Forney Museum of Transportation

While we were in CO we went the Forney Museum of Transportation. Parker has been into trains for the last 2 years. We were going to take him to a train museum until we found out most of it was outdoors! It was in the teens while we were there so there was no way we wanted to be outside for any length of time! Thankfully Daddy remembered this place. I'm sorry there are so many pictures but I always have a hard time narrowing it down. We got to see all kinds of different vehicles! One of the "bugs" used in the Herbie movies was there. In one of the last few pictures Jeff is looking at Amelia Earhart's car.

I SPY Bottle Game

When I was a guest teacher (the school district's fancy way of saying substitute teacher) I saw a game that the teachers had made with a piece of material and a piece of clear vinyl. They made a little pouch and put random little things it with rice or beads. The kids got to squish it around looking for the objects that were in there. I think they called it I SPY. The kids either had to look for something particular or if several items were showing they could play I SPY with another student. I came up with my own idea to put it in a bottle. Later I found out that there are several companies out there that came up with the same idea and are selling them in catalogs and online! Here are some pictures of Parker making his I SPY bottle. I wanted to make it for our VERY LONG drive to Colorado this Christmas. It did a pretty good job of keeping him entertained! My mother-in-law and I looked everywhere for things that were small enough to fit through the bottle opening that would be fun for Parker to look for. She found some really neat buttons of airplanes, trucks, cars, etc. Thank you Tina for helping me with this! I put all the objects out on the table and let Parker pick out several of his favorites. I made a list of what went in the bottle and I'm going to laminate it and tie it to the top. That way I can say, "Look for a ..." or when he's older he can use it as a check list and try to find everything. In February I'm hosting this as a playdate at our house. I just found smaller bottles so I think I'm going to re-do the one Parker already made. The smaller size is better for little hands and it's a little easier to fit in the diaper bag. This is a great game for long car trips, waiting in the Dr.'s office, waiting in restaurants, etc. I will post more pics. after our play date!

On Dec. 15th, we had a play date at our house to do a white elephant gift exchange for the mommies and a toy exchange for the kids. Here are some pics of the boys before everyone got here. Jackson is wearing one of Parker's outfits. It says Mommy's Little Present! I thought it was perfect for that playdate! I told Parker he looked like a candy cane in his shirt, so now he calls it the "candy cane shirt".

Walk Through Bethlehem

This is the third year in a row we've gone to the Walk Through Bethlehem. Nana usually goes with us but this time PopPop and Aiden came also. Parker really knows the story of Jesus' birth and enjoys telling it to people. We had a lot of fun! This time Parker actually went into the area with all the animals but he wouldn't pet them. He just wanted to see the little piglets. One of the things they did differently this year was a hayride at the end. We rode around the neighborhood and sang Christmas carols. I look forward to doing this every year. It's really become a nice tradtion!

Gingerbread House Play Date

We made Gingerbread (well not exactly gingerbread, but graham crackers are easier) Houses at one of our play dates. This was one of the projects that Parker actually participated in instead of wanting to run around and play instead. He tried to eat more candy than he was putting on the house, but it all worked out in the end. It was so much fun that we did another one when we got home. There were some rocks by the tree, but Jeff ate them before I took the picture!