All Aboard The Polar Express

Every year at Christmastime, the California Railroad Museum in Old Sacramento takes kids and families on a special trip to the North Pole. It's such a popular excursion that tickets are in high demand. I spent one morning in September online for 4 hours, just trying to make reservations and buy tickets.

And they're not cheap. But I would have spent twice as many hours and twice as many dollars to see Blake's face light up at the sight of Santa and his elves getting ready at the North Pole.

As the Polar Express song goes...

When it seems the magic slipped away,

We find it all again on Christmas Day.

Here's Blake and Daddy, waiting to get on the train.
Kids are encouraged to wear jammies.

Almost time...

All aboard! Waiting and watching out the window.
Are we there yet??

Cruising towards the North Pole...

We're there! Look closely out the window and you'll get a glimpse of Santa's house.

And look who boarded the train on the way back to Sacramento!

Santa handed out bells to all those who believe,
the first gift of Christmas.

The night wouldn't have been complete
without a picture on Santa's lap.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Orange October, Now onto November

October 2012 may have shaped up to be one of Blake's favorite ever months. Here's a look at why:

October wouldn't be complete without a trip to the pumpkin patch!

We went with our friends, the Pages. Blake and Henry enjoyed the trip on the tractor train.

Blake had plenty of pumpkins to choose from.

But it wasn't just all about pumpkins!

Blake and his dad got to go to game one of the freaking World Series!!! And the Giants won, and they won again, and they won again, and they won again! World Champs 2012! #OrangeOctoberIndeed

Back to Halloween now...

Blake decided he wanted to be Spiderman; this is at preschool right before their Halloween party.

This was Blake's first time trick-or-treating.
"Another house please, another house please, another house please, another house please."
-Blake Becker, October 31, 2012

Later that night, Blake enjoyed his loot.

Now onto November....

Summer Snapshots

Time flies when you're having fun, and I can't believe Fall is already here. This summer included many fun activities for Blake, and even a few firsts. I'll try to "summer"-ize it all with some snapshots.

This picture was technically taken before summer started. Back in April, we had a great time visiting Arizona. We got to spend lots of time with some of our favorite people, the Reichs! Unfortunately, we saw the D-backs sweeps the Giants in the opening series of the season. But.....

We went to many more Giants games this summer at AT&T Park in San Francisco! They won so many games (way more than the dumb D-Backs and would ultimately clinch the division on Sept. 22nd.

Sometimes we took the ferry to the games. Blake loves going under the Bay Bridge!

Mommy's 2 favorite Giants fans!

A party on the field after yet another Giants' victory! What a treat. Blake loved running around the outfield.

And we got to meet Lou Seal!

Blake got to spend a lot of time this summer with his favorite cousins, William and Katie. He misses them now that they've gone back home to Virginia.

Blake and his cousins try out to be the next anchor team.

Of course, the summer wouldn't be complete without some quality time in the water.

Blake even went off a diving board for the first time. With Papa. Twice.

And perhaps Blake's favorite time in the water was this trip to Lake Tahoe with our friends, the DeBisschops. Here's Blake having a water fight with his dad. Blake, Nicholas, and Maddie spent several hours in the water that day. Good thing it was warm.

Blake's first time going to pre-school! He loves his new friends at Tot Town.

Inside, there are so many fun activities and toys to play with.

Blake especially loved fruit day. All the kids ate a bunch of fresh fruit and then made these silly fruit hats.

Sometimes after school, Blake likes to to go the "ice cream maker." (It's really fro yo, but Blake calls it the ice cream maker.) Either way, it's a treat.

Speaking of treats, this is Blake helping his buddy Nicholas celebrate his 5th birthday. Blake's favorite part of the party was the cake, of course. Happy Birthday, Nico!

Also along with the DeBisschops, we had a fun time at the Academy of Natural Sciences in San Francisco. Here's Blake looking out over some tidal pools.

And summer wouldn't be complete without a couple of trips to the Railroad Museum in Old Sac. Blake and I went on this train ride, and he even got to wear the conductor's hat for a few minutes. Cutie.

Take Me Out To The Ball Game

The Giants had the night off, but Blake celebrated them anyway.

(Please excuse the female singing voice in the background.)

All Aboard!

Summer doesn't officially start for a few months, but Blake and I got a new summertime tradition started by taking a Sunday train ride down the Sacramento River.

The above picture makes him a look a tad nervous. I really don't think he was. He was excited all afternoon when I told him where we were going.
 

 Once we got going, he was more and more intrigued with everything passing us outside.

The train trip is fairly short, just a brief trip south down the river and then back again.. about 45 minutes in all. Plenty of time for a quick nap on what quickly became Blake's sleep train.
 

B in the Bee

From the better late than never file...
Check out who made an appearance in the local paper a few weeks ago. Who wouldn't buy this paper??


That's one advantage to having parents who work in the news biz. Guess Blake's mom will need to find a way to get him on TV soon, eh?

Blake Turns 2 (Doggies)

When you ask Blake how old he is, he will tell you with no hesitation, he is now "two doggies." If you haven't heard him, be sure to give us a call because it's super cute!

Nonetheless, Blake had a great birthday. Ryan and I took him out to breakfast at the Pancake Circus, which has now officially become an annual tradition.


(Check out how he compares to last year at the Circus here: http://blakethebaby.blogspot.com/2011/03/big-one.html)

After breakfast, Blake had a BIG day at his favorite park.

There were BIG balloons...


There were BIG presents...

And lots of them.

There were BIG steps on the playground...


There were BIG moments (make a wish!)...

There was a BIG group of family and friends, both BIG kids and little kids.


And finally, there were BIG smiles.


This blog wouldn't be complete without a BIG shout out to Aunt Heather for making Blake two awesome birthday cakes, capturing Blake's favorite theme.


As you can tell, Blake appreciated it.

(plug for Heather here: http://beckersdozen.weebly.com/)

Blake completed his birthday weekend on Sunday with a trip on the train at the zoo -- an activity which combines two of his favorite things (choo-choos and animals).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR BEAUTIFUL BOY, BLAKE.