Our monkeys meet their favorite monkey!

Since we are so near to Atlanta we decided to take advantage of all the city has to offer! Our first stop was the Atlanta Children's Museum. They currently have a Curious George exhibit and the kids loved it!

There were many activities for the kids, here are just a few they really enjoyed.

Riding a John Deere tractor & shopping in a mock grocery store

Playing dress up

Playing with cousin Kaitlyn in the moon sand & of coures playing trains!

Fishing & playing with the ball exhibit

Deck the Halls...

Little by little we have been putting up Christmas decorations. Uncle Dean & Aunt Angie started the outside stuff last week which appeased the kids for the week while Dean was out of town for the week but by Friday Logan was begging to put up more "dec-or-ations" (3 very distinct syllables! YOU GO LITTLE MAN & YOUR BIG WORDS!).

This is the 3 kids "watching the show" as Logan called it. Uncle Dean & Aunt Angie were working on putting lights on the front porch & the kids were content to sit inside & watch so we let them!

The evening brought that part Logan has been looking forward to ALL week. The Christmas tree! He was SO excited when Aunt Angie brought in the box with the tree in it!

This is a few shots of the kids decorating the tree! Uncle Dean was "the hook store" where they went to get hooks put on their ornaments & then they hung them on the tree. We did have to move many up further as they could only reach the bottom foot of the tree but they had a blast!

The almost finished product. Aunt Angie was still working on refurbishing Nana's angel that she has had for our entire lives.

This is proof that the Christmas season has arrived. Freckles has been a fixture under our Christmas trees for the last 13 years!

Like, BBRRRR, and stuff!

We may have only lived in California for 2 years but we are definitely very used to our warm climate! It's getting colder & colder here in Georgia and I finally realized I cannot keep the kids cooped up all winter because it's too darn cold to be outside. because after all I was born in Minnesota & I spent many a day that was much much colder than today playing outside for hours....

So I layered & layered the kiddos for 40-something degree weather & they headed outside to play while Uncle Dean & Aunt Angie worked on hanging the Christmas lights.

Here's the kiddos all bundled in their winter best. Logan had a hat too but he was refusing to wear it. And after all, it wasn't THAT cold!

And all that cold weather gear didn't stop the girls from having some fun! Here's Cousin Kaitlyn on the left & Peyton on the right sliding despite their many layers!

Peyton's Gymboree Birthday!

Since we have been home we have been busy spending time with family I haven't had a chance to blog! But I just had to share Peyton's birthday with the world! Our little Explorer turned 2 on December 3rd. Because we aren't home, mommy took the easy way out & called the local Gymboree!

We went with the Dora theme as it is one of Peyton's most favorite cartoons and she always refers to her as "my dorly." So as I always do, anything & everything theme related was there! Here's the cake table complete with Dora napkins, plates, and cake! We love our "dorly!"

For those who don't know, Gymboree is a great place for smaller children to play & develop motor skills. This activity they called the "birthday blaster". She walked up the tube & the teacher bounced it & we helped her jump off onto a mat below. This was by far the favorite activity of the day!

The kids also had many chances to just play on the equipment. Here's Peyton crossing a bridge. She's such a big girl now!

And no birthday celebration would be complete without making a huge mess with the cake! Peyton was licking the Dora & Boots figures that were on the cake and she was getting it everywhere! YOU GO GIRL!

This is Peyton with her Grandma Annie whose birthday just happens to be 2 days after Peyton's! The birthday girls had a blast at Gymboree!