post christmas fun

The weeks after Christmas are always so fun because you get to just hang out and play with your new stuff.  

The biggest hit in our house was definitely the train from Baabee.  

The train is actually called the Chatanooga Choo Choo which is awesome in itself, but Jimmy was thrilled that it had all the cars mentioned in one of his favorite books: The Little Red Caboose.  

Ours cars aren't in quite the right order and we also need some flat cars to really make it authentic, but it is pretty darn close.  Jimmy likes to recite it (slightly paraphrased):

"First came the Big Black Engine."

"Then the coal cars, then the box cars, then the oil cars..."

"But the Little Red Caboose always came last."

It is a really cute book and was an early one for Jimmy to memorize.  Little boys do love their trains.

And I just love "Little Golden Books"

... especially classic ones like this with such fun illustrations.

My favorite thing is when I catch Jimmy reciting it quietly to himself while he lies on the ground watching it go around.  However, he actually talks to himself all the time so this is not that unusual.  I will be sitting right next to him and he thinks I can't hear him.  It cracks me up.

Of course, post-Christmas is also prime lego building time.

I don't even attempt to open the boxes on Christmas for fear of the mess that would be made and the pieces that would be lost.

Getting to build Legos is in fact Zach's second favorite part of being a dad (snuggling apparently won out by a hair).  I have said before I think it was the main reason he wanted to have kids.  He still claims that his old Legos are still his and not Jimmy's.

This set makes one of three different things.  We left the Light House up for awhile, but Jimmy and Zach just finished this Boat House:

Jimmy did so much of it himself and is ever so proud.  He told me there are "two awesome things": a lever that makes the boat pop out and a button that turns on a light.  Now to keep it away from Gus. Another thing that has been difficult to keep Gus from destroying: 

Our Swiss Family Robinson Set-Up.

We borrowed the two Playmobil pirate ships and island from Baabee's house and turned the "spare room" into and ocean and gigantic tropical island.  More detailed pictures later.  For now it is just being appreciated and messed up quite frequently so I haven't really gotten good pictures of it.