The Polar Express

When I found out that the Sacramento Railroad Museum does a polar Express themed train ride for Christmas, I knew I had to buy tickets (Jacob is obsessed with the book and movie).  Tickets went on sale back in October, and we got online right when they went on sale at 9:00 am.  We tried and tried, but for some reason it would not let us purchase any tickets.  Turns out, they sold out almost immediately!  I was so bummed because I knew Jacob would have loved it.  I got my name on a waiting list, but I didn't think anyone would cancel.  But then last Friday, there were two tickets available for the 3:30 train!  Kevin was working so I took the boys myself up to the train museum in Sacramento.  It was a ton of work by myself, but Jacob absolutely LOVED it!  When we got on the train, they brought us hot cocoa and a big snicker doodle, while two tap dancing waitresses entertained us.  Then the conductor read the book to us, and we all followed along in our own copies.  The conductor even signed Jacob's copy.  Then the hobo guy from the movie came on the train and tried to get them to question their beliefs in Santa.  Meanwhile we are riding along the Sacramento river and Jacob is having a blast looking out the window.  Then we got to the "north pole", and saw Santa and his elves.  On the way back, Santa hopped on the train and gave everyone a bell.  Oh, and everyone wore their pajamas.  It was very magical:)

checking out the caboose

"I hear a train!"

Tickets please!

the hobo

We made it to the north pole!

Waving to Santa

Santa is here!

I probably wouldn't do this again because it was a lot of work by myself (and a little pricey) but it was so much fun and Jacob is still talking about it, so I am glad we did it:)

Christmas in San Francisco

Last week, we decided to head into the city with Aunt Tara to deliver Jacob's letter to Santa at the big Macy's in Union Square.  It was a lot of fun being in the city.  It made me miss the big city life of NYC, especially when it is all decked out for the holidays.  We took BART in, and I think that was the highlight of the trip for Jacob!  And of course we had to eat at the Cheesecake Factory, and indulge in the peppermint bark cheesecake.  Santa had already left by the time we got to Macy's, but Jacob didn't seem to care.  He had the most fun on the train ride home!

Family pics

In October, my sis-in-law took our family photos and I love them!!  Here are a bunch that she took:

Hudson was a little cranky when we were taking the pics but she still got so many good ones of him!  Jacob doesn't look at the camera long enough for me anymore but he did a pretty good job during this photo shoot.  Thanks again J&C!   

we moved again

We moved again.  This was our 8th move together, and it never gets any easier.  But now we are in a 3 bedroom, so we are actually getting some sleep!!!!  (Now you know why I haven't posted in a while).  The boys used to wake each other up during the night, but now they are in their own bedrooms and it is bliss for us.  We also have a larger patio which we call our "backyard".

Playing in our "backyard"

With Halloween approaching, we decided to head to the Clayton valley pumpkin patch.  We went last year and this year was even better!  Jacob's favorite was the duck races with the water pumps.

When we asked Jacob what he wanted to be for Halloween this year, he would always say "a cookie".  I thought maybe he was saying he wanted to eat a cookie, so I showed him lots of different costumes at the store, like superheroes, a train, etc.  Then I asked "do you want to be any of these?"  to which he would reply "no, I want to be a cookie!".  Well, they don't sell cookie costumes in stores (at least I couldn't find any) but I found a pattern online to make one.  I showed him the picture and asked "is this what you want to be?" and he said "yeah!".  I think it is so funny that he wanted to be a cookie, and I don't know where the idea came from, but i just went with it and made family costumes around it.  So Jacob is a cookie, Hudson is cookie monster, Kevin is a glass of milk, and I am a cookie sheet:)

Happy Halloween!!!!