ICE! at the Gaylord Texan

So we were pretty busy this weekend. Saturday we had Russell's work brunch in the morning and got home around 1. So on Sunday, we wanted it to be a peaceful, relaxing day together. So we had a pretty lazy morning, looking at ads, reading books, cooking breakfast and watching shows. Wait! That doesn't sound relaxing at all! But it felt relaxing. So I guess that counts.

We'd been planning on going to the ICE! exhibit at the Gaylord again and decided Sunday would be the perfect day.

Unfortunately, it was a little crowded. A lot of the people staying at the hotel were in town for the Big 12 Championship Game at Jerry World. And there was some kind of cheerleading convention going on while we were there too.

Boy was it cold outside! So we bundled up in advance of the cold exhibit we were about to see.

Sophia was so much more aware of all of the stuff to look at, especially the trains.

Waiting to get in......

Once we got in, we had to watch an 8 minute movie about how they carve all the sculptures. After it was over, it snowed on us.

Then it was time to pick out a parka.

Russell was kind enough to hold my purse so I could take pictures.

This year's theme was the Peanuts comic strip.

However, not everything was made of ice like in years past. For example, the tree above wasn't ice.

But Sophia didn't care.

Linus's blanket was a real blanket and not ice.

Every once in a while, Sophia would start dancing to the music they played.

And Sophia said she wanted to go down the slide. It was a long line and we were afraid we'd wait in this huge line only to have her change her mind at the last minute.

But she did it. She had to go all by herself. Russell was at the top waiting with her while I sprinted down to the bottom to catch it on my camera.

And she loved it and of course wanted to go again. We said they only let you ride it once because we didn't want to wait in line again. Yep, we're terrible parents.

The lights on Snoopy's doghouse, not ice.

Don't get  me wrong. It was still an amazing exhibit. We just liked last year's theme better. 

So after that, we went to eat lunch and headed home for a nap.

After nap time, Russell ran the train for the first time to see what's working and what's not working. It ran pretty well and Sophia loved it!

Sophia has started requesting that for her nap time, she sleep in pj's.

Later that night, we started working on her Christmas tree that she has to decorate for school. We're going with a Grinch theme and so we glued down a layer of fuzzy green that looks very Grinch-like.

We'll finish the rest Monday night. Wow! What a busy day!

Russell's Work Brunch

Sophia wasn't very excited about going to Russell's work brunch. I think it was because we kept telling her she'd get to see Santa, and that frightened her. I thought it was funny that she insisted on bringing her camera so she could take pictures of it.

Once we were there, she started to cheer up a bit. We sat with another couple that has a son named Jack.

Sophia was pretty well behaved. She really didn't cry or give us attitude like last year. We were very thankful that she didn't scream at the top of her lungs when she met Mrs. O'Brien (wife of the owner of the company) like she did last year.

Here she's eyeing a girls balloon that she got from BooCoos the clown. Sophia refused to go see the clown. But she really wanted a balloon.

She actually ate pretty well today. She had a blueberry muffin, grapes, a couple of bites of a waffle and about 20 slices of bacon. Okay, I'm exaggerating a little but she really loved the bacon (just like her mama).

We had attempted to visit the clown but once we were almost there, she started to cry and scream. So back to our table we went.

Lucky for her, Jack and his dad made it to the clown and got one just for Sophia.

Here we're in line waiting for Santa . She was a little anxious but really wanted to tell him that she wanted a kitchen.

She started to tear up a little. But I reminded her to tell him what she wanted and I think she regained her focus.

Enough to at least mumble the words...kitchen.

But at least we're making progress. I was able to back away and let her sit on his lap by herself without her screaming bloody murder. Last year, we couldn't pry her out of my arms and she refused to sit in his lap. And of course she cried...a lot.

I think she was ready to go back to our table.

After we left, she was so proud of herself for sitting in Santa's lap. She kept saying "Santa's not scary. The clown was scary, but not Santa".

Here she realized that everyone was going home. She kept hollering to her new "friends", "Wait!". So she was stuck with us for the rest of the afternoon.

But she snapped out of it pretty soon. Off to our house.....

Where she was rewarded with a chocolate teddy bear. Not only was she really well behaved but she went the whole time clean and dry.

In fact, Operation Big Girl Underwear has gone off without a hitch. She hasn't had an accident since before Thanksgiving. And for the past 5 nights, she's gone all night without an accident.

YEA!!!!!!!

The Countdown Begins....

This past week we began adding ornaments to our countdown to Christmas Grinch tree. I've also made an advent calendar but can't decide how/where I'm going to hang it so I'm saving that for next year.

Sophia's Tree

This past Sunday, we decorated the tree in Sophia's room. She had helped pick out the tree and all the ornaments earlier that day. She couldn't wait to help and took her job very seriously.

After it was decorated to her satisfaction, she was thrilled with the results.