First Comes Love...

Kevin and I kicked it up a notch this year for our annual visit to Santa with dinner at Hamanasu followed by a night at the Hyatt! We've been waiting to make this a bigger deal (add the overnight piece) for a few years, but this was the first year we felt the kids were old enough for it - and it was sooo much fun!

We saw Santa last night! The kids are always extremely excited to see Santa each year, and this year all three were totally on board.  No one was scared - they all couldn't wait to see the big guy and let him know exactly what they wanted for Christmas.

Abigail and I took Mamie to The Georgian Room for her birthday this year! It's been somewhat of an ongoing tradition but Abigail was delighted to join this year (she did around a year old, but she obviously doesn't remember that). Kirk watched the boys while we headed into town.  George was sad that he wasn't able to join, so he and I decided that we would pack some decorations and donuts for he and Papa to plan and surprise Mamie with when we got back. He seemed good with that 😊 Here are some pictures from the afternoon.

The kids were thrilled to see Santa this year (I'm not sure when Christmas magic peaks for little kids, but we sure feel ripe this year!) As usual we went downtown to visit Macy's Santa - he was so kind to the kids, talking to both Abigail and George for a while, asking how they've been, commenting on how big they've gotten, and then asking what they would like for Christmas. Neither Abigail or George were scared, but Ben was not having one bit of it.  So while the big kids were able to sit and chat with him for a few minutes, Ben was our quick in-and-out, for pictures only kiddo. I think it turned out pretty cute!

Monday night we celebrated Papa's big 6-0 with a surprise BBQ at Alki! Amy invited a bunch of friends; Kevin, Anne, and I got the food, drink, and decorations prepared and we set off for a night spent celebrating Papa Getting started...Anne, her kids, us, and Brian were there to greet him B found some cool new toys The juice cooler  ;) G was really excited to take this picture; Oscar was not BBQing with the babe Beach stroll (she really wanted to go in!) Pushing her brother down the strip Slack lining baby Lighting 60 candles! Happy Birthday, Papa! You are an amazing Father, Grandpa, and friend and we're so blessed to have you in our lives.  We had such an amazing night celebrating you and the 60 years you've been here, caring for others and pouring your heart into their lives. Here's to another decade of making the world a better place! We love you

This past weekend we went to see Santa. Abigail is really into the stories of Santa, the elves, and The North Pole this year, so it's been a lot of fun.  She's watched Elf a few times this week (which is SO much better than The Muppet's Movie we watched 4,746 times the past few weeks, thanks to George) and she asks about Santa, his elves, and The North Pole a lot. It's super adorable. We haven't succumb to an elf on the shelf (and I hope I never do!) but telling her the elves are watching from the clouds and will tell Santa if she's being naughty, seems to be keeping her incredibly obedient this past week. Yay! I remember when I was young, if I acted up around Christmas time, my Mom would whisper sternly  "Santa's watching!" and so, our "the Elves are watching" seems to be doing the trick - thanks Mom  :) Some pictures below are from our visit to Santa on Sunday.  George was sick (he's the sickest health guy I've eve...

The Seahawks won the Super Bowl, beating the Broncos 43-8 and the city has been unglued all week! To celebrate, Kevin took Wednesday off and we went to the rally at Century Link field.  We bundled up the kids and headed out around 9:30.  It took us over two hours to get into town, and once we got there, we walked from Denny all the way down 5th Ave to The Clink (traffic was a nightmare and our bus couldn't budge past Dexter & Denny). Once we got there, a staff members at the stadium took pity on the idiots who brought two babies to the rally , and let us sit in the disabled section of the Delta Club, so we were able to split our time between outside festivities and indoor nursing, playing, and napping  :) Here are some pictures from our Seahawks Family Adventure Day: Waiting at our bus stop (for over an hour!) Finally on the bus.  Shortly after this picture, they filled it to the gils! Insane crowds gathered down on 4th for the parade ...

The Lauckner's are loving this sunshine! Last Thursday we went to Zoe Yogurt at Greenlake for dessert (a habit we more than slightly indulge).  We hadn't planned a swim, but we gave Abigail her own yogurt and she'd made a bit of a mess... Not too thrilled that yogurt time was over So it was time for a down-to-diapers dip! She loved sitting at waters edge, dangling her little feet in the water, and eventually getting the nerve to take a few steps in.  Of course we had no change of clothes or extra diapers. Walking back to the car was a pretty big Mommy fail: pregnant lady carrying an I-don't-want-to-leave-so-I'm-going-to-yell toddler, wearing nothing but a soggy (and mind you, dirty!) diaper and sneakers with no socks  (needless to say, I got my fair share of looks). But Saturday's water activities went smoothly; we spent the day downtown, stopped at the Aquarium, then spent the evening on Alki. (a bus ride in, followed by the...