We flew to California for Christmas and just in the nick of time. Seattle had a huge snow storm later that day which closed down the airport and caused a lot of chaos for a few days. We arrived in sunny California with sunglasses in hand and took off the layers of clothes. Besides just a few cold and rainy days, the weather was great. We had a great reunion for close to two weeks with my 2 sisters and 1 brother, their families, my parents, Aunt Dale, and Gee Gee. 
Christmas morning the kids woke up excited to see what Santa brought for them. It was a bit of a challenge to keep them still on the stairs for the Christmas morning photo. I remember being in their place -- had to wait for Grandma to arrive, wait for the cameras to be ready, then line up in order of age down the stairs. 100's of photos were taken and we had to just stay there and eye our gifts down below. Oh, the torture!!
This is one thing Annika was really looking forward to -- going in the spa with Grandma. She is playing with her cousins Chelsea and Ashley. Ariel, Mermaid doll, was what Annika asked Santa for and was elated to see it in her stocking -- "He remembered. What I always wanted!!"
The kids had fun with the cousins. Annika didn't want to leave. She really bonded with her cousins. I think she was in her normal clothes 10% of the time. The other 90% she was in dress-up clothes -- leotards, princess dresses ....I stopped counting how many times she changed by day 1. Gavin just loved the attention he got. Cousins loved making him laugh and he loved being fed and cuddled by Grandma and Gee Gee.
We did all sorts of things on our trip -- movies, Temple, Temple Christmas lights, Christmas Caroling, Birthday Celebrations, date night, shopping, park, Disneyland, ... oh, and urgent care (Gavin got RSV Bronchiolitis. Poor kid!). Nice to relax and let the kids play most of all. I will post Disneyland pictures soon.
This is one thing Annika was really looking forward to -- going in the spa with Grandma. She is playing with her cousins Chelsea and Ashley. Ariel, Mermaid doll, was what Annika asked Santa for and was elated to see it in her stocking -- "He remembered. What I always wanted!!"
The kids had fun with the cousins. Annika didn't want to leave. She really bonded with her cousins. I think she was in her normal clothes 10% of the time. The other 90% she was in dress-up clothes -- leotards, princess dresses ....I stopped counting how many times she changed by day 1. Gavin just loved the attention he got. Cousins loved making him laugh and he loved being fed and cuddled by Grandma and Gee Gee.
We did all sorts of things on our trip -- movies, Temple, Temple Christmas lights, Christmas Caroling, Birthday Celebrations, date night, shopping, park, Disneyland, ... oh, and urgent care (Gavin got RSV Bronchiolitis. Poor kid!). Nice to relax and let the kids play most of all. I will post Disneyland pictures soon. 
Hope you had a good time and will come back to sunny CA soon. We miss you all HEAPS!
ReplyDeleteIt was fun for us grandparents to watch the cousins play....and dress up was the most popular. It was also nice to be with our 'girls' and their husbands. Thank you Lisa for helping make this possible. The rest of you missed out on some delicious, I mean really delicious, candy and treats by Marylyn....hmmmm good.
ReplyDeleteWhat a blast! Thanks for making the trip! The girls ask everyday, "when is Annika coming back?" Hey I want copies of your pictures. Is there a way/site you can post all of them at full resolution?
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