The real excitement kicked in last week with Cael's party at school (who doesn't love a chance to eat Cheeto Puffs) and then a trip to the North Pole Express. Cael loves trains and really enjoyed reading "The Polar Express" so I figured this would be a homerun. After getting the little guy in some Christmas pajamas for the event, we headed to the Grapevine train station and waited for the train.
Once aboard, Christmas music played and Cael checked out the decorations and dancing elves that wandered through the train. He loved getting his ticket punched by the conductor and was very excited to receive his silver bell (not that you can tell that in this picture).
We had a great time with Grandma as we rode to the North Pole but the fun didn't end once the train stopped.
We wandered through a "snowy" forest to find Santa ...
... and settled in for a performance by the big guy and some of his musical elves. Cael stayed fueled with candy canes and "Frosty Chocolate Snow Milk" complete with a little of Santa's magic.
We wrapped up the evening with a little time spent at a train table ... what more could a 2 year old ask for?
Cael's train experience continued the next day as he called "All Aboard!" for several train rides for his friends around our house including at the fireplace ...
... and on the couch. Zac quickly realized he picked the wrong spot to rest.
We moved on from train time to deliver some gifts to our neighbors. I got a little help from Sulley as Christmas wouldn't be complete without an appearance from our favorite blue monster.
We then spent the evening celebrating early Christmas with Zac's family. Cael loved time with cousins and opening lots of presents ... especially when his beloved Sulley appeared within some tissue paper.
The Christmas fun with Zac's family didn't end there. We hosted everyone for a BBQ dinner after church on Christmas Eve. It was great to have everyone together and Zac got a chance to break out his first brisket on his new ceramic grill and smoker (along with a couple of chickens ... quite the multi-tasker).
After a fun, late night with family we finally convinced Cael to get a few hours of sleep before the Christmas morning excitement began. He had a great time working his way through presents both small ...
... and large.
He enjoyed his toys as he opened them ...
... as did Scrappy once it was her turn.
My sweet dad was under the weather so we did our best to celebrate while he got some rest at home. Grayson and Cael had a blast together ...
... and baby Devin couldn't have been any more happy and adorable.
They all enjoyed presents ...
... and treats (yes, he stuck his finger in the frosting of the birthday cake that Grayson made for baby Jesus).
Cael is still in recovery mode after all of that excitement but with a few more nights like this ...
... he'll be ready for his next big adventure in no time. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
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