Snow World

Sea World has a "Snow World" celebration each winter, and we decided to try it out!  Kids loved it, and we all had a ton of fun!

We just happened to be walking by the Sesame Street stage when the characters had a few minutes for pictures with their fans.  This was probably R&R's favorite part of the whole day.  And, for those of you who know Rhys well, it was a BIG deal for her to take this picture.  She has always had a love/hate relationship with characters.

We were also able to get a picture with Abby and The Count.  I think both of the twins were scared of The Count.  He kept trying to get one of them to stand in front of him.  Rhys kept pushing Rhett that way, but this is what we finally agreed on.

We saw a real reindeer!

And we loved looking at all the fun decorations.  Here was a tree made out of boots.

And another big tree made of poinsettias.  It was my favorite!
 

Rhett asked to take a picture with the white bear.

We also ran into Shamu Santa and a cute little penguin that sang and danced.

The big attraction is "Snow World," where kids can ride a tube down a snow hill and also play with snow.  Here we are waiting in line.  We ended up waiting in line for over 2 hours!

Still waiting in line and daddy entertaining Rhys.

Still waiting....

As the line moved along slowly, we figured out that the reason it was taking so long was because they were only letting in a certain number of people at a time.  Those people would go in, play for 15 minutes, and then they would leave and the next group could enter.

While we waited, the kids ran around, ate snacks, and did great!

After our long wait, we finally made it into the tent.  The kids wanted to do the ride first.

 Here is a video of Rhys on the tube.

The kids rode the snow hill 3-4 times, and then played in the snow a bit.  It was cold and fun!

We also got to reach down into this huge tub of ice and make (and throw) snowballs!

The lights were so pretty in the evening.  We were about to leave the park (with 2 very tired kiddos!) and we saw the Candy Cane Forest ahead.  We had to stop and take a couple of pictures.

Aren't these lights pretty?

Thank you Sea World!

July 4th Fun

Our sweet friends, the Hasslers, invited us over for the 4th of July.  Of course we had to stop on the way there to get some fireworks.  "For the kids," Tim said.  

Daddy and Rhys went to pick out the goodies...

And I got to hang out with this handsome guy in the car!

Taryn outdid herself and spoiled us with so many delicious appetizers and dishes and we all ate too much.  The kids had tons of fun, too.  Here is our very own patriotic band! (And yes, the Hasslers also have boy/girl twins!)

It actually started to rain but that didn't stop the fireworks!

 Rhys and Adeline with sparklers

It was right after this picture that our little Rhysie burned her finger on the sparkler.  Tim had told the kids many times not to touch the "fire" and they did so well.  As soon as her sparkler burned out, she grabbed the top part of it.  We never thought to tell the kids that it would still be hot!  OUCH!  After some screaming, ibuprofen, and a band-aid, she was ready to join the fun again.  Well, she was ready to join the fun from a distance!

Love this picture that Taryn took.  Kids standing under an umbrella enjoying the celebration.

These boys were loving it!

Rhett with his arm around his buddy, Aiden.

Here are some fun memories...

THREE YEARS AGO!

and TWO YEARS AGO!

Happy 4th, Y'all!

The Month Before Christmas...

December was a busy, but fun month!  We started out by putting up our Christmas tree.  R&R were sooooo very excited to help.  

Tim got the tree put up, but the kids were getting hungry so we decided to hold off and do the decorating the next night.  So we enjoyed the lights and made homemade pizzas.  I can't find my pictures from that part of our evening.  Or maybe I didn't take any.  I can't remember.  But the kids loved putting their own toppings on their own little pizzas.  A new, fun tradition, I'm sure!

The next night we pulled out the ornaments and we had a great time decorating the tree together.

Then we let Rhett and Rhys have their first taste of hot chocolate!  I'm not sure what they thought about the drink, but they thought it was so funny that daddy put marshmallows in their cups!

Most evenings in December ended just like this.

We also visited Bass Pro Shops Winter Wonderland in December.  We rode the carousel (several times) and even saw Santa!  

The twins had seen Santa once before this season and were not big fans.  We did not have high expectations.  But we were pleasantly surprised when this happened:

CONFESSION:  We told them that Santa was giving candy canes to kids who sat on his lap and smiled at the camera.  That was a true statement.  He was also giving candy to kids who screamed for their parents, but we left that part out.  R&R are highly motivated by candy....what does that say about us as parents?  Hmmm......

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the month:

More Christmas posts to come soon!