USAA Kid Holiday Party

On Saturday we went to the USAA Children's Holiday party!  Since going last year, it's become one of our favorite family traditions... last year Elise was in my belly for the pic in front of the big poinsettia tree, but not this year (I was pretty giddy about that since all the walking last year brought on some painful & scary contractions at that party).

First stop was meeting Santa.  Caleb was SO EXCITED.  We had to physically restrain him from knocking down the door (which was made of glass) & running to Santa before his turn:



Do you like Caleb's shirt?  I was getting him dressed & I offered him a shirt, but he refused it.  I pulled this shirt out & asked him if he'd wear it & he said, "Yeah, Santa will like that shirt."  Dress for the job you want - in this case, the Nice List position!

When it was Caleb's turn he RACED to Santa, jumped right up on his lap & started talking about trains.  This boy was ready.

Look at that face, not very often that I get a pic of Caleb with a real smile instead of his posey-cheese face. Then we put Elise in the mix & she was happy too (How many moms get a pic of both of their kids looking cute & content on Santa's knee? This is a treasure!):

What do you suppose Elise is thinking in this shot?

"Wow you're old? What's growing out of your chin? Will you bring me some chocolate, Mom says I can't have it yet?"

After Santa it was off to see the sights, play lots of carnival games & see this year's play about a snowman who came to visit Texas.

 Ski-ball the easy way. There really isn't any rhyme or reason to the games at this party - give a ticket, the kids can do anything, then they get a prize. It's heaven for a 3 year old since they all make up their own rules to everything anyway. : )

 Caleb was actually really good at ring toss!

 They had a ginger bread display - we all loved this Sleigh Carrier... like an Aircraft Carrier but for Santa (it was the USAA Robles for our wonderful CEO):

 The play! The snowman was mildly terrifying, but it's always fun when it snows in TX!

 There weren't enough seats for the show, so Elise & I played in the back & shared a banana. I think we had the most fun of all.

And for MORE Christmas Spirit, we're going caroling TONIGHT!  I'm so excited to do this as a family & to surprise our friends.