Random December Happenings: St Nick, Ice Skating and Pizza Night with Friends

Theo had his friend Ben come over and they skated for a couple hours.

Snack break.

I was surprised to see the kids still outside when I got home from work. Theo has been loving the rink this year.

Before we knew it, it was already St. Nick's Day.

So the kids only get their stockings stuffed on St Nick around here. Growing up we also get our stockings stuffed on Christmas too.

Theo got a Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge ornament from the man that Brooke claims has no relations to Santa Claus.

Mushroom witch gets the obvious ornament.

Even Pecan got something from Sinterklaas.

This year Theo got plaid pajamas, Tenzi, 'I Will Take a Nap' book, Andes Mints, chocolate coins and a Duluth Lift Bridge ornament.

Meadow got plaid pajamas, Cat's Cradle, Babysitters Club #10, Snowman hot chocolate bomb, a mushroom ornament and chocolate coins.

A couple weeks ago Theo asked if we could play Tenzi. We have the game at the cottage but not at home, so now we can play at home.

Our buddy Tyler came up for the day to clean out his storage unit. Soon he'll be a Michigander.

I made Tyler a big breakfast for his day of loading up his Uhaul.

Today was unusually warm so no skating today.

We had plans to go to Reindeer Days in Linden Hills and thought we may as well bike there.

Our reason for going to Reindeer Days was to see Santa. Theo actually talked to Santa by himself! Each kid also got a toy car.

Where's the snow? It seems like it hardly ever snows in December these days. After visiting Santa we did a little shopping.

The other side of Heartfelt had some cute local gifts.

We also went to one of our favorite toy stores to get some Christmas gifts.

And of course we got ice cream at the OG Sebastian Joe's.

Only Theo and I were brave enough to eat our ice cream outdoors.

Oof I need a haircut.

Huh. It looks beautiful, boo.

Time to head home.

The kids each bought a yo-yo while at Pinwheel toys.

We spent much of the rest of the afternoon finishing decorating for Christmas and cleaning up the house.

We hadn't had Shannyn, Brent and the kids over in a long time. We finally found a weekend that worked for both of us. We also had Tyler back again. I don't think we've had this many people over for dinner before.

We made it work. Cooking pizza for a crowd always stresses me out, but it all turned out good.

A few nights later our rink was back in business.

Theo and I have some pretty competitive games. He's getting used to the hockey stick this year.

It was a subzero out, but we layered up and had a bunch of fun.

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