Weekend in the CIty

We decided to start a new family tradition this year of spending a night in San Francisco during the Christmas season. We booked a hotel room at the Grand Hyatt, and loved it! We did it because my energy level is pretty low these days, mason's attention span is short these days, and we thought that over the years it might be a fun thing for us to do as a family!

The view from our room - this isn't the best shot, but we could see coit tower, the bay, and Alcatraz - it was gorgeous!



The tree in the lobby of the Hyatt:

So we really wanted to go a nice restaurant in the city for dinner. But, with a 16 month old, we realized that Rainforest Cafe is fun, nice, and no one cares if he gets a little bored. Plus, we were in the fish room so he got to watch fish all night, which seems to be one of his favorite pastimes

It rained most of the first day we were in the city, but by the evening after dinner it was actually

really nice. So we decided to take a walk through union square. There were many carolers in the square, people ice skating and it was just super christmassey!

Inside of Macys it was nice and empty, we were able to shop for our 50% off ornaments, and get some cute pics too!

Sunday when we woke up Mason was feeling silly with his PJ's. We went over and tried to see Santa. But after being in line for an hour and not moving, and hearing 3 moms get upset about how they had waited an hour after seeing Santa to get their photo CD's (so they can print their own copies....which we wanted too), we decided to call it a day and head home!

Horse Drawn Carriage Ride!

For the past 4 years Kurt and I have always said we wanted to do a horse drawn carriage ride when we have seen it go down the street. And this year we did. It was a 6 person carriage so we got some of our friends to go with us. It was a VERY cold night, but tons of fun. It was an hour long ride looking at lights, even the christmas house! and at the end mason and the other kiddos got to feed the horses carrots. SO FUN!!!!!

Snow in Novato

It has been so cold the past couple of nights that it has snowed in Novato on the mountain tops!

Setting up the Christmas tree

So we got a 7.5 foot tree from Target of all places. Maybe next year we will cut our own tree. But in any event, Mason was quite the helper with setting up the tree:

And he loved the finished product:

Mom's idea of cute..........

THis is what happens when Mom goes shopping the day after thanksgiving at Gymboree with the 30% sale and a 20% off coupon...
As a side note Mason has never wanted a pacifier - but when he is playing every once in a while he will find one and decide he likes it for a few minutes.

Mason's first starbucks

We got up and out this past Saturday to pick out our christmas tree, but first we made a stop at starbucks. As we stood in line we decided to buy an non-hot-chocolate for mason. In starbucks terms this is a "kids hot chocolate 100 degrees. As you can see Mason loved it!

Halloween

Again, sorry for the delay!

We took a trip to the pumpkin patch to get a pumkin which today remains uncarved:

For Halloween Mason was a monkey and we were zoo keepers! Mason didn't fully understand trick-or-treating. He understood that you go up to houses, knock, they give a small thing that you drop into a bag, and mom and dad clap.

Little Monkey Cooking:

I'm Back!

Ok, so it has been a while since I have posted here, so I will try to update you on all the fun things that have been going on. I have been absent for a while because since basically the last post I have been pregnant! I am due May 17 2010 with a new little ENgel.

But back to Mason: We went to a bithday party where mason got to ride his first pony - and he LOVED it!

He is signing for "More" at the end of the ride:

We took another trip to Monterey to see Grandma Penny and Grandpa Jim, and to go to the aquarium to see the great white shark that was there. It wasn't all that impressive - but neat to be able to say that we saw it. We did time it just right to see the fish feeding at the outer bay exhibit. That was really neat to see the Mahi Mahi turn gold as they eat!