Early Winter Late Fall Fun

It's been busy. I'm back at work, Sebastian has been at daycare for a week...well, not the whole week due to the dreaded daycare virus that is perpetual from November to April. Oh well; what's another snotty nose for 5 months? But his first days were good: they tell me it's like he's been there forever. He's even got a girlfriend. Of course he does; those eyelashes and smile could charm anyone!

First day of "school." Wow. Time flies at an alarming rate! Wasn't it just yesterday I posted Matthew's first day picture?

His eleventh month brought us steps. He's a walking machine now! A little tentative, but not for long, I'm sure. Much to Matthew's chagrin, he's everywhere now! He loves nothing more than anything Matthew is holding. Sibling rivalry is interesting so far!

He walks!

We also took in the Santa Claus Parade. Luckily the weather cooperated and it was just cold enough to enjoy hot chocolate, but not cold enough to make the kids miserable. Nothing says Christmas cheer like whiny, cold kids! The highlights of this parade were the fire trucks, and of course, the candy. Oh yeah. Santa was good, too.

"Is that him, Daddy?"

I think the Candy Canes were more popular than Santa this year.
The Big Man himself.

Keep on looking. Sebastian's first birthday is right around the corner. No novels, I promise. But hopefully at least one post!

Great Wolf Lodge

We took the kids on a one-night family vacation to Great Wolf Lodge. It was amazing! I can't wait to go again when the kids are a little bit bigger and can go on all the really fun water slides. That being said, there was still so much for us to do, and we packed it all in to a little over 24 hours.

Our room: Kid Kamp. Matthew loved it so much that when he got home, all he could say was "I want my camp back."

This is the "doorway" to the bunk bed room that had its own TV. We wouldn't let Matthew sleep on the top bunk, but he did get to watch Treehouse up there. He loved it (who wouldn't?)!
A fraction of the water park.
In the hotel lobby, they had animatronics that were truly amazing. At bedtime (8:30) to hotel had storytime, where the kids were encouraged to come down in their pajamas so the characters could tell a bedtime story. I didn't get a picture, sadly, but it was so cute! Matthew loved the characters.
Sebastian? Not so much.
To kill time between water slides and splash park, we took in a game of mini-golf. Matthew's pretty good, but a bit of a cheater. I wonder whose genes are responsible for that?
Bye Bye Great Wolf Lodge! See you next year!
(I notice that Sebastian is not well-represented in these pictures. He had a great time! We took him to the pool where he DID NOT want to get out ever, and also splashed around the splash park loving every second. His favourite part? You guessed it: watching Matthew! He also enjoyed the mini golf, but was really leary of the animatronics. He hates fake moose, I guess!)

Halloween

For Halloween Matthew was Pablo from the Backyardigans (if you don't have kids, that's meaningless to you. Sorry about your luck). Sebastian was a monkey (fittingly). We got together with the neighbours to go to the houses around us since all our kids are the same age. What a fantastic evening!

Pablo the Penguin

Our little Monkey

Before the candy even started, Matthew was a crazy man. Note the bag on his head! You know that episode of the Simpson's where Homer is spinning around on the floor in the kitchen? Picture that as Matthew on our front lawn. It was hilarious!

I couldn't resist the picture of their cute little Halloween bums! Matthew was so excited his costume had a tail.

Matthew was in 7th heaven with all the candy, but didn't quite understand why he couldn't go right in to people's houses! Our babysitter (a WONDERFUL 16 year-old) made special loot bags for all the kids, so Matthew thought he would thank her by walking in and talking about it on her couch (practically).

Sebastian just rode along in the stroller with Garret. Those two may be trouble-makers one day, but on Halloween, they were angels!

Finally, I had to get a picture of our house all lit up. I put the decorations up a week earlier when Matthew and Rob were out. When they came home (in the dark), I got a call from Rob, who was in our driveway, telling me I needed to turn the outside lights on because Matthew wouldn't come in! Yep, another nomination for Mother of the Year!