Like I previously mentioned we have had a lot of fun getting ready for Christmas. Not only have we enjoyed making and decorating Christmas cookies we have also had fun picking out or tree, decorating our tree, attending Christmas parties, and visiting various places around Indianapolis getting ready for Christmas. Below you will find pictures from these various events. For some reason I was unable to post any comments along with the pictures so I will write a little something about each series of pictures here. I hope that you all have enjoyed getting ready for Christmas and preparing for the birth of our savior.
Christmas on the Farm: This year we decided to go back to Trader Point Creamery for their annual Christmas on the Farm event. We also went last year and have gone to the Creamery on several other occasions to see the cows and eat their yummy food. This year Nolan has expressed excitement about Santa, pointing out Santa figurines and decorations, however when it came to sitting on Santa's lap he was not so interested. We knew that he wasn't going to sit up there alone so we decided to go up as a family to capture the picture. Nolan cried the entire time and later said "I didn't want sit Santa's lap." Maybe next year we will get a smiling picture. :) The rest of the trip was much more successful. We saw the cows, sat around a campfire, saw the elk (Nolan asked the elk: "Reindeer what doing?") and went on a very cold hay ride around the farm.
Watts Farm: I also enjoyed having a real Christmas tree as a child. While Kevin and I were living in apartments we had put up a little fake tree but the first Christmas in our house I pushed to get a real tree. The last several years we have just gone to Lowes and picked a tree that was already cut. This year I convinced Kevin that it would be fun to go to a tree farm so after many recommendations we decided to go to Watts farm and train shop. My friend Anna from college was with us and was able to take the family picture of us next to our tree before it was cut down. While Kevin worked with the farm staff to cut down the tree Nolan and I hung out inside the shop watching the train displays and fed the baby reindeer. :) Later that weekend we had fun decorating our tree while listening to Christmas music. Nolan loved hanging the ornaments on the tree and has spent a lot of time walking around the tree pointing out his favorite ornaments.
Christmas at the Zoo: Probably one of the best decisions that we have made was buying our zoo membership. We enjoyed many, many trips to the zoo this summer, had fun at Zoo Boo, and most recently enjoyed an evening of Christmas at the Zoo. The whole zoo was decorated with beautiful lights, some of the animals were kept out late, and there was of course a Santa, arts and crafts, and lots of food. Nolan was not interested in the arts and crafts or in seeing Santa because he wanted to see all the animals. He was a bit disappointed that all of the animals weren't out but after we explained that they had probably gone to sleep he was OK and enjoyed the animals that were out. Probably the highlight was the tiger exhibit. As you can see there is only a thin wall of glass between the tigers and the visitors and the tigers usually pace back and forth in front of the glass giving you an up close and person experience. Nolan loved it!! Many boyish giggles could be heard as I stood back not being as comfortable with how close the tigers were. :)
Finally, Nolan and I had a fun evening of decorating Christmas cookies. Nolan told me which color frosting to use and then he poured on the sprinkles and added other decorations. He did a really good job. There were a few times that I looked over and wasn't sure where the cookie was on the plate because it had been hidden under sprinkles.
