Randy Pandy

This one's for you Aunt Lib and the Isbell gang...

As many of you know, Mitchell's favorite animal is the panda bear.  Well the Isbells just so happened to send up one cuddly panda pillow pet for Mitchell.  He LOVED it, of course!  After he realized what it was the conversation between he and the panda went something like this:

-"I love you panda.  I so happy you came back from the store" (because he had been seeing them at various stores over the course of the past month).
-"Panda, I so happy for you that you came to my house."

The above two quotes were cited OVER and OVER!  Well, there was also a third quote that I can't remember...I jotted it down but it got lost in the Christmas clutter...oops!
Here's the play by play of him opening the package...

Oh yeah, and in case you're wondering why the subject of "Randy Pandy"...usually we always try to come up with a catchy name for Mitchell's various stuffed animals/buddies.  Sometimes we try to let Mitchell come up with the name but when he doesn't we intervene and offer a suggestion.  Without any delay Reese just blurted out Randy Pandy the first night we were putting Mitchell to bed with the pet pillow.  Mitchell yelled out, "NO, that's not Randy Pandy.  His name's not Randy Pandy!"  But when he woke up the next morning he immediately asked for Randy Pandy...so there ya have it, Randy Pandy it is.

Surprise Visit from Santa

My dad arranged for one amazing, very personalized visit from Santa at his house one evening.  Mitchell and Brandi (his granddaughter) thought they were having a playdate but little did they know who was about to sound his bells and knock on the window!  It was great...they just so happened to be standing right by the window that Santa came to and they squealed with delight when they realized who it was!

As they realized who was at the window...

Trying to wait patiently with Daddy while Santa comes in the house (notice Mitchell's expression and clutched fists!)

Here he is, sitting to catch his breath from carring that giant sac'o'gifts!

Brandi waiting patiently to see what's in the sac...

Passing out nectarines foe everyone!

Mitchell was not the least bit shy about seeing what Santa had nor waiting to tear into it!

Of course he also had no problem helping Brandi unwrap her gifts either!

Thanks to Dad and BJ for arranging such a special visit...another Christmas memory we'll never forget!

The Polar Express

On Sunday we took Mitchell to ride the Polar Express train, a full size locomotive decked in Christmas lights.  The train travels 6 miles round trip, starting in Williamsport and turning around at the Montoursville airport.  During the first leg they play Christmas carols and the story Polar Express is read over the loudspeaker.  On the way back, Santa and one of his helpers comes though the trian to greet the children.

Mitchell was BEAMING from ear to ear!  He loved every minute of it especially, I think, because we chose the ride that was in the evening when it was dark.  We had such fun-we sang and ate snacks watched out the windows.  It was a moment I will never forget with him...he was in awe of the experience and I was in awe of him.

 Not the greatest shot of the train, but it looked so pretty with all the lights strung on the sides.

Prior to departure...

Can you tell the train has started?  Thus the beaming!

Mr. Conductor

And here he is...Santa!

And the surprise none of knew about-Rudolph!

 Mitchell LOVED Rudolph

Had to touch his nose!

Follow-up to Storytime with Santa

A photo of the kids at storytime with Santa ended up on the front page of our newspaper the following day (you can actually see the Sun Gazette photographer in one of my photos).  I eagerly ran to the mailbox to get the paper because I knew the photo would be in it.

Well, every kid EXCEPT Mitchell was in the photo...most likely due to his inability to sit still as I mentioned in my post.

Hmmphh.

Storytime with Santa

Today I took Mitchell to one of the local libraries for storytime with Santa.  We got there a bit early to make sure we had a good vantage point, but little did I know the real reason was so Mitchell could be the opening act.

There were 4 other ladies with children at the same time we arrived.  Mitchell immediately got up on stage, sat in the chair, and pretended he was telling everyone a story.  He kept saying, "and my Christmas tree is shiny and beautiful and happily ever after, the end".  And then HE WOULD EGG THEM ON for applause!  It was a wee bit embarrassing but hysterically funny.

Then came Santa...

Watching as Santa comes into the room...

Gazing at Santa as he's standing above...

Eagerly awaiting Santa to invite all the kids on stage...

The amount of time it took to take this photo was about the amount of time Mitchell paid attention to Santa reading the book.

See?  He's checking out the ladies...

Here he shoved the candy cane that Santa gave them into his mouth then turned around making this wheezing, gasping noise with saliva dripping out of his mouth (from the heat of the peppermint), saying, "I need water Mommy".  Thank goodness I learned long ago to ALWAYS keep a tissue in my pocket!

And here he is one-on-one with Santa.  When it was his turn Santa said to me, "my, you have a dynamic personality in this little guy!"  Not so sure how to take that one, especially coming from Santa!!

Dickens Days in Wellsboro

Today we went to Dickens Days in Wellsboro, which is as close as you can get to Bedford Falls, in my opinion.  The main street of the town closes to allow for vendors, with the exception of a huge horse drawn carriage that cruises back and forth.  All kinds of people dress in period style strolling in and out of the crowds and they even have a full size locomotive (a la Polar Express) that the kids ride on to pick up Santa at the North Pole.  Wellsboro is absolutely charming-the entire town is historic homes which are meticulously kept.  Next year we will definitely plan on a mini-getaway weekend during Dickens Days...here's a peek at our fun day!

There were different bands playing along the streets as well as several choirs!

I love this guy's whole look...the hat, the hair, the vintage looking music book, and of course, the tuba!

This carriage was huge-the biggest I've ever seen!  And the horses were stinky!

Ebenezer Scrooge was strolling through the streets telling everyone to go home, that everything would be closing early...then someone took their puppy over to him and he had a fit!  "Uck, ohhhh, puppies are the worst kind of happy, get that terrible thing away from me",  he shouted.  It was quite funny!

And here's Mitchell with the main man of the season!  Mitchell ran right over to him, literally jumped on his lap and said "I want a scooter!"  No hello or cordial conversation-Santa didn't have a chance!  Now that I think about it, I hope Mitchell didn't butt in line when he ran to him so quickly!

Dots

Mitchell and I took another quick ride up to camp today with PopPop to get some fresh air-and hey, any excuse is a good one to go to camp as far as we're concerned.  Before I knew it Mitchell was covered in mud from the melting snow.  When he saw his picture he was very proud of the "dots" on his face.  He didn't want me to wash them off when we got home!

Thanksgiving Day

We awoke to a blanket of snow on Thanksgiving morning, so it presented a perfect opportunity to start the day off by taking a ride up to camp on the mountain...it was gorgeous!

The below pictures are of Mitchell sitting on PopPop's lap with the window open, catching snow in his hands (and hair!) and watching what he was calling the "moving lake"...better known as a creek!  nice improvisation!