Southern California Christmas

We spent our Christmas in Southern CA, all over Southern CA. We did a lot of driving, but it was really nice (times a million) to not have to fly anywhere, not be delayed by weather, and not have to deal with weather at all. In fact, we went swimming on Christmas Eve Eve. (I felt a bit guilty about sharing this, but there, I said it. It was going to come out eventually.) So, we stayed close to home and still got to be with family and even an old friend. A very happy holiday indeed! It was a good reminder of why we live where we do.

December 20-23: Palm Springs
Jared's parents treated us, and any other siblings who could get themselves there, to a few days in a two bedroom villa in Palm Springs. It turned that 3 out of the 4 siblings plus their spouses and small children came, so it's a good thing we all love each other! The final count was 8 adults, 4 toddlers and 1 infant, but thanks to pack-n-plays and sofa beds, no one slept on the floor. It was a blast! We ate good food, played with each other's kids, watched Toy Story (the twins' current favorite), opened lots of presents, and oh, the swimming...

December 23: Rancho Cucamonga

We drove straight from Palm Springs to Jared's uncle's house (not actually in Rancho Cucamonga, but close, and I really just think that Rancho Cucamonga is a name that deserves to be said) for their annual family Christmas party. The traditions are strong at this event-- the evening always includes lots of food, hot cider, a cousin gift exchange, a family talent show, a live nativity with the young cousins, and a walk to a nearby neighborhood that takes Christmas decorating so seriously that those who live there now need to buy a permit to park on their own street during the holidays. We're always glad we can just walk over.

If you didn't come with bells on, Aunt Jana will give you one. Or twenty if you're cute.

 Great Grandma Dot read Christmas stories to the kids. Bethany did as she always does at library storytime, and rushed the reader.

A Christmas song by our little part of the fam.

 A fair showing :). See the train?

December 24-25: home sweet Santa Paula

We took a short break from all the partying and spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning at our house in Santa Paula. This was not our first time spending Christmas at home-- there was that time when I was toooooooo pregnant to travel-- but with the kids it kind of felt like a first. We spent Christmas Eve playing with the toys they had received from Grandma & Grandpa, leaving the ones from Papa & Mimi and Mom & Dad (that's Jared & me, if you're trying to keep up with the monikers) to open on Christmas morning.

 Trains and chainchacks (train tracks) from Grandma & Grandpa

 Those faces!

 Christmas jammies

Christmas Eve 

This is me not opening the Woody box fast enough

Enabling their obsession 

Santa brought new bikes

...and they were a big hit!

December 25 (continued): San Diego

While the kids napped we made the 3+ hour drive to San Diego to join the rest of Jared's extended family for dinner at another uncle's house. I didn't take any pictures, but a highlight for me was eating my Christmas dinner with 3 toddlers in the 4-foot cube of a playhouse in the backyard. Isaac dragged me in as I was holding my plate, and then started eating my food with me. I loved it, really.

To top off the evening, I left Jared standing guard to keep our kids in their pack-n-plays (yes, we're back to that problem) and drove off to visit my BFFAEAE since first grade, Stacie. She & her husband Jeff had just had their 2nd baby girl, Peyton. It was so great to see them and be reminded of those sleepless but special baby days.

With Stacie & Peyton by the Chrismukkah tree!

That was our Christmas. It was a good one.

Knott's Merry Farm

Normally, it's Knott's Berry Farm. At Halloween, it's Knott's Scary Farm, and at Christmas, it's Knott's Merry Farm. That right there was enough to make me want to go.

Last week we took the kids and met up with friends there for Isaac & Bethany's first theme park adventure. We weren't sure how they would do without their normal naps, but we all had a great time. Nobody was there that day, so not having to wait in any lines was definitely key.

Bethany's favorite part was probably the humongous bounce house-- she stayed in that thing for over an hour, which very well might be the longest she's ever done anything (except sleep). She's a sucker for big dogs, so she of course fell instantly in love with Snoopy and smothered him in kisses and hugs. Isaac wanted to drive every type of vehicle-- trucks, trains, race cars, the works-- and he did.

You know it's going to be a good day when a rooster greets you in the parking lot...

 

Isaac organized a sit-in to protest leaving at the end of the day.

