Christmas Eve Eve

This past Christmas we booked our flight to DC to go out on Christmas Eve. Usually, we let the kids open one gift each before we go to DC. So, we had them open their pillow pets the night before in case they wanted to bring them on our trip.

When we talked about buying the kids pillow pets, Hansel said we didn't need to buy one for Mathis since he wouldn't care. So, Hansel wrapped a random stuffed animal that we already had for Mathis.

Mathis was excited to open something at the same time as Maile and Beck, but I think he did notice that his gift was different. After opening his "gift," he played with it for 2 seconds and then started playing with Maile and Beck's pets.

Weekend in Monterey/Carmel

We had a bunch of Hyatt points that were going to expire at the end of 2010, so Hansel booked us a 3-night stay at the Highlands Inn in Carmel for the second weekend in December. We drove down Thursday after school.

Friday we went to Monterey Bay Aquarium. We figured it would be less busy than during the weekend. We went right after lunch and Mathis fell asleep on the way there. So, I stayed in the car with him while Hansel went in Maile and Beck. Mathis had an okay nap of 45 minutes. Considering we came in about an hour after the others, I felt like I saw pretty much the whole aquarium. I'm not sure what H, M, B saw without me.

The Outer Bay area was being worked on, but the exhibits on the floor below the Outer Bay were new to us, like the sea horses, flamingoes, and second penguin exhibit.

 Below is a photo of a sea horse. I think it's called the leafy sea dragon..

We have a similar photo like the below but at the Waikiki Aquarium. Waikiki Aquarium Photo

 In the below, Mathis would not look at the camera.

 Below, Beck isn't quite tall enough but that didn't stop him from touching the sting rays.

 Mathis also doesn't let his height stop him.

The next day we went into Monterey to see the 3rd Annual Pet Parade, where the pets would be dressed for the holidays. We read about it in a one-sheeter the resort concierge sent us. On our way we were trying to figure out where to go. We first parked too far. But since we were early, we walked around where we parked.

We then got back in the car and drove to where it was supposed to start. We waited at a corner and didn't see anyone. After a few minutes I saw one family with a dog dressed in Santa wear. They looked a little confused and then walked into the shopping center. We went in a little later. We saw a group of about five owners and their dogs. They, too, seemed confused. I heard one of them say there were a lot of pets last year and they even had to register. After a little while, they dispersed. Oh well. We walked around the center and then had lunch.

After lunch, we went back to our place, so I could put Mathis down for a nap. Hansel took Maile and Beck to Point Lobos to go to the tide pools.

Below is a photo we took that evening around the inn.

The next day we stopped at a nearby beach before going to MY Museum in Monterey, a small discovery museum. When we got to MY Museum, we found out it opened later. So we left to have an early lunch. On our way back to the museum, Mathis fell asleep. So I went in with Maile and Beck and later swapped out with Hansel. After the museum, we went to the Dennis the Menace park, which had an old life-size steam engine and a bunch of different play structures.

Below Maile is making a big bubble at MY Museum.

That weekend we watched two kids movies -- Shrek 4ever After and How to Train a Dragon. Shrek was okay but too dark in content and setting for young kids.How to Train a Dragon was good. We all liked it. It's a movie we might actually buy.

Some Christmas Preparation

Below are some photos from our first attempt at a family photo for our holiday card. We were already out to a bad start when Mathis wouldn't sit in front. In the first photo, Mathis is actually snuggling against Beck.

 

Every year we take out a decorative little wooden Christmas tree that Hansel's mom gave us a while back. The kids love putting the ornaments on the tree. This year Mathis got in on the act, but then he would drop an ornament or two on the ground. 

 Below are photos from our second attempt. Hansel ended up piecing together a few photos to make the final one we used for our holiday card.

Pillow Hot Tub

In November the kids came up with a new game/activity, where they would fill Mathis' pack n play with pillows, and then dive in and "swim" around.

Random October and November Photos

Below is the family photo we took in October.

Maile and Beck enjoying some of their Halloween candy.

One day all the kids were playing on the stairs were they would link up and slide down.

Below is a photo Hansel took while testing out a new lens.

Below is our November family photo.

 

Mathis found a new position for eating.

The kids are snacking on some popcorn.

Mathis is protecting his fruit.

Thanksgiving in Tahoe

A couple of weeks before Thanksgiving the Yaus were talking about going to Tahoe over Thanksgiving since it looked like there would be snow. It got us thinking, especially since both kids would have Wed - Fri off. One thing we had to consider was my mom was in town and would be leaving essentially Friday night for a cruise. So we decided to go Tuesday afternoon and come back Thursday after an early Thanksgiving dinner.

We booked our timeshare for us and the Yaus, but they were planning to be there from Wed night to Sat. We didn't bring our chains, and despite the snow we didn't need them. We got in after the kids bed times. We didn't want to repeat another late night arrival when we drove home, so we decided to head home on Thanksgiving Day before dinner.

We had planned to put Beck in an all day lesson Wednesday. But Wednesday morning Beck out of nowhere threw up. Thankfully, he said something right before and Hansel was able to give him a trash can in time. He seemed fine before and was fine after, so we chalked it up to altitude sickness, which I've experienced in Colorado. At this point, we didn't think it would be a good idea to sign him up for an all-day class, so we decided to have him hang out with me and Mathis in the morning and then re-assess.

Hansel went skiing with Maile, and I took the boys around the village. Instead of breakfast, the Hyatt gave us gift cards to Starbucks. So, we first went to Starbucks for a couple of breakfast pastries. Then, I took the boys to the small Ambassador Toys store. It's small but not too small that they can't explore. I bought Beck a small $5 toy since he didn't get to pack his backpack and got Maile a tiny activity book. After, we headed to the Alpine Club for lunch. We stopped on the way, so I could put gloves on Beck. Mathis started crying like crazy. I had tried to put mittens on him earlier, but he wasn't interested. Now his hands were freezing. I rushed us over to the Alpine Club to warm up by the fire.

My cousin-in-law, Christy, and her kids were inside when we got there. My cousin, Rich, came in later. There were getting ready to hit the slopes. I knew they were going to be at Northstar but didn't expect to run into them like that. Christy had also seen Hansel and Maile earlier when Christy and Co were getting out of their car. Hansel and Maile came in for lunch, and Beck seemed fine, so we signed him up for an afternoon class. Maile was done for the day. She never has as much fun when Hannah isn't there.

Rich, my cousin, and Christy invited us over to their place for dinner in Old Greenwood, a resort community built by the same developers who built the Hyatt Northstar Lodge. Their townhouse is spacious and nice. We had a good time talking to Rich and Christy while the kdis had a good time playing around and watching a Thanksgiving classic, Home Alone. Even though the movie is set during Christmas, I think of it as a Thanksgiving movie because that's when it came out and that's when I saw it.

The Yaus got in later that night. The next day Hansel and Al took the girls out skiing. Beck went for an all-day lesson, and Leilani and I hung out with Zachary and Mathis. Leilani and I took the boys out to play in the snow. Mathis was very willing to wear gloves this time. He liked "touching" the snow but didn't seem interested in playing on it.

For lunch, we decided to eat at Rubicon Pizza to try something new. Alpine Club is comfortable and has a kids room, but they changed chefs and no longer had the sliders or a pizza dish I usually got, and the menu seemed pricier. At Rubicon, I had the Thai Red Curry pizza, and it was yummy. Will definitely have that again.

After Beck's lesson, we headed home and ended up having Thanksgiving dinner at Burger King.  

Below are photos of Mathis modeling Hansel's knit cap sometime during our trip.