sure does fly! 

 I swore I wasn't going to be out and about on Christmas Eve, but there I was. Reagan and I headed out for just a few errands, then home to FINALLY finish wrapping. It was never ending this year! 

 This evening, we were spending Christmas Eve at Jim's mom and dad's with Adrienne, Jake, the kids & Mabel! We had a great time! 

Nikki and Mabel made an awesome dinner of roast beef, mashed potatoes, corn, steamed veggies, and soup. YUM! It was so good! 

After dinner, while we were waiting to for everyone to get settled, Papa held a short impromptu dance party with the girls. They loved it! 

 Next, it was time to open presents! The kids are all at such a fun age to watch open presents. They get so into it and they all offer to help the adults open their gifts, too! I think the present of the night was the slinky grandma got each of the kids. They were tearing around the house with their slinkies. The girls actually curled up in the chair and were giggling away with them. It was so cute! We showed them how the slinky can walk down the stairs and they LOVED that! 

 It was such a fun night for everyone and all the kids got some great presents. They were all anxious to play with their treasures. 

When we got home, we had to lay out our cookies and milk for Santa. Reagan was so excited to lay out the cookies she baked herself for him. She also wanted to give him "magical milk." Magical Milk is just plain white milk with Nesquick stirred in. She LOVES stirring it. We got Santa all set and turned in for the night. 

 The photo of the day is the kids and papa all sitting around a present and Reagan with her new phone....

Next, Jillian and Reagan giggling with their slinky.

Next, Santa's cookie station all ready! 

The last Eppie Adventure - back in his sleigh with his reindeer. He left Reagan a note and chocolate. LOL! 

  

Zoo Breakfast and Cookie Baking - 355/365

Today, we had an early wake up call! 

 We had reservations for breakfast with Santa and the Animals at Akron Zoo! We had to be there at 9:00, so we left home right at 8:00. We got there and were escorted to the big cafeteria. There, they had a huge breakfast buffet, cookie decorating, a craft, and of course, a visit with Santa! We decided to head straight for Santa, since we knew the line would get pretty long. We were some of his first visitors. It was cool, because he had Mrs. Claus with him! You don't get to see her very much! Reagan was a little bit shy, but warmed up after a few minutes. 

After she talked with him and we took our picture, he had a little gift bag for each kid. The bags had lots of snacks and a little stuffed Christmas Owl. It was so nice of Santa! 

We decided to eat next. The buffet was great! They had, cinnamon rolls, fruit, scrambled eggs, pancakes, hash browns, bacon and sausage. It was delicious! While we were eating, there was a little elf named, Ellie, walking around talking with the kids. She did a little magic trick and took their "picture" with a HUGE foam camera! 

While we were waiting for our group to be called for the rest of the activities, we went and decorated a cookie and did the craft. The craft was pretty cool. They glued a piece of paper to a plastic spoon. The paper had a little hole in the top half. The kids glued cotton balls all over it. When they were done, they could hold it up and it looked like they had a Santa beard. It was too funny! 

 In the basement of the building we were in, they had a HUGE model train set up. The kids were in awe of this. Reagan could have watched the trains go around and around all day. In fact, when we had to go upstairs to meet our group, she put up a fuss because she didn't want to leave! 

We finally had to go out to the carousel and find our group. We were then led over to the lion exhibit. The staff had put a Christmas tree in their pen with treats and stuff in it. It was neat to see them going at it trying to get their treats. 

Next, we took a short walk around the zoo while we waited for our turn to feed the penguins. When we got to the penguins, Reagan was so excited and not even grossed out by the dead fish in her hand. The penguins were just swimming round and round the platform waiting for the fish. She loved feeding them and asked to do it again, when we were out of fish. 

 When the event was over, the zoo opened to the public. We were allowed to stay, since our program included zoo admission. Even though it was raining, we decided to walk around a little more. We were already in our ponchos and it wasn't overly cold. It was actually really fun, because we were the only ones in the zoo. We only saw two other groups of three people. It was so funny. It was deserted! 

