Holiday Photos

Our little daredevil took a nice tumble the day before our photos this year, but boys will be boys. Here are a few...

                                               

Overnight Downtown

We spent the night downtown with Mason to have some holiday fun! We started out at Navy Pier and made a penguin, Popcorn, at Build a Bear. Mason quickly discovered that Santa was there and insisted on seeing him. After Santa we had lunch at Bubba Gump before heading to Winter Wonderfest. Mason had so much fun there!! He got to ride the carousel, ferris wheel, and train. They had an activity area for kids with tunnels to crawl through and a "snow ball" fight dome. He had a blast on the inflatable slide and even found a way to get me to take him ice skating for the very first time (he actually did quite well, all things considered).

Talking to Santa's elf

 Getting Mommy with a ball

Ice skating!

 My elves

Our next stop was the Chicago Children's Museum and then off to the Hard Rock to spend the night. After checking in we went to see the windows on State Street and grabbed some snacks at the Kris Kindle Market. We also stopped to see the lights on Michigan Avenue.

Gingerbread house at our hotel

The next day we went to the Museum of Science of Industry to see the Charlie Brown exhibit and check out the Christmas Around the World trees. Mason made sure to visit all of his favorite exhibits and absolutely loved the floor piano in the Charlie Brown exhibit.

The usual favorites

Blackberry Farm

Blackberry Farm had its Polar Express train this past weekend so Auntie Erica and I took Mason to check it out. We rode the train, had cookies and hot chocolate, and even got to see Santa! Cecily, Jake, and the girls were there too so Mason got a chance to see them!

He loved the helicopter

The Polar Express

Petting a pony

 Cookie time...

 and then hot chocolate!

 So excited to see Santa!!!

Santa

We took Mason to see Santa this past weekend. We've been making the trip about this time every year since he was born so we decided to carry on the tradition. This year Mason was talking the whole way there about getting to see Santa so it was extra fun for all of us. He was more patient waiting in line than we expected and did a great job on Santa's lap. He was, however, concerned about another child crying during the time the photo was snapped!

Halloween Festivities

Mason got extra use out of his costume this year. He got to wear in to the Halloween festivities on the cruise, trick-or-treating in our downtown area, to the town Halloween party, and trick-or-treating on Halloween night. We went to Grandma Monica & Papa Gene's house to trick-or-treat again this year. It was a much different experience than last year. He was able to walk door to door himself this year and say trick or treat. He did a great job! Our biggest problem was keeping his hat of his costume on. We told him that people wouldn't give him candy if he didn't have it on so he'd put it on before he rang a doorbell and then take it off as he left!! 

On the hayride at the Naperville Halloween fest

 Visiting Frank at Grandma's

Pumpkin Carving

Mason was a great helper with the pumpkin carving this year. He really liked helping clean the guts out! We decided to use shapes that you tap into the pumpkin for its face, rather than cutting out shapes so that Mason could be a more active participant. He seemed to enjoy choosing the pieces himself and hammering them in!

Pumpkin Farm

This year Mason was so excited to go to the pumpkin farm! He'd been talking about it all day and then proceeded to fall asleep in the car on the way there. Needless to say, he wasn't very pleased when we woke him up so it turned into a rather short trip! It was a good opportunity to use his new wagon outside though!!

When we first got there (he wasn't too sure if he wanted to be awake or not)

                          

With his pumpkin

Popcorn makes everything better!

Disney Fantasy

For Mason's second birthday we took another Disney cruise. Everyone had so much fun last year that we wanted to take a longer cruise, so we sailed for 7 nights this time on the Disney Fantasy. Our ports of call for this trip were St. Maarten, St. Thomas, and Castaway Cay (although we never made it there). This cruise included more days at sea than last year's which allowed us to participate in more of what the ship had to offer. This year was a whole new experience for Mason. Not only could he walk this year, but he was familiar with many of the characters he got to meet as well as all the forms of transportation we had to use to get there! Another plus was that he was potty trained this year. Only kids that are potty trained are allowed to swim in cruise ship pools so this was a big deal for our little fishy! Our trip started out (early in the morning) with Mason's first limo ride. He was very amused by the lights in the ceiling!

In the limo

Because he was an officially ticketed passenger this year Mason got to check his own luggage. This also meant that he got to carry his own luggage!

He was very excited to ride on the airplane and did a pretty good job staying entertained. He enjoyed the bus ride to port also, but was anxious to get to the boat. He was so happy to get there and see Mickey. It seems like we were chasing various characters from that moment on.

