Tiny Tots and Toddlers with A Twist Christmas

Life has been so busy in the most fabulous way for the past month and half.  The rush of Christmas has my head spinning and I love it.  Additionally, the mom's group has been in full swing and we have had the pleasure of meeting many great moms and kids, as well as some dads too!  On Saturday we celebrated Tiny Tots and Toddlers with a Twist's first annual Christmas party.

After exploring various options,  I offered to host the party at our house so we wouldn't have to pay money to rent a space.  In the end, I was happy to have the party at our house because I feel like everything is more relaxed when a party is at a house.  And if you didn't know this about me, I love being a host!  Quite a different party then those annual St. Patrick's Day parties Kirby and I used to throw back in the day but equally as fun.  My how life has changed!!

Jocelyn's favorite part was stealing food left behind on people's plates and running away when I saw her.  Thank God she doesn't have allergies! (I know I am very lucky because of this) Poor thing paid for it later though when she couldn't sleep during naptime.  I know her tummy was hurting!!

This picture just cracks me up!

Super mom- Her oldest just recently turned 3 so for three months she had 3 under three!

 Thankfully this amazing groups of moms made planning and getting ready for the party easy.  Each of them brought food and drinks to share.

How cute are the reindeer cookies and the Santa fruit kabobs!

 And I have to give a special Thank you to Alyson.  She has helped me start this group and she took over crafts for the party, as well as adorable party favors.

My  biggest Thank You of all goes to Kirby though for helping me rearrange furniture, graciously hosting, and for being Santa at the party.  One of the mom's in the group, Kerry, has a Santa costume and her husband dressed up for a meetup at their house.  She was kind enough to let us borrow the costume for the party and it was quite a hoot.  It's amazing how some kids embrace Santa without hesitation like this little peanut...

And others like my own are terrified...

Thanks for snapping this picture Alyson!  If only they knew it was their Dad!

In addition to letting our kids indulge in treats, we played some reindeer games like Pin the Nose on Rudolph and Candy Cane toss into the Gingerbread Man,

On second thought- I don't know if Rudolph got any action during the party.  Better hold on to him for next year.

The part Charlie enjoyed the most was breaking open the Pinata. I had a feeling the kids were already going to be sugared up with the bounty of delicious treats we had so I decided to fill the pinata with little toys.  Target has an abundance of Christmas party favors like finger puppets, pencils, bouncy balls, stamps, yo-yos, and so on that were all in holiday theme.  The only thing I didn't account for was the some of the toys would break during the pinata smashing.  OOPS!!!

Special thanks to Gary (one of the Dads) for holding the pinata up.  We had to do it a little redneck style because there wasn't a great place to hang it at our house.

He was cute while he lasted and totally worth it!

It was a perfect morning!  On this note, I have to say that everything in life happens for a reason.  While I was bummed to get the boot from the one mom's group the door that opened by starting this group is proving to be a great one for both the kids and I, and really our family as whole.   Charlie now has a group of buddies that he loves telling Kirby stories about and looks forward to hanging out with.  And I can picture Jocelyn running around on the playground with some of the little girls soon enough.  Makes my heart happy!  I can honestly say that I too am forming friendship (something I very much needed) with some of the moms in the group.  It makes Vegas feel a little more like home...

Bright Lights & Fancy Decorations

Place: Bellagio

For each Holiday season the Bellagio changes the display in the conservatory and botanical gardens.  On Wednesday we went to check it out with some of the moms and kiddos from Tiny Tots and Toddlers.

Here is a description found from the Bellagio's website.

Warm childhood memories will reemerge as guests stroll through the Conservatory's enchanted winter wonderland surrounded by more than 45,000 fragrant fresh poinsettias. The centerpiece of the display is Las Vegas' largest indoor holiday tree standing at 45-feet tall and weighing 8,000 pounds, hand-picked in Mt. Shasta, Calif. and flown in for the display.

Sneak a romantic kiss with that special someone under the mistletoe inside a life-sized snow globe surrounded by water arches and four drumming soldiers. Complementing the extravagant holiday décor, live marimba and vibraphone performers will play nightly, filling the Conservatory with the cherished sounds of the season.

A holiday favorite returns with a family of topiary polar bears adorned with 18,000 snow white carnations. Momma bear will watch over her two cubs as they frolic through the poinsettias and float on an icy pond

Cost: Hours: Free Free Free- music to my ears : )

Best for kids age: All kids young and old as long as you have holiday spirit

On the plus side:  The conservatory and botanical gardens were truly beautiful.  Around the gigantic Christmas tree were two trains.  I think Charlie and some of his buddies could have sat watching the trains for hours on end.  Many of the decorations are made from fresh flowers so in addition to being stunning it smells lovely.  A new addition this year was the human-snow globe (a tunnel you could walk through making you feel as though you were in snow globe).  A definite plus seeing as how it was Charlie's favorite part!

On the down side:  Fortunately we went on a Wednesday morning so at  was not too crowded.  My guess is that weekends are a nightmare and should be avoided.

