Santa Train in Durham!

We are members of the Museum of Life & Sciences in Durham which definitely comes with it's perks. One of which is the ability to order "Santa Train" tickets early. It's their yearly fundraiser for the museum where you get to ride the outdoor train to the "north pole" so the kids can tell Santa what they want for Christmas. They also have hot chocolate, arts & crafts and face painting for the kids. Preordering for the tickets was no joke and a lot of the ideal time slots went quick! We were able to get tickets for us an several friends for a weeknight. It was cold and Arden was potentially getting sick, but we made it anyway. Our friends Tracy and Gavin and their kids, Harrison & Caroline and our friends Jen & John and their kids Connor & Gracie all came with us.

As predicted by Dave and I, Arden was very excited until Santa came up to her on the train. She's not a huge Santa fan yet this year. She likes the concept of Santa and keeps asking for him to bring her "pink lollipops" but actually seeing him is a different story. Kyla slept through the whole thing. But all of the other kids had a blast. After the train ride the kids drank hot chocolate and then got their face painted. But it was too cold to hang out for long!

Kyla's 4 Month Check Up!

Kyla is 4 months old!

Kyla went in for her 4 month check up! Here are her stats at 4 months!

Weight: 12 lbs. 15 oz. (30%)
Height: 24.75 cm (75%)

Funny enough I went back to check it against Arden at four months and they weigh EXACTLY the same at their 4 month check ups! And even though I feel like Kyla is so much longer, she's only a quarter of a cm longer then Arden was at 4 months.

Dave Runs the Charlotte Marathon!

So ever since Dave ran the Blue Ridge Relay back in September, he's been in relatively good enough shape and wanted to maintain this level of training to run another marathon. He did the Raleigh marathon back in 2000 and the Raleigh half marathon last year. Unfortunately we were out of town for the Raleigh marathon this year, but were able to find a close alternative in Charlotte in December! And it meant that we got to go on a road trip to visit our Charlotte friends!

We got into Charlotte Friday evening and stayed with our good friends, Jackie and AJ and their two kids. It awesome staying with another family because not only do they already have all the baby/kid gear you might need- but they have built in playmates! Arden was in heaven to get to play with Jackson all weekend!

I was able to meet up with some old friends for dinner friday night. Kathleen, I've known since high school and haven't seen in years. And Megan I've know for 5 years now and was in my wedding and has been in Charlotte now for a year opening her own clothing store. It was so fun to meet up with them and we had a great dinner! Thanks ladies!

Saturday morning Dave and Jackie were up bright and early to head to the run (Jackie was doing the half marathon) It was FREEZING!!! I can't imagine running when it's that cold- it was in the upper 20s when they left. I packed up the girls and headed out to cheer Dave on mid morning. We met him at mile 15 or so. Arden was so excited to see her daddy that she ran right up him on the course. Made me tear up a bit, but I'm a softy. And thank goodness to borrowing Kathleen's GPS I was able to navigate around Charlotte well enough to meet up with him at 2 more spots to cheer. Next time we know to bring more cheer supplies and maybe some supplies for Dave as well. Bad wife didn't even have any water for him- oops.

Dave finished the marathon in 3 hours 30 mins! Not as fast as he had hoped to qualify for the Boston Marathon, but he was happy with that result. And he knows what to expect for running it possibly next year to qualify.

Saturday night Jackie and AJ hosted a bunch of our friends over at their place for chili and beer. It was great seeing everyone and having all the kids running around!! We had a blast visiting in Charlotte as always!