Before and after Christmas

We have enjoyed lots of fun activities together during the Christmas break. My parents came to Dallas to visit us the week before Christmas, so we tried to take advantage of fun outdoor activities when the weather cooperated. We went to the Dallas Arboretum one afternoon, where the children got to see one of Santa's reindeer up close. The reindeer's sash said "Dancer" so we know it was one of Santa's reindeer on loan before the Christmas present delivery. Amelia and John are in the brightly-colored hoodies on the far left.

The historic house on the Arboretum grounds was decorated beautifully for Christmas. Below Amelia and John are posing next to one of the beautiful trees inside the house.

This reflecting pool was a part of the grounds of the old house that was situated on the grounds of the Arboretum. I like this shot of my parents and Amelia and John looking out towards White Rock Lake from the garden. The statue to the left of my dad was really nice, perched on the edge of the reflecting pond.

On another warm day we stopped at a local park with the children. Amelia and John gravitated to the slides on this particular visit.

Who are the crazy kids below? I don't know if I want to claim them, as you know the parents of much smaller toddlers were wondering what kind of crazy parent (me) let's their older children set a poor example of good playground etiquette (laying across the slide, climbing up the slide, etc.).

On a much colder day my mom and I braved the weather and took the kids to a playground on the opposite shore of the lake. You can barely see the downtown skyline in the distance over John's shoulder.

Amelia loved this spinning thing and didn't seem bothered by the cold one bit.

After Christmas the children were engrossed with their new toys. Amelia was a computer blob - happily playing games on her DSi hand-held game system until I made her take a break.

Scott and I were surprised by how John completely took charge of his new Lego kit. I tried to interest John in putting together a Lego set a few months ago, but he was content to watch me do it at the time. But on Christmas Day he really took charge and followed the directions to put most of the truck together himself. I am so proud of him for enjoying (and being quite good at) this activity. This kit was designed for ages 5 to 8, so good for John for doing it himself!

Tonight I came home from a quick trip to the grocery store to find Amelia styling John's hair after Scott had given the kids their baths. Amelia said that she was going to style it into a mohawk (at John's request), but she ended up combing it nicely across his forehead. John was happy that his his sister was giving him "man-style" hair and I was happy that the children were enjoying each other in peace.