Visiting Santa

Whew. Its been a busy eventful week - or at least it feels like I have a 1,000 things I want to share. After all the fun we had during the week, it continued right into the weekend. We had Harper's 2-year pictures this morning with Kristen Anne Photography, which is always something I look forward to. We decided to meet at the Guthrie Theater around 11am. 

When we arrived downtown Minneapolis, Harper was in a pretty good mood so I was optimistic she would cooperate. Well, Harper listened and smiled for the first few shots, then decided she was "all done cheese face." After a lot of raisin breaks, a few outfit changes, many crabby faces and some smiles - it was a wrap. Even with a semi-crabby almost 2 year old, I'm sure there are some special moments Kristen captured. She does an amazing job every time, and like always - I can't wait to see the photos! 

Since we were already downtown, we headed to Macy's Santaland to visit Mr. Claus himself after pictures. Every holiday season we visit Macy's 8th floor auditorium for their holiday display. It's a tradition Mitch and I started together when we started dating in 2001. Last year Harper was still pretty young when we visited, so as we walked through the different scenes she didn't show much of a reaction. This year was a little different. She was out of her stroller running from scene to scene not sure where to look next! With each new discovery, her baby blues got bigger with excitement. It was such a joy to watch. 

After walking through Santaland, our journey ended with a trip on Santa's lap. I'm proud to report there were no tears! She wasn't sure about the cheery white bearded man, but she did sit on his lap without a fuss and managed to give us a little smile/smirk for our souvenir photo. Afterwards Santa gave Harper her 2013 pin, which she responded, "Oh wow!" Like always, afterwards we headed to the gift shop to checkout the homemade treats and fun toys. Harper even wrote a letter to Santa. Letter might be a stretch since she just colored the piece of paper and I signed her name. We did however put in the mailbox to send it off to the North Pole! :) 

Once we got home, we continued with the Christmas spirit and put up our big tree downstairs. With Thanksgiving being later this year, I'd like to enjoy my decorations for more than 3 weeks. Or at least that's what I'm telling myself to justify my urge to decorate. Harper and I did a little decorating last weekend by adding some snowman window gels to our front entry way and assembling the small tree upstairs. With the big tree and mantel completed tonight, we're almost done. Just a few more details to go, and we're all set!

The past few weeks, we've designated Wednesday nights to visit the library. We select new DVD's and movies every week, and Harper enjoys playing with the fun toys. This week we extended the fun by heading to Chuck E. Cheese afterwards for dinner and games. Harper has been a few times before, so she knows how everything works. Coins = games. As we waited for our pizza, she ran from ride to ride saying, "Coin please!" We had some good laughs, and Harper's favorite ride this trip was the white horse. Even 3 days later, she's still talking about that horse! 

This week was also a big week for me and my nerdy co-workers. We're a little Hunger Games obsessed, and that might be an understatement. When tickets went on sale October 1st for the second installment of the Hunger Games series, we snagged seats at the Minnesota Zoo IMAX for Thursday, November 21st at 8pm. The weeks leading up to our movie date, we had a countdown going at work and even made a special trip to Hot Topic to get a new District 12 tee. Yes, I'm aware at 28 I shouldn't step foot into Hot Topic anymore - but I made an exception for this special occasion. Thursday night after work we enjoyed a quick happy hour at Old Chicago before heading to the zoo. Right at 8pm, the lights dimmed and audience cheered. The movie was incredible in my opinion, much better than the first. I'm hoping to make Mitch go again over the long Thanksgiving weekend! 

Below are just a few random photos I couldn't help but share. My Mom went to visit the fellow Missourians for a long weekend, so we had Gracie Thursday night into Friday. Harper loves to chase poor Grace around, and occasionally yells at her for no good reason. They were both in her playroom, and I practically melted at the cuteness of this photo. Even though Harps is giving a blank stare, it's still pretty adorable. 

The remaining photos still make me laugh, nearly a week after taking them. Mitch was throwing Harper on our bed, and she was loving every minute of it. With Nemo in hand, she flew through the air with a huge smile on her face. :)

Tomorrow is lazy Sunday, and I'm looking forward to it! With a short work week ahead, I'm looking forward to kicking off the holiday season with our friends and family!

Until next time...
The Helleen's