{Hall Family Winter Pictures}

The Monday after we got the ice storm Nathan and Mason stayed home with me. At lunch time we ran to downtown Waxahachie to snap some Family Christmas pictures. It was probably one of the coldest and windiest days we've had...but it was a small window that we could all go. Nate's brother was out of school and was able to snap these so that I didn't have to use the tripod and remote! 

{Mainstay Farm - Our trip to the Christmas Tree Farm}

We have crossed off another one of the things on our Christmas-time bucketlist - the

We had planned on going to Yesterland Farm in Canton, but I googled and found one closer that looked promising. The pictures and all of the activities listed on the website sounded like a blast. And the best part? Most of them were free. There were only a couple of things you had to actually buy tickets for. 

We knew we were going to love it the minute we saw the first sign for  Mainstay Farm in Cleburne!!! The area alone was awesome. So country and rustic. So us!

When we first got there we weren't exactly sure what to do...but it didn't take long to find all of the neat attractions. Mason started for a slide, but then he saw a track full of tricycles with big tires so he beelined that way! He rode the bikes for a while and then went for the toddler swing/zipline. He loved it!!!

After the swing/zipline we headed over to a huge jumping pillow. This thing was huge, and amazing. I've never seen anything like it. Mason mostly ran up and down it. Every time he'd start jumping a huge group of people would come through and knock him down. He still had fun, though!

After the jumping pillow we made our way over to the shop to get some guidance on how to get on the hay ride and train ride and such. We bought an ornament and an old time-y looking elf and a ticket for Mason to ride the train. Then we were on our way to ride the hay ride. We honestly had no clue where it was going to take us. We just thought it went through the farm and back...but it took us to a whole other area of attractions!!!

A three story treehouse, mazes, and an adult size track with big wheel things. Mason almost couldn't believe his eyes (and Nate too). The boys played and I held all of our belongings and took pictures. This place was soooo cool!!!

{proof I was there}

After Mason and Nate played for a while we took the hayride back down to the Christmas Tree barn where we had anticipated picking out a tree. However, we got there and saw the prices and decided to look elsewhere for a tree. They wanted $66 bucks for a small 4-5 ft tree. Wowsers!

Before we left we took Mason to the train ride and then of course he wanted to ride the tricycles again.

Another Hall Family Christmas tradition going forward!

If you're in the DFW area I suggest Mainstay Farms, without a doubt! It's a blast. You could spend a whole day there. There is so much to do!

Do you and your family go to a tree farm? What other Christmas traditions do you have?

{The Halloween Post}

Mason did Halloween and he did it good! I am so happy that he's not scared or shy. He trick or treated like a champ and was so cute! The first few houses we could barely hear him say "Thank You" so we were telling him that he needed to say that a little louder. He was so focused on the 'thank you' part that he walked up to a house and said 'thank you' instead of trick or treat. He walked back towards us and said, "oops I said it backwards." It was hilarious!

He got lots of compliments on his costume and he'd reply with a great BIG Thank you! And at one point he excitingly said, "Halloween is so cool!!"

I love being a Mama!

We had a good time, even though we were a little disappointed in the area we went to. We have always trick or treated in the historical district of Waxhachie. The houses are gorgeous and usually all decorated and out having a good time. This year there were so many houses not participating. We'd walk past 5 or 6 houses before we found one that was handing out candy. And the area was so full of teenagers! We drove past several churches that were doing the "Trunk or Treat" and that seemed to be where everyone was. I think we'll definitely do that next year. Side note - the reason we don't trick or treat in our own neighborhood is because our area is mostly retired people and there are only a handful of kids in our whole neighborhood. We have only had 1 trick or treater in the 6 years we have lived here.

Mason chose to recycle his Fireman costume from last year. I'm glad he did. He makes a pretty cute little fireman!!