ICE! at Gaylord Rockies

One of my all time favorite holiday events is back and I'm so excited to share it with you!

ICE! is back at Gaylord Rockies after a two year hiatus and this year it features Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the whole Peanuts gang in scenes from the beloved "A Charlie Brown Christmas" movie.

As the name suggests, ICE! is a holiday exhibition made almost entirely of, you guessed it, ice! The exhibition features ten scenes from "A Charlie Brown Christmas" made of colored and clear ice brought to life with twinkling LED lights and music from the original score. The sculptures are so intricate and the colors so vibrant that Mathilde was convinced they were all really made of plastic! Nope - it's ice, ice baby!

Ok, I just made myself cringe with that one. Let's take a look at some pictures while I compose myself!

A Day at California's Great America

Back in June, when Summer was only just beginning, we took a trip south to San Jose for a day of amusement park fun at California's Great America. This was our first time visiting an amusement park here (other than Disneyland and Legoland), and despite their reservations about roller coasters and fast moving rides, the kids had a blast!

I've kind of avoided taking the kids to an amusement park up until now. They're really just not my thing, and given that the girls aren't fond of scary rides (even if they're not actually really scary!) it hasn't seemed worth the expense or effort involved in getting there. But as it turned out, Kim's work held their annual "Summer picnic" at California's Great America this year and we had the entire park to ourselves, and for free, so it was the perfect introduction to a day at an amusement park.

Ava's Peanuts Birthday Party

This past weekend we celebrated Ava's ninth birthday with a Peanuts themed party on our roof top.

The past two years we've had incredibly rainy weather for Ava's party and haven't been able to use our roof top. This year, however, we had a beautiful, sunny day. Perfect for a roof top party.

The Peanuts gang make such a fun party theme - and gave me the chance to get a little creative! We had a Snoopy doghouse piñata, Charlie Brown cookies, a comic strip photo booth, Lucy's psychiatrist booth for photos (and bad advice!), Snoopy doghouse party bags, and Ava decorated her birthday cake herself with a drawing of Snoopy and Woodstock. How cute is that cake? I covered it with fondant and Ava decorated it with edible markers. Seriously, those edible markers are one of the best things ever!

A Peanuts Party Invitation

Can you believe it? 

Tomorrow my oldest baby turns Nine! Nine! I still can't wrap my head around it. She's not a little girl anymore. She's a big girl. A tween even - maybe. How old is a tween? I have no idea. All I know is that she's growing up too quickly.

To celebrate Ava's ninth birthday we'll be having a Peanuts themed party with her friends on Saturday. Ava chose the theme and she is really excited about it. I actually half expected her to chose a Minecraft theme as she's really into Minecraft at the moment (aren't all almost nine year olds?) so I was pleasantly surprised when she told me she wanted a Peanuts party.

I am working on all sorts of fun Peanuts themed DIYs for the party and I can't wait to share them with you next week, but for now let's have a look at the party invitations.

Visiting Santa 2015

Last weekend we spent a day in the city doing a little festive sight seeing. First up we visited the Fairmont Hotel to see the Giant Gingerbread House and then the Westin St Francis Hotel to see the Sugar Castle. You can see them both here. 

Our next stop was Macy's to go see Santa and tell him our Christmas wishes

Gifts for Peanuts Fans

Do you have little (or big even) Peanuts fans in your home?

My girls are huge fans, and with the release of the new movie they've been pretty excited to see a lot of Peanuts merchandise hitting the shelves. Of course, Charlie Brown, Snoopy and co have always been in stores, but right now there are a lot of great collaborations around with some of our favorite brands. It's great to find a few Peanuts products that go beyond the usual low quality character stuff out there.

I thought I'd share some of my favorite Peanuts items with you, just in time for Christmas shopping.

1. Hanna Andersson Peanuts Backpack
Hanna Andersson backpacks are perfect for every day school use. They're really well made, have lots of useful pockets and come in a great range of designs. I couldn't go past this Peanuts backpack for Ava. She loves it! With the new Peanuts movie out we get stopped all the time by parents asking where her backpack is from. I have a feeling she won't be the only kid in her school with this backpack for much longer!

2. Baby Gap + Peanuts Mittens
What can I say? These Charlie Brown baby/toddler mittens from Gap are adorable!

3. Gap Kids + Peanuts Sweatshirt
I just had to buy these Snoopy sweatshirts for Ava and Lola when I saw them. I was even tempted to buy a larger size for me! The pattern is cute without being too cutesy and they are super comfy. They look great with a pair of leggings - just maybe not the matching leggings! These are now on sale and are going fast so if you want one you'd better get in quickly.

4. Gap Kids + Peanuts Printed Leggings
Because it never gets overly hot (or cold) here in the Bay Area my girls wear leggings all year round under dresses or skirts. Usually they just stick with plain colors, but I couldn't resist these Snoopy print leggings. In fact, I bought these in almost every size so the girls can wear them for years to come! Just like the coordinating sweatshirt, these leggings are no on sale and going fast.

5. Gap Kids + Peanuts Sweater One Piece
Perfect for the littlest Charlie Brown fans this Winter! I am so tempted to buy this for Mathilde. The whole Peanuts range at Gap is adorable.

6. Hanna Andersson Peanuts Long Johns
Hanna Andersson pajamas are the best! They are made from the softest cotton and are so snuggly. The quality is fantastic and they can be passed down from sibling to sibling. They come in a huge range of designs including a few Peanuts themed Christmas designs which are all pretty gender neutral.

