Big day

Today was a big day!  We've been so busy the last few months, it feels like we haven't done anything fun with the boys in for-ever.  So today, we had some fun.  We took the boys out to lunch and then to their first movie! We went to Cinelli's at North Hills for lunch.  It was so nice to order a big pizza (and salad, which Matt ate half of John's - what 2.5 year old loves salad??) and have the boys devour it.  Matt at a piece and a half all by himself.  Also, we've officially moved to booster seats - used them the last few times - and the boys are doing well.  Yes, I know they're two and a half, but containment was key!

After lunch, we walked over to the movie.  Bonus: kids under 3 are free!  Probably because they know there's no way you'll make it through the whole thing....  We saw The Muppets and lasted through the previews (15 minutes), the Toy Story short film (awesome!), and 45 minutes of the movie.  The boys did great for a solid 30 minutes, each sitting on a lap.  Then restlessness started and I could see the writing was on the wall.  We chose to leave before meltdowns ensued.  Knew this was a possibility since the movie pushed in to nap time, but overall it went about as well as I expected.  

We came home for a marathon nap and woke up to a quick dinner, and then an outing to the opening night of Raleigh's Winterfest.  Mayor Meeker was lighting the Raleigh Christmas tree at 8pm, there would be Santa's Village, a carousel, sledding area, carriage rides, food & gift vendors, the only real outdoor ice rink in the area, and bands on stage.  We got there about 6:30pm and promptly realized we should have brought strollers.  Rookie mistake.  The boys did really well though.  We enjoyed a whoopie pie and dancing to the band before the Mayor took the stage.  Not gonna lie, the tree lighting was a bit anti-climactic and the whole thing could have been more, but it was fun to get out.  The boys haven't been in a big crowd like that in a while and they did great.  Pretty great when strangers look at your kids and smile when you walk past.  :-)