We attended the Zappos Tree Lighting for the first time this year, and although it was terribly cold outside, it was a ton of fun! They had a bunch of free activities and yummy snacks to enjoy, like hot chocolate, popcorn, funnel cake and the best gourmet S'mores! We were eating our smores, while the tree lighting was about to happen. I took so many cute videos and pictures through Instastories that night, but my phone decided to stop saving to my iCloud and iPhoto, so I lost most of them but a few. Go figure, I got the tree before it was lit... but it really was pretty, so you'll have to take my word for it! In better news, Santa was taking pictures, so we decided to wait inside in line where it was a little bit warmer to meet him. Nolan was super excited to get to say hi, and once it was our turn, he ran right up to him and was so giddy but didn't say too much to him. Mrs. Claus was in love with Acelyn, but Acelyn wasn't too sure about Santa and kept petting his beard to get a good look at him! We couldn't pass by the train without taking a ride around, since Nolan kept talking about it since the moment we arrived. He loved riding around with Daddy and talked about the Zappos Choo-Choo the rest of the night, and probably even had dreams about it in his sleep! :)
Next up on our holiday to-do list was another new tradition we plan on enjoying every year- the Henderson Winterfest parade! We headed down right around the time the parade started, and grabbed some space in the grass, so Nolan could run around before it began. While we waited, he found some pine cones and Acelyn had a blast just sitting on the blanket and checking everything out around her. Next year, we'll remember to try to go a bit earlier and grab a spot on the curb, because we missed a lot of stuff with people standing in the way (should have known better)! Either way, Nolan loved seeing all the lighted floats and cars, and especially loved the fire truck and marching bands. We pointed out Foothill's band to him and explained how Mommy and Daddy went to school there, and if we end up in the same house when he goes to high school, he will go to Foothill, too! We took a walk up through the Events Plaza before the parade was through (because seriously, the City parades are SO long), to see the lighted Christmas tree, and had hopes of seeing the real snow play area, but couldn't find it (we didn't look too hard). Nolan is all about parades lately, so this was right up his alley and he loved every minute of it, even if he didn't get to see the ending!
The next day, we took a trip to Boulder City to ride the Santa Train! We loved doing this last year with our family, so we knew we'd definitely want to keep it as a tradition for the kids each year. Nolan had been talking about this for days as I prepared him for what was coming up, and when we finally arrived, he couldn't have been more excited! He chose our seats and snagged a window seat right next to Grandma, and we soon found out upon our take-off that Santa was visiting our end of the train first! Nolan was the very first to meet him and take our pictures with him, which made him feel pretty awesome. Acelyn never cried this year with any of our Santa encounters, but she was always very curious and really liked tugging on Santa's beard... almost a little too hard this time! Santa looked a little worried about losing some facial hair in our pictures, but our meet and greet with him couldn't have been better. As he continued to meet other kids, we took our ride on the train and Nolan pointed out everything we came across- rocks, trees, bicyclists, and bridges. Acelyn was way past her nap time, but did amazing and was enjoying everything around her with no fuss. Once we returned, we checked out the model trains all set up, where every year we marvel at how detailed each setup is. Acelyn fell asleep in the Ergo and looked super smushy adorable, while Nolan played with the kids train setup and enjoyed looking at more models, especially the Minnie and Mickey one working overtime!
We decided to check out the small ride-on train they offer since we missed it the last time we had come. On our way over, the next departing Santa train was taking off and Nolan just about died getting to see the railroad crossing lower and the bells go off. He waved them off and we continued on to the ride on train. Since Acelyn was sleeping, I obviously opted out of riding, so Grandma and I hung out while Nolan rode with Daddy. His face was super serious just about the entire ride around, but he couldn't have been more excited and talked about his journey around and even through a tunnel! It was definitely the highlight of his month, and we love riding the Santa train each year. Can't wait for next year when they are even older and can enjoy it even more!
We decided a little last minute to check out Bass Pro Shops for something to do during the day while Daddy was at work, and we were pleasantly surprised to see all the new things they had different from last year in the "Winter Wonderland/Workshop". We got our pass to see Santa, and since it was an hour and a half away, I decided we would wing it to see how long the kids could hold up and if the activities would keep their interest until the Santa meet (which we had already done twice, so it wouldn't be a huge deal if we missed it here). Acelyn had fallen asleep in the stroller, so Nolan had a blast participating in everything they had available as well as taking our routine tour of Bass Pro, visiting the mermaid aquarium and other fish tanks throughout the store, plus hanging out on the boats and ATVs that he loves. All month, Nolan has started the habit of saying he wants to go (here) or wants to do (this), based on something he sees on TV or the iPad. So, when I told him he would actually get to go on a boat, he was super excited. He didn't even care that it wasn't on water, he was completely satisfied that his wish came true. Ha!