7 & 8. Itty Bitty Peanuts Characters
These cute little stuffies from Hallmark make the perfect stocking fillers. I have even used them in our advent calendar this year (which you can see here). They're available in Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy and Linus.

9. Classic Stuffed Snoopy
Every Peanuts fan needs a Snoopy to cuddle! Mathilde has this particular Snoopy from Hallmark and he's so soft and cuddly with no dangerous small parts, making him perfect for the littlest Peanuts fan.

10. Peanuts Holidays Through the Year book
This book from Hallmark is a lovely collection of all the Peanuts holiday stories throughout the year. My girls love reading the stories that they recognize from the classic Peanuts holiday movies.

11. Hanna Andersson Peanuts Short Johns
For when it's not quite cold enough to wear long johns, Hanna Andersson have their classic pajamas available in a short version. Like the long johns, the designs are pretty gender neutral.

12. Moleskin Peanuts Weekly Notebook Planner
Moleskin pocket sized planners are my go to diary every year. They fit perfectly in the front pocket of my diaper bag yet they have enough space for writing all of my appointments etc. Usually I just go with boring black, but for 2016 I'm going with Snoopy!

13. Cambridge Satchel Company Peanuts Mini Satchel
Umm... I NEED this satchel!

14. Peanuts Mini Notes
These little notes are great for writing little letters to Peanuts fans. Ava has a set of these are they are adorable. They'd be perfect for lunch box notes.

There are so many other great Peanuts collaborations out there too. Lacoste have a range of Peanuts polo shirts (which Kim may be finding under the Christmas tree), OPI make Peanuts nail polish, Coach have a range of Peanuts handbags (these are from 2014 and may be tricky to find), and there is a fun Snoopy game available for Wii, XBox, Playstation etc (which may also be under our tree this year).

I hope this guide helps you find the perfect gift for your little (or big!) Peanuts fan this holiday season.

52 Weeks: Week 46

Week 46: The Peanuts Movie
This past weekend we took the girls to see The Peanuts Movie.

Ava and Lola have been huge fans of Charlie Brown and co since we visited Santa Rosa last year and saw the Peanuts sculptures dotted around town (you can see them here). They've been so excited about the new movie coming out and couldn't wait to see it. I figured that it would be pretty busy on the opening weekend so decided to wait a week. I can't count how many times Ava and Lola asked if we could go see the movie in that week that it was out before we made it there!

An Advent Calendar with Hallmark Itty Bittys

Can you believe that Christmas is almost here again? Well, it's still a little way off, but it will be here before you know it, trust me.

I'm not usually the best at being organized for Christmas far in advance, but this year with a little help from Hallmark Gold Crown I'm getting a jump on this whole Christmas thing and starting my preparations early.

Today I'm sharing a DIY for an advent calendar featuring Itty Bittys from Hallmark. These tiny stuffies are the perfect surprise for an advent calendar and help make counting down the days until Christmas a little more fun. Itty Bittys come in a range of beloved characters including Star Wars, Disney Princesses, Frozen, Mickey Mouse, Peanuts, Muppets and Rainbow Brite (she's back!). My girls are huge fans of Peanuts so I chose Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy and Snoopy as treats to go in the advent calendar. Lola, like lots of little girls, is also kind of obsessed with Frozen, so I had to add Elsa, Anna and Olaf to the mix as well. If I was making the advent calendar for myself it would've been filled with Muppets. As a small child I wanted to grow up to be a frog so I could marry Kermit! Ok, that's a story for a different day...

Drop Everything And Read Day

Yesterday Ava's school celebrated Drop Everything And Read Day (D.E.A.R Day).

To celebrate, students were invited to come to school dressed as a favorite book character. You know we can't miss an opportunity to play dress up so the girls and I were pretty excited about this.

When I was a kid in Australia we always celebrated Book Week at school with a dress up day and a parade. Every year I see my friends' kids dressed up for Book Week on Facebook and I feel like my girls are missing out. Of course, we get Halloween which is much bigger, but still I feel a little jealous that we're missing out on the fun. So when the opportunity to dress up for D.E.A.R Day came up I jumped on it.

Charles M. Schulz Museum

Ever since our recent visit to Santa Rosa and our hunt for Peanuts statues (which you can see here) Ava and Lola have been obsessed with Charlie Brown and Snoopy.

Kim and I have been wanting to visit the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa for quite some time, so with the girls new interest in his work I started organizing a visit. As luck would have it, our visit to the museum was just in time for the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Celebration.

Santa Rosa Peanuts Sculptures

Recently we visited Santa Rosa, the Sonoma Valley city that was once home to Charles M. Schulz, creator of the beloved Peanuts comics.

In honor of Santa Rosa's most famous resident sculptures of Peanuts characters have been erected around town. There are two permanent bronze sculptures while the rest are movable and can be found dotted around the city. 

Ava and Lola are quite fond of Charlie Brown, Snoopy and their pals so we set out to find as many of the sculptures as possible. We were there quite late in the day (after our visit to Petaluma Pumpkin Patch) and the sun was starting to set so we didn't manage to find all of the sculptures but we did find quite a few.

Little Squirrel Friends

One of the things that we like about living in Berkeley is the abundance of wildlife that surrounds us. Unlike at home in Australia where the wildlife that surrounded our home was all of the insect and spider variety, the wildlife we come across on a regular basis here is much cuter and friendlier. 

I'm talking about squirrels. Cute and fluffy little squirrels!

So cute and fluffy