The whole experience has kind of opened the door to the world of theme parks for us. Previously we were thinking we wouldn't take these kids to Disneyland or Lego Land or any such place until they were old enough to appreciate it (when is that? 4? 6? 25?), but now we're thinking let's just get them there while they're free!

a very toddler Christmas

It's getting festive up in here! It's been fun to have a house to decorate this year, even though we took a small, college student apartment worth of decorations and stretched it to a (well, still small) house. I'm being such a good girl and waiting for some after-Christmas specials to invest in our holiday future. So, the decorations are currently not just humble, they're also toddler friendly, which means:

* the ornaments have migrated higher and higher up the tree
* the glass ornament balls, which got broken into, and then actually broken (just one, thankfully) within 3 minutes of getting out the Christmas boxes, went right back on the garage shelves (the boy sees a ball, he wants to throw it-- I get that)

* the wooden advent tree that I thought would be perfect for the kids, with tiny ornaments to take out and hang on the little tree, also had to be put away after a piece or two got broken

* we didn't even try with the nativity sets-- still in the garage
* there will be no presents under the tree until Christmas Eve, after bedtime

No worries though. We've had festiveness fill our home. Some of my favorite things about this Christmas:

* our first real Christmas tree - no more pre-lit 4-footer from Big Lots
* our first time hanging lights outside! Oh what fun.
* Christmas music on Pandora - the classical station is nice when the others get repetitive (although I must say I have not heard "Last Christmas" by WHAM! enough this year)
* Christmas cards from friends - sometimes I keep these up all year, I love them so
* how it's all brand new to the little ones

We went to pick out our Christmas tree, and the kids just wanted to play in the buckets of water.
We were their first customers of the year-- they were still unloading trees from their truck.

There's a tree on our roof!

(Isaac was not so impressed.) 

This guy got some more water playtime when we got home. In fact, he made an amazing discovery: that hose fits perfectly in his front pocket (the one his thumb is in). It's especially fun when the water's running.
Try it. Better yet, let your toddler try it.

Our tree.

Decorations are top heavy but toddler friendly.

Current favorite ornament: paying homage to the A train.

Our little house.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas bloggin'

All my computer time lately has been spent Christmas shopping, it seems, but every now and then I've caught up on some of my friends' blogs, and I have been loving it. My friends do great things, and they're always inspiring and never look-how-perfect-my-life-is annoying. Hope they don't mind if I share a few favorites...

The Baby Luke Advent. This is what happens when you mix a fantastic photographer, a gorgeous baby, and Christmas. She's in the middle of a cross-country move, but I hope she can continue. BTW, my Bethany thinks every baby is Baby Luke. ("No, that's baby Joshua." "Baby Luke!")

Christmas tree hunting, Montana style. Just one of the many awesome things our LA friends have done since they moved to Bozeman. I love it when people get to a new place and just dive right in. (Oh, and with two kids in tow? Wow.)

A good read. The Peacegiver has actually been on my shelf for a while, so I was glad for the reminder when my parents posted about it on their mission blog. I'm going to try to finish it by Christmas.

(Homemade) stockings hung by the chimney with care. I've had Christmas stockings on my mind, since we don't have any of our own. I'm not feeling the pressure to get (or make) any yet, since we also don't have a mantle. But someday would be nice. And isn't this one cute?

Christmas in the City. This post almost broke my heart, but at the same time made me so happy to see people enjoy and appreciate a great thing. NYC is the Christmassiest place I've ever been. I miss New York at Christmas. I miss New York.

A little nudge. To remember the most important thing about Christmas.

crashing the Christmas parade

We've only made a few friends here so far, but we seem to have met the right people. The kind that can get you the prime spot in the town Christmas parade. I'm not talking about a good spot on the route, in the shade with a nice view of the parade. In it. Oh, were we ever in it.

Through a family connection to the fire chief, my friend invited us to ride on the firetruck in the parade. Jared & I were elated just imagining how much the little girl and boy would enjoy being on the firetruck, and then instantly heartbroken when we realized we'd still be out of town for Thanksgiving. Welp, after two days and one night of struggling to get our one-year-olds to stay in their pack n plays at Great-grandma's house, we called it quits and went home early.

Side note: you would have thought my world was over. Overreaction, maybe, but hear me out. For the twins' entire lives, one saving grace has been that they've been pretty consistent with their sleep. More important than taking long naps has been taking them at the same time as each other. So, the idea that they had some autonomy over when they are in their cribs felt like a huge loss of control for me, and I had no idea what I was going to do. Luckily, back at home they went back to staying in their cribs when we put them down. I hope it stays this way long enough for me to figure out what to do next. (I'd love ideas if you have them! I really don't think these two are going to be the kind of kids you hear about, who surprise their parents with how well they stay in their toddler beds. I need a good strategy here.)