In the terminal

 Boarding the ship

Mason wasted no time getting in the water. He had Auntie Erica at Nemo's Reef before our rooms were even ready!

It wasn't too long before we were in our rooms and heading off to the sail away party. Mason really enjoyed seeing all the characters and dancing. It was a great beginning to our vacation.

Scoping out our room's amenities (we now have to unplug the phone in any room we stay in)

and the verandah

at the sail away party

 noticing the characters coming out

 Our days at sea always began with some sort of Disney Junior dance party or party hosted by Jake in the D Lounge. Mason thought these were the greatest thing ever and always found a way to dance onstage and with the host character. I must say that his dance moves did noticeably improve on the trip!

The rest of the days were spent swimming and attending various character appearances. One thing that Mason seemed to love is how you could still run into characters at random times and they were willing to take pictures.

Swimming in Donald's pool

In Mickey's pool

Relaxing by the pool

 On the verandah

 Aqua Lab

 Running into Max outside the Aqua Lab

 Surprised by Daisy (he's in his jammers and slippers)

 Some of the many character photos

 (the other girl in the picture is Sarah, our table mate)

There were a lot of fun organized activities that we got to partake in on the ship, and many we still didn't have time for. Pirate night is something that we enjoyed last year and got to repeat again. We also had formal night. This year we got to participate in Halloween night (also Mason's birthday). Everyone dressed up and headed to the party on board. The kids all got trick or treat bags and there was a costume contest for the adults that Auntie Erica got recruited for.

Some pictures from Pirate night

Some of our formal night pictures

 Halloween costumes (thanks to Missy for the bee costume!)

 

Mason and his buddy Anthony. 

Anthony worked on the ship and hosted many of the kids activities. Mason became his buddy and when he saw Mase at the Halloween party he asked a photographer to take their picture together.

Costume contest

Candy table for the kids after dinner

The night of Mason's birthday/the Halloween party was also our second night dining in the Animator's Palate. On this night each person draws a character which is then animated and projected on the screens around the restaurant. Everyone's name is then posted in the credits.

 Mason and our assistant server, Kelly

 This meal also featured Mason's Happy Birthday dessert. It was a big night for him!

Mason also like to listen to the June Gypsies at night. They played in the atrium a lot and Mason liked to watch the girl sing. He'd dance until we pulled him away! It was quite humorous! 

The June Gypsies

Another nice change this year was that Mason would sit through the shows at night. He would put on his jammers & slippers and grab a bag of popcorn and ask to see show. It was so fun to see him dance and clap for the performers!

We kept our port days pretty low key this year. Our first stop was St. Maarten. This island is kind of unique in that it has a Dutch side and a French side. The ship docked on the Dutch side and we boarded a "party boat" to take a little tour of the area. The bartender on the boat thought that Mason was adorable and asked to get a picture with him!

Trying on Auntie Erica's sunglasses and making her wear his!

Mommy & Daddy

After the boat ride we took a bus ride to see the French side of the island before returning to port to shop.

Leaving St. Maarten

Wearing the glasses again at lunch

 Our next port of call was St. Thomas (on Mason's birthday). We wanted to do something he'd enjoy so we did an excursion to Coral World and a Butterfly Farm. He loved seeing all the fish at Coral World, although he wanted to stay in one building the whole time.

The birthday boy on the balcony

at Coral World

 He kept saying "tickle, tickle" and touching its belly

 After Coral World we went to the Butterfly Farm. Before we saw the butterflies there was a lady with parrots who did tricks. Mason thought it was very cool!

 Roller skating

 playing basketball

 riding a bike on a high wire

 some butterflies

 leaving St. Thomas

Our last port of call was supposed to be Castaway Cay, but that day was changed to a day at sea due to Hurricane Sandy. That, at least, gave us time to experience more of what the boat had to offer. We got to see Finding Nemo in 3D and Mason attended an open house of the kids club. We got some more pool time in too!

Movies by the pool

 Hanging out in Andy's room

 Sleeping in Andy's bed

Riding the "90" with Daddy

Dinner one night

 Loved how when the photographer went to take this picture Mason put his arm around me, so cute!

Before dinner that night the boys surprised me by going to get photos taken. Here's a few.

Making a new friend on our last night

Overall, it was a great trip despite Hurricane Sandy. The storm did, however, wipe out the shelves in the shops.