Landon's 4th Birthday Party~Chuck E. Cheese's Style

Dancin' with Chuck E.

When it is your birthday party you can get away with this silliness! ;)

The family with Mr. Cheese

Thanks Pa and Meme for the pinata! 

Ticket Blaster Time!

Aunt Tammy, Elli and Uncle Paul

Landon, Pa and Meme

Landon planned his birthday party for 11 months and I am not exaggerating!  He was so excited when his big day finally arrived.  He insisted that we have his party at Chuck E. Cheese's and he wanted all his friends to come help him celebrate.  He literally wore a smile the entire 2 hours of his party!  His favorite things about the party were dancing with Chuck E. Cheese and eating his cake of course!  He chose to have a fishing theme which fit him perfectly because for all that know him he is obsessed with fishing!  I still cannot believe that I have a four year old but I am so happy and proud of the boy that he has grown to be!

*Thank you to my friend Kristin for taking lots of pictures for me while I enjoyed the party!

Gristmill...a Birthday Tradition

Landon has celebrated his birthday every year at Gristmill...they have the best strawberry shortcake!  Thank goodness Landon is the sharing type.  He lets all of us dive in and sample his treat!  This year we went with Meme, Pa and Cousin Lara.  Lara is going to college in San Marcos and he loves every minute he gets to spend with her.  She brought Landon a bag full of lots of good loot for his big day.  Chocolate milk is a treat in our house and she stocked him up with a big canister of Nesquik!  She must really know what little ones like because she also got him bubble gum, ring pops, bubbles and other great kid stuff!  Thanks Cousin Lara!

Monster Jam 2011

This was the winner...Air Force Afterburner

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Monster Truck in action :)

My personal favorite...Monster Mutt!

Kyle and Landon enjoying some tasty cotton candy!

Uh Oh!  Grave Digger crashed!

Now that is what you call a BLOW OUT!

Brian and Landon went to the Monster Truck Show on Saturday with our friend Jeff and his son Kyle...all the boys had a blast!  What a perfect "boys only" outing!  Landon has talked nonstop about it since he came home. 

Brian had bought some toy Monster Trucks so that the boys could each take one with them to the show.  Well, as luck would have it, both boys held a winning Monster Truck.  Landon's Air Force Afterburner came in 1st place and Kyle had StoneCrusher, which came in 2nd!

Landon is already talking about going again!

Happy New Year!

Walker, Mattie, William and Landon...they sure had fun together :)

Being SUPER silly!

Who knew a closet could be so fun?!

Mattie and Landon posing after midnight!

We rang in the New Year with friends, burgers, sausage, chips, dips and desserts!  We made sure to put Landon down for a late nap so he would make it to midnight BUT he was so excited to go play at William's house that he hardly slept!  He, along with the other kiddos had no problem staying awake...they were actually still running circles around us at that time!  William, Landon and Mattie were all born within 8 months of each other so they had the best time playing all night!  Since the children did such a great job entertaining themselves the adults had a chance to talk.  We had a fun evening and Landon even slept in the next day...it is hard being a busy 3 year old!  Thanks you so much for having us over Moffatt family.  Always a fun time at your house! :)

Christmas in South Texas

Landon wore this hat every morning when he and Pa took a golf cart ride.  He would tell all the neighbors "Merry Christmas!"  They also enjoyed a large glass of chocolate milk...what a treat!

Cousins - Rylen and Landon

Meme and Pa got him a Leapster!

Uncle Ryan got him fishing glasses, lures and other great fishing stuff!  He has worn his glasses everyday since Christmas!

Snacks for Santa and his reindeer!

Santa came :)

Yeah...he got his train table!

Santa left a Lightning McQueen costume and a stocking full of goodies!

Loving his new train table!

Landon and Jordan

One of his favorite toys from Santa!

Meme, Pa, Landon and Cheeto (Sun was way too bright!)

Landon posing by the reindeer!  (This was totally his own doing!)

