Christmastime is here!

Can you hear Charlie Brown and all of his buddies singing? Oh, you can't? Just stop by our house, I'm sure you'll have no problem since "A Charlie Brown Christmas" is permanently implanted in the DVD player these days courtesy of Landon. He's become well acquainted with Charlie Brown and "Snoopy the dog" and attempts to negotiate a viewing often.

The holidays through the eyes of a child cannot be described. The wonder, amazement, enchantment, sparkle, and excitement are unmatched; it's too bad it only lasts for a little over a month. We've packed quite a bit into our holiday cheer and celebrations already - and it's only the fifth of December - partially because Landon (and Mommy and Daddy too, who am I kidding?) is way into it. This year's holiday season is so much fun.

This year's Christmas tree is the first tree in 30-ish years of Poston family history to come from a tree lot instead of the Plumas National Forest. The area got quite the dumping of snow and after hearing that there was upwards of four feet of snow before another storm came through - and confirming with the ranger station that the only way in was by snow mobile, snow shoes or skis - we ended up finding a great tree at a you-cut lot up in Placerville. Gotta keep those high ceilings at home useful somehow, and we ended up with a 14 footer this year. Quite a different experience, but we still had a good time.

Landon was introduced to "handy canes" and has decided that he absolutely loves them.

We made Christmas ornaments out of salt dough to paint and hang on our tree.

And who says it doesn't snow in the Bay Area?!?! We took advantage of all the snow the city annually pipes into downtown. At first Landon wasn't too sure about all this white stuff but eventually decided he loved it, from the snowballs to the sledding down the "hill."

After all that sledding tired us out we decided to get an extra special treat. Landon got his first taste of hot chocolate in a seasonally appropriate little red cup from Starbucks. Landon was so excited he could hardly contain himself, and it was just about the only thing that tore him away from the snow outside, but he was over it once he finished about a quarter of his hot chocolate and he wanted to go back outside to play some more.

Every year the carousel at Tilden Park lights up with Christmas trees, lawn decor, Santa and even reindeer make an appearance. It's whimsical and magical and a holiday tradition that's recently made its way on our to-do list as this is the second year we've climbed the winding roads through Berkeley's foggy hills at night. A few trips on the carousel, a visit with Santa (his reindeer were off that night), marveling at the "beyoodaful" lights, picking out an ornament for our tree at home and a "pocorn" snack we had a great time.

Stay tuned, more holiday adventures await!