They had a ball pit with a ride-on digger, and this was the hit of the day. Nolan absolutely loved playing on it, and then we returned after walking around for a while and had the pit to himself for another 20 minutes or so. He could barely reach from the seat to the handles, so he sat on the boom part mostly, but made it work and was actually pretty decent at his coordination! We also played a shooting game, an archery game, visited with a talking reindeer, and played with some trucks and cars on their tracks and mats.
We walked over to the aquarium in the Silverton, where Acelyn had a milk break and Nolan had a snack while watching the fishies swim. An employee was cleaning the tank and Nolan watched intently for a while, just crouching next to her as she cleaned.
When we returned to Bass Pro, we stopped by the ball pit once more, and then got in line for our turn to meet Santa! Nolan ran right up to him and gave him a big hug. When Santa asked what he wanted for Christmas this year, he responded, "TRUCKS!" Santa asked him what specific trucks he wanted, and Nolan said he only wanted one fire truck. Santa made a quick note of that since all month long, Nolan had been asking for construction trucks, garbage trucks, and any truck other than a fire truck (and the fire truck was consistently asked for hours and days after our meeting with Santa at Bass Pro, so it was pretty important that Santa got that fire truck before the big day)! :)
Later in the week, we had the best baking day (which is always my favorite tradition and I love that the kids are a part of it and love it just as much, too!) and Nolan wore most of what we baked, which only meant he had a great time! We made sugar cookies for Santa, and Nolan helped with every part- rolling the dough, cutting the shapes and sprinkling the toppings- his favorite part. Acelyn spent most of her time in the jumper or highchair, just hanging out and watching what was going on. She got some spoon and spatula action to occupy her time. Once our sugar cookies were done, we moved on to chocolate chip cookies (my favorite!), and Nolan helped prep the dough while I finished baking them during nap time. When he woke up, we finished up with some homemade Chex Mix and doubled our recipe since we go through this stuff so quickly! It is the best holiday feeling in the house when the oven is on, Christmas music is jamming, and we can be silly, smiling, dancing and baking together. I let the mess happen and the worry go for one day, and it's a great reminder to enjoy the moments and my kiddos... Seriously my favorite time of the year!
Since the kids and myself were sick off and on pretty much the whole month, and we chose to do activities when the above activities were we were feeling better, it meant we had to sacrifice our annual light-seeing night time events, like Ethel M's cactus garden and Quiver Point. I was bummed we weren't able to venture out, but it was so cold and rainy leading up to Christmas Day, that it just wasn't going to happen! Instead, we tried driving around to check out some lights in ours and Grandma's neighborhood. We started by driving to Boulder City to see the house that won "The Great Christmas Light Fight" on TV, but turns out because it was sprinkling out, they didn't have their lights on. We were definitely bummed because we had heard amazing things about this house! So, we continued on and drove around Grandma's neighborhood, where more of the houses that go all out every single year did not have their lights on! Who knew a little bit of rain would cancel out everyone's Christmas spirit!! :) :) So, we ended up seeing just a few houses with crazy lights, and stopped to enjoy the light show in our neighborhood just a few streets away. Here's to hoping next year we can catch more lights than we did this year!!
We celebrated Christmas Eve Day with a yummy breakfast with the Luks family, caught up with them and let the kiddos play. We were so busy enjoying our company and time, the only picture I have is one Jess took of Nolan trying orange juice for the first time. Hilarious! (That's okay, more orange juice for Mama's mimosas).
A few days after Christmas, we headed to the Bellagio to soak in more Christmas before the New Year began. The place was packed and Nolan loved seeing the train when we first arrived. We stayed and watched it for a while before moving on to the giant Christmas tree and another train that he went crazy over.
The kiddos both loved the polar bears and penguins we saw as we walked through, and Nolan made sure to wave hi to every one of them. I'm always so impressed every time we go to the Conservatory... the amount of flowers and the work to keep them looking fresh and amazing is crazy! It's definitely one of our favorite places to go with each season change.
Since the opening of the new T Mobile Arena and The Park, we typically make a day out of our Strip outing, and take the tram over to both Crystals/Aria and Monte Carlo to The Park. Nolan is obsessed with the tram and loves riding it, so it's always exciting and is fun and easy entertainment, plus a way to get out and enjoy our city and play a little tourist. We stopped at Crystals to play in the fountain area, and Acelyn got a quick snack. Afterwards, we hopped back on the tram to make our way over to Shake Shack for lunch, and checked out the ice skating rink on our return. Nolan really has been wanting to "go on some ice skates", so we're thinking of taking him before they close up in the next few weeks.
It was another fun morning and a great way to run some energy out of Nolan, and the perfect end to our Christmas traditions! Even though we couldn't check all of our regular ones off of our list this year, we enjoyed the ones we continued and loved making new traditions to celebrate, too!
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