This year we spent Christmas with my side of the family.  Landon and I headed to Port Isabel early in the week and Brian flew in to meet us on the 23rd!  We did not break tradition...we ate tamales and queso on Christmas Eve and then opened gifts and enjoyed chatting and watching Landon and Rylen play with their new toys.  Landon left cake balls and milk out for Santa and grapes and cheese out for the reindeer!  Before Landon went to bed he scattered some reindeer food (oatmeal and glitter) so Santa could find his way to my parent's house.  When he was outside he even heard Santa laughing, "Ho, Ho, Ho!"  Landon darted up the stairs and jumped into bed faster than I have ever seen him do so...quite funny!  He said he was going to sleep so Santa would come!  The next morning he woke up quite early and was thrilled to see all the loot Santa had left...he must have been a super good boy in 2010! 

We had Christmas dinner at the ranch this year...fried turkey, tons of great sides, yummy desserts, etc.!  Landon loved playing with his cousin Jordan.  They are a little over a year apart and have the best time together.  Landon got to ride around the ranch with all the big boys and he sure felt like big stuff.  We enjoyed being with all of our family.  Thanks for hosting a great Christmas Pa and Meme! :)

Fishing with Uncle Ryan and Daddy

First speckled trout! :)  He could not be any happier!

Landon and Daddy with his 1st redfish!

While we were eating lunch on Christmas Eve, Landon asked Uncle Ryan with pleading eyes if he would take him fishing in the boat and of course Uncle Ryan could not tell him no!  This was Landon's first time in the actual bay and he LOVED it!  I stayed back, but I heard all the great fish stories.  Landon was one lucky boy ~ or maybe skillful ;) He caught 1 redfish and 1 trout (with a little help from Daddy).  Once the fish were hooked Landon had no trouble reeling them in on his own!  A few got away but isn't that typical for a great fish story?!

Uncle Ryan is Landon's fishing hero...all he can talk about are all the fish that he catches and he loves going to his house to see his mounted fish!  I must brag a little on my big brother ~ he holds the state record for biggest Mahi Mahi caught in Texas, so Landon has reason to have him on a pedestal!  I think Ryan secretly enjoys all the attention he gets from Landon as well!

Thanks Uncle Ryan...you rock!

The Adventures of Merek the Elf

Merek came to visit us the first weekend in December and boy did we have fun with him in our house!  For those of you that do not know about Elf on a Shelf...Merek is Santa's little helper and he stays with us during the day and flies back to the North Pole at night to let Santa know what is going on in the Yutzy house!  He lets Santa know who is making good and/or bad choices!  You can talk to Merek but he can not talk back to you and you cannot touch him.  Every day he is in a new place and sometimes he would have a surprise with him (candy, raisins, small present, etc.).  Merek is a smart elf, he found us in Galveston and in Port Isabel...we can run but we cannot hide!  It has been fun having Merek around but he left on Christmas Eve and will not return until next December.  We miss you already Merek!

Family Fun in Galveston

At Bass Pro Shop

Lovin' Ben and Jerry's

Landon floats the lazy river to stay out of the frigid water!

Landon and Daddy

Moody Gardens

Moody Gardens Aquarium

One of Landon's favorite fish ~ snook!

We went to Galveston for the first time the weekend before Christmas and had such a good time.  We had never been there and had no idea that it was so big.  Brian was out of town for work so we picked him up at the airport as soon as we got into Houston...it was Landon's lucky day though because Brian's flight in was delayed so we stopped at Bass Pro Shop in Katy on our way.  He LOVES Bass Pro Shop so much so that you would think he was in Disney World.  He gets so excited being in there he can hardly contain himself.  After picking Brian up we checked out a local Ben and Jerry's and it did not disappoint ~ very yummy!

Saturday morning we headed to Schlitterbahn, that is supposed to be indoors BUT we will just call it a covered with heavy plastic water park!  It is by no means indoors and some areas were very cold.  Getting in the lazy river was like getting in the river here in NB but the outside temperatures were also cold!  Once we got used to it, it was fine but it was not nearly as warm as I was expecting for an "indoor" water park!  The kiddie area, however was heated and felt nice but we spent a lot of time in the colder area.  We did have fun and spent about 5 hours there but not sure I would return to this location on a cold, winter day!

That evening we went to the Festival of Lights at Moody Gardens and that was GREAT!  It was a mile long walk full of Christmas lights.  This was a perfect family event. :) 

Sunday morning we returned to Moody Gardens to go to the aquarium part and of course Landon is obsessed with fish so this was right up his alley!  We will definitely return to Moody Gardens on another trip and check out all they have to offer.  Very neat place! :)

We had a great family weekend and plan on returning to Galveston again and seeing what other adventures we can find!