Christmas Day Skyping

We may not have made it back to Iowa this Christmas, but Peter and Jen made sure to make an appearance! On Christmas Day we were able to Skype back and join in some of the festivities on the Ayres side. It was one of the rare times that Great-Grandma Ayres was able to get online to see us!


The Ayres family went to Holiday Inn for lunch and we were able to call them via Skype video from Arizona!


The video didn't always work but we were able to say "Hi" to everyone!


Wish we could have been there with everyone but it was nice to be able to see them!

Xmas Eve Fun and Bubbles (video)

Christmas Eve we got all the presents out and set them up around our little tree. There were presents from mom and dad, grandparents, great-grandparents, great-aunts and uncles, and more!


And of course, Santa snuck in overnight to leave some more. Peter was sure going to have a lot to open in the morning!


First we had to get to get ready for bed though! Peter hopped into the bath for a fun big bubble bathtime.


The past few weeks he has loved laying down in the bathtub. I think he likes to listen to the world underwater.


Peter's Great-Aunt Kim and the Davis family sent us a bag of special reindeer food to leave out on Xmas eve. It was a little chilly out but Peter ran outside barefoot. We'd have to make this quick!


We took reindeer food (birdseed) outside to sprinkle in the grass so they would have a special treat. Then it was inside to bed for a comfy nights sleep.


A few fun videos of bathtime. Peter liked to give himself a white Santa beard with all the bubbles. He's such a silly boy!



And another video of Peter just having fun laying down in the bathtub.

Visiting Santa, Again

The week of Christmas we had a sticker exchange with our mommy group at the Tucson Mall courtyard. Of course since it was within view of Santa Claus Peter didn't sit still for stickers...he raced right over to get in line to see Santa!


Peter just HAD to show Santa his new Spiderman sweatshirt. It has a button in it and when you push it it talks and makes the sound of Spiderman's web shooting. Peter thinks this is the coolest thing ever!


After Santa approved of his shirt, Peter was more than happy to get up in his lap and give a big smile!


He was all grins after that!



So happy!


We then decided to go to the food court and get some Burger King. Peter got his own crown!


He wore his crown the rest of the time in the mall and ate right through his burger and apples. Yum!

Winterhaven (videos)

I took a few videos of our night in Winterhaven. Since it is nighttime they are dark and the quality isn't the best but it gives you an idea of the fun we had!

The first video is of what we called the "Water Show House". It looked perfectly innocent as you approached it then all of a sudden music started, the lights blinked in time with the music and HUGE lighted water fountains burst from the front yard. The show went on for nearly 15 minutes. Peter was so excited he just danced and danced to the music. We stayed for 2 shows!



The second video is just Peter running around in the snow machine. He had fun until the end when he realized he was all wet and wanted to take his wet clothes off. I even accidentally left the camera on to catch a little of that conversation!

Winterhaven Lights

Sunday night we ventured out to Winterhaven, Tucson's biggest neighborhood of lights. They have been doing a big Xmas display for over 40 years and I think its even part of their HOA rules that you must decorate. The whole area is shut down to traffic and hundreds of people come to walk through every night.


I was a little nervous about walking through the neighborhood. It's about 3 miles to see everything and once you are in there are only so many ways back out to your car. With 25 days left until this baby pops out I wasn't sure I'd make it. Plus add in the fact that I feel like I have to pee every 5 minutes and you can understand why I was kinda hesitant. I was VERY happy though that there were porta-pottys scattered around the area. We even found one that was decorated!!! :-P


Peter did REALLY well. We didn't take the stroller and he walked almost the entire way. We have been a little worried about his foot lately. The day before this he fell down and seemed to be limping a little but not complaining so we've been watching him closely. Because of that if he ever wanted a little break from walking Daddy just carried him for a little while.


Peter ran from house to house to see the decorations. Sometimes he would get stuck at a house though. One of his favorites was a karaoke house! They had set up a mini stage and haystack seating in their front yard with a big karaoke screen and sound system and had passersby sing christmas songs. Peter wanted to "Sing, mama!" and kept trying to go up on stage with all the other kids.


We also had to stay on top of him to NOT go into all the displays. I don't know if he fully understands the concept of borders. It felt really funny to be telling my 2 year old to "Stay in the street!" With no car traffic everyone walked in the middle of the street and you didn't go up in the yards. There really aren't sidewalks there.


We stopped a couple times just to sit down and rest. That 3 mile hike gets to be a long one! Oh, but in case you didn't notice, Peter wore his Spiderman costume so he was a superhero who could handle all that walking!!! Yes, one light display all the pictures are Superman and the other he is Spiderman. Whatever will we do with this kid!?!