Suggestions: The only thing I would change is something I am not sure they could even change.  There were several spots that made great photo opportunities like the one in this picture below that my friend Alyson took.  Areas like this get so backed up because there is not enough space for people to pass by while others are taking photographs.  If it was at all possible, they should make walkways wider.

Rating (on a scale of 1-5 stars) 5 stars

Time Allotted? 30 minutes to an hour (specifically in the Bellagio conservatory and botanical gardens)

Go again? This will be an annual tradition as long as we live in Las Vegas

Bursting with Fun in Boulder!

In years past, we have always spent Thanksgiving with Kirby's extended family.  But this year, since we are across the country, we decided we would make the trek to Boulder, Colorado to visit my brother and his girlfriend, Sarah.
It is a 12. HOUR. DRIVE. from Vegas to Boulder!  And we managed to survive with a 2.5 year old, a 15 month old, and a crazy goldendoodle.  In fairness, Rascal was a dream in the car so maybe she doesn't really deserve the title crazy.  We drove the first night for seven and a half hours before stopping in a hotel for the night.  The night sky in Utah was simply stunning.  I wish I had pictures but sadly I don't.  When we stopped it was 1 am and Kirby and I were both exhausted.  Unfortunately the little loves caught a second wind!!!!  One and a half hours later of tossing, turning, crying, singing, dancing and so on they finally crashed.  I couldn't even tell you when but at some ungodly hour Charlie ended up in bed with us and it wasn't much later that he had  managed to push Kirby and I to the opposite ends of the bed with his head next to mine and his feet next to Kirby's head.

He's lucky he is so cute!

With four more hours of driving on Thanksgiving we successfully made it to Boulder.

 

Hanging with Grandpa

The lovely hosts!  I wish I took a picture of the absolutely delicious dinner they made. 

Thanks for the craft Grammie!

Bows, headbands, hats- she doesn't like anything on her head

How sweet it this!  Kali let the kids climb all over her.  

It took only moments before Jocelyn wash smothering Sarah with hugs.

The most even split I have ever seen on a wishbone

Matt and Sarah have a one bedroom place so we rented a place to stay with Grammie and Grandpa.  It wasn't what we expected but it worked.  We kept busy so each day we were really only there to sleep and eat breakfast.  On Friday we decided to take in the Boulder scenery while walking off our second plate of Thanksgiving dinner from the previous night.  Thankfully the park has a playground where the kiddos could burn off some energy.  After a relaxing afternoon we headed to Pearl Street for dinner.

 

I packed toys for the kids to play with but they were much more interested in spinning in the chair.

Dinner at a brewery with delicious food at cheap prices and apparently some good beer that someone had a little too much of.

Saturday was quite an adventure.  We began the day by playing miniature golf.  Luckily we arrived as it opened so no one had to wait on us.  It was Charlie's first time playing and he loved it!  I am beginning to notice a more stubborn side of my little guy as he refused to let anyone help him hold the club correctly.  If his skills this day are any indication of his golf talent than golf certainly won't be his sport.

The winner!

After naptime we all ventured to Denver to visit the Denver Botanical Gardens.  It's about 45 minute drive from Boulder and  it's Denver's version of Longwood Gardens (just a little smaller)

I have no idea what they are doing!

I need to work on taking pictures of Christmas lights.

The Botanical Gardens were beautiful.  We enjoyed the lights choreographed to music and the chilly Colorado air made it feel much more like Christmas.  Afterwards, we headed to dinner at Casa Bonita.  Apparently, this place was on the TV show South Park.  None of us watch it but Matt and Kirby had heard of it through friends.  The place is like a mix of a Dinner theater, Chuck E Cheese, a School Cafeteria, and a Mexican restaurant.  A post of its own would better serve to explain the wildness of it all, but the pictures will have to do.

This would be the dinner theater aspect. Oh and I should mention to the right of the stage is a waterfall dropping twenty feet down to a pool in which actors were earlier jumping in.

Christmas decorations inside the restaurant.  They could also be found in the amusement park line you weave in and out of before ordering your food and getting in the cafeteria like line.

A Mariachi band played outside of this place inside the restaurant.  And to the right of it was where they did the puppet show.

On the way to another room with a full on gift shop as well as an open space where kids could bash open a pinata.

Looking down at the exit.  To the left there was an arcade.

On Sunday we packed and after the Eagles game we began our journey home.  Just like on the way out we drove 7 hours before calling it quits.  Charlie transitioned well and fell asleep easily in the hotel room this time.  Jocelyn "party girl" Miller on the other spent an hour and a half again trying to decide if she wanted to sleep in her pack and play or in the bed with us.
We planned to stop in St. George when completing the last chunk of driving since neither Kirby nor I have ever been in Utah.  We stopped at Snow Canyon State Park and it was breathtaking.  Making it even better for the kids, sand dunes!

Just like the beach....

I hope this video works but if not-- he is making sand angels. 

Love my little loves!

"sliding" down the sand

While the hotel stays were not the best, all in all we had a wonderful trip to Boulder for Thanksgiving.  Next year we may opt to stay home, but this year we were thankful to celebrate the holiday with family.