We spent a wonderful week in Houston over the Christmas holiday. Luke had tons of fun hanging out with Nana and Grandpa and Aunt Kimmy and Uncle Scott.
Nana and Grandpa were so excited to give Luke one of his Christmas presents that they gave it to him two days early. Luke was very grateful because it is the coolest gift ever- a big bouncy horsie! I had one similar to this as a kid, but, as with most toys, they've come long way, baby.
Yeehaw horsie!
Christmas Eve night Nana read Luke (and a room full of adult friends and family who had joined us for Christmas dinner) the book The Night Before Christmas. Afterward, we set out milk and cookies by the fireplace for Santa so that he could have something to snack on during his stop at our house that night. Luke ended up drinking most of Santa's milk... sorry, Santa. Then Cactus (our dog) ate one of the cookies right off of the plate before we could stop her... again, sorry Santa. (We totally should have seen that one coming.) We refilled Santa's plate, then put Luke to bed with visions of sugar plums dancing in his head.
I guess Santa's milk must taste better than the milk in Luke's own glass
The next morning we woke up with Luke and excitedly walked into the living room to see all of the wonderful presents under the tree and the stockings stuffed full of goodies! Santa was here!!! After everyone woke up and gathered around the tree, Luke handed out presents to everyone and chanted "open it, open it!" while exhuberantly jumping around. It was our most fun Christmas ever.
Hard evidence Santa was here- cookies crumbs and an empty glass of milk.
The next day we visited Luke's Aunt Kimmy and Uncle Scott at their house. While there, Louis and Luke hijacked their 4-wheeler and took a joyride around the neighborhood. They didn't get busted by the cops, but had they I wonder if Luke would have gotten the ticket(s)... after all, he was in the drivers seat. Building a rapsheet by the age of 2 isn't going to help his chances of getting into a posh preschool...
Daddy and Luke riding Britney-style
Luke loves airplanes, so we took a short drive to a nifty little road near the airport that crosses the beginning of one of the airport's landing strips. You can park there and watch the airplanes fly right overhead and land mere feet from where you are standing. It was pretty cool to do when I was a kid, and it is still cool now. And Luke loved it. He sat on Grandpa's shoulders to get even closer to the planes and waved at the pilots and passengers every time they flew over. We swear the pilots tipped their wings to us as they passed.
I should have brought my slingshot
On another day, we spent the morning at the awesome Houston Aquarium. They have all types of cool stuff. Giant Octopus, Electric eels, 200 lb turtles, Mexican Walking Fish, White Tigers plus an amusement park with a train ride through a shark tank! They also have a merry-go-round and a very high in the sky ferris wheel that Luke rode for the first time. We were a bit nervous that he'd have not so much fun once the rides started, but he enjoyed them as much as we did. Having a kid is the best excuse ever to ride amusement park rides. Thanks Luke.
He kissed me!
Those raisins look delicious... and you look pretty tasty yourself, little boy
Getting carsick on the carousel
Ferris wheel fever!
It was fun to see some old friends while in Houston too. We met up with a group of friends at the Jumalons' house and watched the Longhorns trounce Arizona State in the Holiday Bowl. Luke hung out with his buddy, Vincent, and they partied until past their bedtimes along with the football watching crowd. Vince has a sweet motorized motorcycle that the boys zoomed around the house in. Luke drove at first, then Vince took the wheel until the batteries pooped out. The boys finally pooped out as well, and after a late night hanging with friends we packed up the next morning and headed back to Austin. Happy New Year, y'all!
Ponch and Jon running down some crooks