John once again got comments on his hat. He ended up taking it off about halfway through though. It was just too hot on his head! Even at 7pm at night it is still just jeans and t-shirt weather here. I ended up taking off my coat and tying it around my waist.


One of our ultimate favorite spots was someone who set up a little theater in their front yard. They wheeled out a big screen tv with big red curtains, set up a bunch of benches and chairs, and played Xmas movies. As we went past they were showing Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. PERFECT!!! We had already been walking nearly 2 hours and were about ready to fall down.


Instead we got some hot cocoa the neighbors were giving away and sat down to enjoy the show! Peter had a blast sitting with the other kids and I just loved being able to get off my feet for a little bit.


We were even able to find SNOW in Tucson that night.


OK, so it was a snow bubble machine but its the closest thing we really get here!


Peter had a blast running around in the snow!


Mommy had a blast trying to take his picture without getting the camera covered in snow bubbles! It was coming down hard!


Finally, it was time to head out to the car. Peter was tired and rested on daddy's shoulders.


We did decide to make one last potty break on the way out. Peter had to go which required a LOT of undressing with all the layers of clothes and costume.


But he was finally able to go in the porta-potty so that made him happy.



We had a GREAT evening and I am so happy that we all made it through the whole thing! We did have one down point that we discovered upon getting home. Peter went into mommy's diaper bag to get his Chewy's out and one of them was GONE. There are supposed to be two...and he knows it. They were both in my bag at the event but I think at some point he dug in my bag for a snack and knocked one out. I drove through the next morning looking but Chewy #2 is long gone.

I am glad Peter is a little older now, he understands the concept of lost. We told him Chewy got lost at the party. He has cried a little bit but remembers that is what happened. (I honestly think some of that affection has transferred to his Spiderman costume so that makes him feel better.) Thankfully we still have one Chewy left. I'm keeping an eye out for another, but I haven't seen one for over a year now. Mommy feels super guilty that one of his Chewy's was lost while in my care. Chewy #1 is now on house arrest.

Tucson Children's Museum

A wet morning this week led us inside to play inside at the Tucson Children's Museum.


Peter always has a great time there and is happy to play in all the exhibits.


This time he had lots of fun in the veterinarian area. He took care of all the dogs and cats and made sure they felt good.


He wore a doctor's coat, gave them "baths" and put them away in cages.


Of course, he always loves making the bells ring in the train room.


At one point he found a baby doll. He must have been practicing at being a big brother!


On our way out we got distracted by their big sandbox! Peter got super sandy!

NOT Spiderman

The past week Peter has discovered the concept of layering his clothes. The ultimate in this is that he wants to layer his costumes!


Friday I got some clothes out for him and he dressed himself in them...OVER his Spiderman costume! Now, he was very insistent that he was NOT Spiderman...he was Peter! Peter Parker, Spiderman's hidden identity. Such a silly kid!


I decided not to fight him much because the first thing on our agenda was to go to a pool playdate at an indoors swim school. He had a 20 minute ride in the car and then got changed into a swimsuit.


Regardless of how long he was in his new costume he was incredibly happy. He has been doing this almost every day now, trying to get away with being "Peter Parker". It cracks me up that he has such a good imagination!

Disney Lane

Last night we went out to see Christmas lights on Disney Lane. It's a little neighborhood in town that we heard about where a lot of the houses decorate in different cartoon themes. Apparently someone offered to make everyone cutouts and each house gets to pick a different cartoon.


Peter was very excited to recognize characters he knew. (Yes, Peter is wearing his Superman costume once again. It may be nearly Xmas but in our house Halloween has never left!) We had a fun time getting out of the car every couple of blocks to walk around a little bit and see the displays. Peter just learned about Huey, Dewey, and Louie this past week or two so he was very excited to see them at the Duck Tales house.


Peter Pan and the pirates was also a fun house for him. "Alligator no eat me!" "Alligator no eat my shoe!" "Scary alligator!"


He had lots of fun when he found Donald, Daisy, Mickey, and Minnie!


He posed and posed near these buddies from the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.


John and I joked how 20 years from now we'll have to pull these pictures out as blackmail. How many little boys have Christmas photos wearing Superman costumes?!? Only our son!


Donald decorating the house!


Peter was also very excited to find the Scooby Doo house!


He got high on his tip toes to try to put his arm around Scooby!


He also liked dancing at the Shrek house.


Then we came across Spongebob's house! Peter went up and knocked on the door, but sadly no one was home.


But his friend Patrick was there!


And his boss Mr. Krabs!


Peter had a great time running from house to house exploring all the displays! We saw tons of characters and lots of lights. As we were driving out of the neighborhood you could hear Peter in the backseat saying "Bye, Doo House! Bye, Race Cars! Bye, Cat in Hat! Bye, Duckie house! Bye, Santa!..."