We had the best time playing with the Otters. They followed us to all the different windows in their tank. It was hilarious! Reagan would run to one window and they would follow, so she would run back the other way, and away they went. We spent about a half hour playing with them. 

We finally decided to call it a day and head home. 

 When we got home, Reagan and I decided we would roll and bake our cookies before her nap. Then, when she got up we could frost them. We had the best time cutting them out. She was an amazing helper! Our dough made MANY more cookies than we thought, so it was quite the task! LOL! 

 After nap, we had even more fun decorating them. Reagan actually hummed Rudolph and Jingle Bells to herself the WHOLE time she was doing it. It was the SWEETEST thing! She absolutely loved decorating and did almost every single one herself! 

 What a perfect family fun day we had!

The photo of the day is Reagan and her fish for the penguins.

And, our little cookie cutter....

Finally, us and our finished product!

Eppie Adventure - he took a trip to the zoo, too!

 

Dinner with Santa - 338/365

Today, Reagan and I spent the day running some errands. 

I had a few things to get for the cruise and I wanted to get Jim and Reagan some groceries to have while I was gone. We had a fun little adventure just her and I. 

 This evening, Jim, Reagan and I were having dinner with Santa at Boardman Park! It was a cute little event. 

 In the main dining room, they had the tables all decorated for Christmas and Rudolph playing on a big screen. Reagan was totally into it! They had a buffet of chicken nuggets, macaroni and cheese, and corn. They also had a veggie tray, applesauce, along with, cookies and cupcakes. 

After we ate, we headed into the "play" room. Santa was in there for pictures and a chat with the kids. Reagan ran right over to him and hopped up on his lap! It was adorable, she snuggled right up there. 

 After she visited with him, we moved over to the craft tables. She decorated a gingerbread girl with stickers and did a great job. All the important parts went in the right place! She made a little foam winter penguin ornament, too! Her favorite project was a snow measuring stick. It was a little paint stirrer they turned into a snowman. It was adorable. She had the best time gluing all the pieces on. When it was time to go, she was pretty upset. She said, "I want to stay at this place!" When we finally got her to agree to go, she did want to run over to Santa and say thank you for dinner. It was SO CUTE! We all had a great time! 

 Once we got in the car, we took a ride through the park to check out the Christmas lights. She LOVED them. Her favorite was Santa's sleigh with Rudolph leading the way. We ended up driving through a couple times. 

When we got home, Reagan and I had some special time, since I wasn't going to see her for a couple days. We had a special bath and cuddled in mommy's bed watching a Christmas DVD. It was so nice to get some snuggle time in. 

 Jimmy and hung out later and watched some of our favorite DVR'd shows. It was a nice way to spend the evening. I'm going to miss them SO MUCH!!! 

The photo of the day is us with Santa.

Next, her and her projects...

Eppie Adventure - Train ride!

 

Kraynak's - 329/365

This afternoon, Nana and I were going to run some errands. I have to say, we got A LOT accomplished. We bought a few Christmas presents and did some Thanksgiving errands. Plus, we squeaked in lunch at Dutch Hause! YUM! 

This evening, Jim and I decided we would take Reagan over to Kraynak's to check out Christmas Tree Lane before it gets too crowded. We lucked out, because there was no one there. We were able to take our time and check out each display. We went through three or four times. It was great! Reagan was fascinated with everything, she kept trying to go real fast to the next display. We had to keep slowing her down. She was pumped! I think her favorite display was, Donald Duck's nephews and Pluto hanging around a fire. She also loved the one with Rudolph and the Abominable Snowman. Jim and I LOVED the scene from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. It was HILARIOUS! They had Clark and all his lights, along with Cousin Eddie and his motor home. Awesome! 

After we went through a couple times, we stopped to visit with Santa. Reagan told him she wanted, "Dora toys." Santa was awesome, he chatted with her all about Dora. He knew every character from the show. She loved it!

 By the time we left there, we were starving, so we went over to Applebee's and had some dinner. It was yummy! 

We had a really fun evening getting in the spirit of Christmas!

The photo of the day is Reagan with one of the displays.

 Next, Reagan and Santa

Finally, the cousin Eddie, display.