Christmas Morning

On Christmas morning, the first thing Magnus did when he came down the steps, was go straight to the kitchen to see if Santa ate the cookies we left out for him.  And low in behold, he had... and Santa had a cup of milk too!  Magnus was in awe!  And as if that wasn't neat enough, we reminded him that Santa had left us gifts that we needed to go unwrap. That nearly blew his mind!

First the stockings....

 Then on to everything else...

Lightening McQueen Shoes!! WhoAAaaA!

More Lightening McQueen... yeah!

Middle Sister Wine

That is not for you Maliah!

How do you get these toys out of the box

A pair of shoes, for the little walker!

Football... yeahahha!

A picnic basket from Aunt Sarah to her God-Daughter Maliah

The grand prize... a kitchen and food!

The kitchen provided fun for hours!

Maliah really likes the Santa wrapping paper....

 

And let's not forget the fabulous rug that Maliah picked out for Magnus.

A multi-purpose rug and rode for toy vehicles. :)

Christmas Eve

Maliah and Magnus helped Mom wrap gifts the night before Christmas.  Magnus was excited to wrap the gifts he selected for Dad (mini reese's peanut butter cups and gummy worms) and for Maliah (blue dinosaur plate).

'The stocking  were hung by the chimney with care..." Our 3ft tree was dwarfed by the gifts.  And we were too lazy to wrap up the kitchen, so we just ended up throwing a sheet over it. 

 

(And the kids LOVED the kitchen.  They play with it everyday.  Magnus is getting really good at making Mom blueberry muffins in the morning!)

Zoo Lights

Two days before Christmas we ventured to the DC Zoo to take in the zoo lights.  It was great fun. And we saw so many monkeys that Maliah now knows how to do the monkey sign (curl your arms up and put your hands in your armpits) and make monkey noises... ouhouhouhouhhhh.

Thanks a big alligator egg!

What's happening Quail?

 

   

Magnus will get that gopher out of his hole.....

...just keep trying, and smiling!

Meanwhile, Maliah is making friends with another gopher.

Christmas Cookies

Magnus and Maliah enjoyed the Christmas cookies that Grandma Newman made and sent in the mail for them!

Magnus' candy cane cookie

Green sugar cookie frosting... yum!

Toughest Mudder

Dylan competed in the Toughest Mudder competition on 17 Dec, in New Jersey.  This was the culminating event of the Tough Mudder events.  The Tough Mudders are, as quoted from the website (http://toughmudder.com/), hardcore 10-12 mile obstacle course designed by British Special Forces to test your all around strength, stamina, mental grit, and camaraderie.The Toughest Mudder was not just one lap, like the Tough Mudder events, but rather a non-stop 24 hour competition in which the participants repeated the laps as often as they could.  (to see details go to; http://toughmudder.com/events/worlds-toughest-mudder-series-finals/)

Toughest Mudder Course: 17-18 Dec 2011

Coffins... eluding to the course being really tough.

The start line... and the ever important '1st Aid' station

There were 1000 people that signed up for the Toughest Mudder, and 980 that started... and just ONE other person that finished before Dylan!  And that person was only 4 miles ahead of Dylan.  All in all, Dylan ran for 77 miles and did almost 7 laps. Only him and the winner attempted 7 laps, then there were about 10 people that did 6 laps, and a hand full that did 5 laps.. and it petered off from there.

Dylan said he has never been so cold in his life.  Running the course at 3am he had to break ice to do the underwater events.  He thought he had broke his foot, but after the cold water froze his feet up they were numb and Dylan was able to charge on!

The 1st place prize was $10,000!!!  For coming in second, Dylan got nothing but cold, and some swollen hands and feet. Oh, and a finisher's kettle bell!  But nonetheless we are all very proud of how well he did!

Finisher's kettle bell

College Park Aviation Museum

The College Park Aviation Museum is located on the grounds of the world's oldest continuously operating airport in College Park, MD. The airport was founded in 1909 when Wilbur Wright came here to give flight instruction to the first military aviators.  http://www.collegeparkaviationmuseum.com/home.htm

 

During the holidays, the National Capital Trackers came to the museum and set-up their miniature villages, tunnels, and depot and ran their model trains.  The trains fascinated Magnus and Maliah.

Walking

Maliah took her first step on Thanksgiving Day.. and now, 2-weeks later, at just over 11-months, she is really walking!

Mickey Christmas

To get us all in the Christmas mood, we ventured to a Disney Brunch... that Santa just so happened to visit!   Magnus, on two previous occasions, at Church and the mall, had watched kids go up and sit on Santa's lap.  In those instants Magnus just wanted to watch Santa, he wanted nothing to do with sitting on his lap.  But with the lure of Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Magnus decided it was time to sit on Santa's lap.  Maliah on the other hand wasn't so convinced it was a good idea yet (...but she was greatly intrigued by Minnie Mouse).      

Maliah, Magnus, Santa and the Disney bunch

Bunch of M's... Mom, Magnus, Maliah, Mickey & Minnie Mouse

Stocking Stuffer

This is quite the stocking stuffer!