They arrived late at night on Tuesday. The kids were excited to slumber party together in Neil's room. They stayed up chatting for a few hours. Thankfully they were able to sleep in every day. Wednesday was spent getting ready for our feast the next day. We got a few last minute groceries, toured downtown Livermore, had pizza for lunch, worked on the car, and baked pies.
Neil had been waiting for his Grandma Connie to come for months. Back in September his class sampled apple pies and he was in heaven. He asked me to make one nearly every day. I told him that his Grandma would make one when she came. He never forgot that, and reminded us all for weeks and weeks. He was SO excited to finally make the pie. He got to help and he was thrilled!
The poor kid didn't realize that the pies weren't to be eaten right away. One more day to wait.
Thursday was a fun day of working together. We prepped our turkey, baked, and got everything ready for our dinner. Uncle Mark flew in to join Katie and Savannah. We played several games and chatted the day away. Katie put together the most amazing cheese plate ever and we had that along with veggies for our lunch. It was seriously so good!
Finally it was time to eat. Our turkey and panzanella turned out super good. Nice and juicy. We also had yam soufle, mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, carrots, and jello salad. Along with our sparkling cider we were stuffed! We sat on the couch to digest while we played Cranium. Afterwards we served up our pies. We had apple, pumpkin, and lemon tart. Neil was ecstatic to have the first piece. I think he earned it.
On Friday we skipped all of the black Friday shopping and opted to head to the city instead. We went down to Pier 39 to see the sea lions and to check out the Boudin Bakery. We ate clam chowder bread bowls and took in the sights of the city. On the way home we stopped at our favorite ice cream place and then spent the night playing games.
Grandma generously bought a cute bread bear. The kids gnawed on it for a couple days.
On Saturday we drove to Santa Cruz to spend the day on the boardwalk. We stopped at Netflix on the way down to give everyone a tour of the new building. It was a gorgeous day at the beach. Lots of sun and very little wind. We did a ton of walking! We walked out to the end of the wharf where we watched lots of sea lions. Then we walked a long ways before walking back to the wharf for some fish and chips over the water.
After our food we decided to take the kids on the Dragon Boat Ride. There are tons of rides on the boardwalk. You could easily spend the whole day doing rides. We just picked the one and it was pretty fun.
Following our quick ride we picked up our tickets for our evening Holiday Lights Train ride. Then we played a really fun 18 hole mini golf course that was included with our train ride.
Then it was time for our train ride. There was a special mailbox to send letters to Santa in. The kids each sent off a letter. Then we just waited to board. Once the sun went down it got a bit chilly. We all had our warm coats, hats, and gloves. We tried to find a seat in an enclosed train car, but no luck. We were in the open caboose. The train itself was pretty neat. A big locomotive pulling several cars all lit up with lights. There was hot apple cider aboard and we sang Christmas carols. Santa even made the rounds on the train, but since we were in the caboose, we saw him once we had returned.
We got home exhausted from such a long and fun day. Unfortunately, it was everyone's last day. We had such a great time! It was so great to have people here. Thankfully it is only a few weeks until we see everyone again. Thank you to Grandma, Grandpa, Mark, Katie, and Savannah for making our Thanksgiving so wonderful!
On Sunday we turned on the Christmas carols and set up the house. We decorated our small fake tree. It seems much too small for our living room, but it will just have to do for now. Yay, for the holidays!