Bright side: firetruck! Long story short (too late), we were not only on the firetruck, we were on the last firetruck, the beautifully restored 1930s-ish one, driven by the fire chief, siren blaring, right next to Santa! The only Santa in the parade. The very last float in the parade. Wrapping up the entire parade. Making people smile, making dreams come true. I think you're picking up what I'm putting down. We were on the big deal truck. My friend must have known this when she pushed me (holding Isaac) forward to stand in the front right corner of the truck. I was so close to Santa-- and so much taller-- that I had to crouch down just so anyone on my side of the street could see him, including newspaper photographers with really big lenses and one TV crew (of probably some local SP channel). Big deal, I tell you. Pretty embarrassing, but totally fun.

Before the parade, we got to hang out at the station and with the Fire Dept mascot, Sparky. Check out the love between my girl and that dog. 

 

Bethany's even got her daddy considering getting her a dog, and we've never been wild about having pets. She loves them (and he loves her) that much.

For the record, no one taught these kids the classic parade wave. They're just naturals.

The embarrassing/fun part:

"Look Mommy, I can almost see Santa behind Where's Waldo's girlfriend!" 

It was a hot day, and a long time for those kids to be out, so by the time we got back to the fire station to actually sit on Santa's lap, the kids were just not having it. I guess they have their own traditions to keep. 

Maybe we need to just start calling him Grandpa.

fall = farms = plaid

For most of November the temperature was in the 80s, but we did our best to do Fall-ish things even when it was warm. Sigh, it's rough! Wink.

Here are some highlights from our Santa Paula Fall-a. Apparently, a lot of Autumn happens at the farm. This part of the world has no shortage of them.

1. Jessica's birthday party at Underwood Family Farms in Moorpark.

Isaac & Bethany ride the bus with some neighborhood friends.

I didn't have my celebrity radar on that day, but should have. It was while getting on the cow train (above) that Jared spotted John McGinley getting off the train before us. (He plays a few characters that Jared likes, like Dr. Cox on Scrubs - the one who calls Zach Braff's character Nancy. haha.) He was riding in the cow behind his teenage son who has Down Syndrome, and as they pulled up, John was telling his son what a great job he did. Seems like a sweet dad.

This last one was kind of funny... Isaac was so, so sad when it was sister's turn to drive the tractor. Just look at his face--it was like grief and disgust all wrapped up into one ultimate face of sadness. I'm pretty sure he was thinking, She's not even doing it right!! since she was turned around backwards. And Jared looks like he's saying, Dude. Dude.

2. Santa Paula Pumpkin Patch

The second we got there, the kids went straight to work relocating every single pumpkin in the patch.

Get a load of this adorable family! They are our new friends Steve, Marnie & kids. Their kids are older than ours but all our kids just LOVE each other. We happened to run into them at the pumpkin patch, so we took each other's family photos.

3. Pomona Pumpkin Patch

We met up with my good friend Brenda and her 3 year-old twins, Kent and Kalani. (Bethany is wearing Kalani's hand-me-down black boots in the Underwood pictures. So cute, right?)

Brenda's parents also came, and my kids thought they were their own grandparents. See Isaac snuggling right up to Grandpa while he tries to photograph his actual offspring? My kids just love grandparents (probably because theirs are so great). They adopt new ones all the time.

4. Ventura County Agricultural Museum

So, it's not the AMNH in NYC, but we were pretty excited when this museum opened up in our town! I think this is museum #4 in Santa Paula. Look how pretty!

I love these old citrus box labels. All from Ventura County.

...Makes you want to visit, doesn't it? 

If not, I think this poster builds a pretty strong case...

Excellent Highways, guys!

5. Pidduck Ranch

A really nice lady at church invited us to come visit her ranch, so we took her up on that offer. So glad we did-- that place is gorgeous! They have acres and acres of lemon and avocado trees, plus some chickens, an enormous dog named Cosmo, and a "barn" (or so they called it) with tractors and two classic Porsches in mint condition.

Isaac tries to sneak off with some lemons.

 Bethany was the happiest girl in the world smothering Cosmo. She hugged him around the belly and held on as he walked along. This was the mildest, friendliest and definitely biggest dog I've ever met.

Clearly Jared's favorite part of the tour. He wants a classic car so badly! Someday, hon.

* * *

Did you catch all the plaid? I decked the kids out in their coordinating plaid shirts at Underwood, and then tried to play it cool at the pumpkin patches but could not resist wearing plaid myself. Both times. Weird, I know! (It's not just me, though-- Jared dressed the kids on Pidduck Ranch day. Isaac's in overalls!) I guess if I'm going to a farm, I want to feel like a farmer. I can't say a red plaid dress did the trick, but it didn't hurt, either.