Christmastime at the Gaylord Photo Dump

One day my mom and Tammy asked if the kiddos and I would like to go wander around the Gaylord Hotel, have lunch, and check out their Christmas decor. I thought the kids would enjoy it (and I also thought perhaps I could get some cute pics of them) so off we went.

The decorations were lovely (although, let's be honest: after you've seen Campo Verde, all other Christmas decor is a bit underwhelming!). Jensen had a fine time and Charlotte warmed up after awhile, but as you will see, she was in one of her "no pictures" moods at the beginning of the day. Anywho, here are roughly one million pics of our morning at the Gaylord:

As it turns out, all she needed was a nice Mexican food lunch to make her a happy girl...just like her mommy!

Hey, Santa!

A few weekends ago, Charlotte and Jensen had the pleasure horror of visiting Santa twice in one weekend. Remember how I said I was excited to experience the sights and sounds of the Christmas season through Charlotte and Jensen's eyes? Well that doesn't pertain to Santa visits. I don't need to see him through their eyes to know that Santa is one frightening dude.

Visit number one was on a Saturday morning when we attended my moms of multiples group's Breakfast with Santa. I had to assure Charlotte that Santa would NOT be in the same room as the breakfast; he would be in a separate room and she didn't have to go visit with him if she didn't want to. I did hold out the slightest of hopes that she would change her mind and want to go check him out once we got there, but no such luck. Jensen decided he wanted to go check him out, but he emphatically declined to sit on Santa's lap and this is as close as we got:

Notice the death grip on my shirt.

Charlotte and Daddy stayed in the safety of the breakfast room. 

Some pics from when we got home...these are their newest "cheese" faces:

Santa visit number two took place the very next day. We have started a tradition (this being our second year) of doing the Santa brunch at the country club with the Wren family. This year Grandma and Auntie Tammy were in full-on stalker mode and just "happened" to make reservations at the same time as us, so we all wound up eating together, which of course made Charlotte very happy. Again, neither kid wanted to go near Santa. I'm as big a fan as anyone of the kid-screaming-on-Santa's-lap pictures, but I really feel like Charlotte is WAY too anxious for me to do that to her. I truly think it might scar her for life, so I don't push the issue with either of my kids.

Family pic minus Charlie.

Holding on to mom for dear life, take two.

We tried to distract her with a cookie. As you can see, it didn't work. She knows Santa is nearby!

Ellison was skeptical...

...no, make that terrified!

Running around outside is WAY more fun than visiting Santa.

The gang.

So I think that just about does it for this year's Santa visits. No picture with the big guy this year, but that's okay...there's always the Easter bunny!

Thanksgiving 2012

Thanksgiving this year was a bit touch-and-go for the Shelton clan, for a couple different reasons: First, Brian's sister Holly was due with her third baby the day after Thanksgiving. We were all anticipating a call that it was BABY TIME!, so we opted out of cooking a huge meal and went with Central Market catering instead. Second, Charlotte and Jensen hadn't been feeling so hot all week...so we weren't sure if they'd be up to a day of eating and socializing. But by gosh, Charlotte had a way cute Thanksgiving dress to wear, so over to Tita and Papaw's house we went for C and J to have some fun with their cousins!

This is what she does when I tell her to pose like a model. 

Tita and Papaw's tire swing rules.

Silly kiddos.

Yes it was a fun day until we were almost ready to head home and I heard Brian calling me...I found him in the bathroom with a very upset Charlotte who had gotten sick all over the place. Of course I didn't have a change of clothes for her so we made our way home with Charlie sporting her cousin Knox's Spider-Man t-shirt. Fortunately it was a one-time incident and Charlotte was fine after that...I'd like to say she probably just had too much turkey, but a more realistic explanation would probably be too many trips to the sugar cookie platter. Oh well, what can I say? Little Bug already knows how to party til' she pukes! 

Fall at the Arboretum

I decided that, given Charlotte's love of pumpkin patches, we should definitely visit the Dallas Arboretum this year...even if we didn't make it until after Halloween. We headed out one morning in early November and met the Grzych fam for a stroll through the pumpkins, a look at some of the Chihuly sculptures, and lunch. 

Oh, and the hay maze. Can't forget the hay maze. The kids probably still have hay in their hair.

Can I just say that I am absolutely loving doing all these fun things with the kids this year? The Arboretum, Halloween, pumpkin patches, Thanksgiving, and now the holidays are in full swing...I am thrilled with how much the kids are understanding and enjoying everything, and I know that seeing Christmas through their eyes this year will be truly special. I can't wait.