Christmas Season is here!

On Thanksgiving day, it snowed! How perfect is that? So of course, my dad and Owen got all bundled up and went out to have a snowball fight :) Little Alex felt left out, so I got him all dressed, only to find out that he HATES snow pants. Like, the ENTIRE time he was wearing them he was either crying or pouting, like you see below:

This pictures is so incredibly retarded-looking of me, but hey, it shows we were having fun! Owen was just about to huck one at me and I was taunting him :) Like how I combined Xtra-Tuff boots with a dress? Classy, I know...

Tilles Park in the city has the most amazing display of Christmas lights I have ever seen in my life. It's called Winter Wonderland... We slowly drove through for about half an hour, and there were all kinds of things to look at on all sides of the car! Below are a few snapshots which don't even begin to do the park justice...

Then on Saturday afternoon we went to old town St Charles and saw their famous Christmas parade (takes place nearly every day until Christmas). It features Santa Clauses from different parts of the world (France, Germany, England, Canada, USA, etc) It was pretty cute... small and short, but fun and different. There were chestnuts roasting over open fire for passers-by and fresh kettle corn and caramel corn, and cinnamon-roasted nuts... all along Maine Street which is lined with old-fashioned stores full of various sorts of gifts, food, souvenirs, etc. Then as you encounter those folks from the parade throughout the town, they hand out collector cards featuring whatever character they are dressed up as. We didn't have time to collect all the cards, so we'll have to go back :)

And last, our living room, decorated with Christmas tree and stockings hung by the fireplace. Owen has spent a lot of time wrapping up his own toys the past couple days, to give to each  member of our family. If you look carefully under the tree, you can see the vast amounts of masking tape he used. 

Merry Christmas!