Christmas Vacation

School finally let out on the Thursday before Christmas. It seemed crazy late, but we dealt. The pro was that I had plenty of time to get last minute shopping done while the kiddos were still at school.

We were also lucky to have both sets of our parents come to stay with us. Everyone arrived by that Thursday night. We spent Friday baking sugar cookies, shopping, and playing games. The kids really loved the pie face game.

Saturday was Christmas Eve and it was a beautiful sunny day. We ended up taking a drive to Mount Diablo State Park where we did some exploring. The views we amazing and we didn't even got up to the summit. We climbed on all kinds of fun rock formations. It was really nice to get some fresh air, even if it was a bit chilly.

We spent the rest of our afternoon/evening relaxing. The ladies and kids decorated ginger bread houses while the men finished their shopping. We hit up Chili's for dinner and then headed home for dessert, more games, and of course our Christmas jammies.

We also had to have a friendly rematch of "chubby bunnies". The kids thought it was hilarious. I only made it to about 6 marshmallows. My dad is still the undisputed champion. He could have done more but he won easily with 11.

Christmas morning was very nice. We let the kids wake us at 8:30, and amazingly they kept to the bargain. They were all really excited to see their Santa loot. It was extra fun to have all their grandparents here to watch. We spent the entire morning opening gifts and hanging out. We had delicious cinnamon rolls and then had a meat and cheese spread for lunch.

We had turkey for our Christmas dinner and it turned out delicious. Grandma Connie and the kids made us an apple pie for dessert. We ate so much that day! It was really nice to just hang out, talk, and play tons of games.

On Monday we spent most of the day playing with new toys and playing games. We ate tons of leftovers and played a bit outside in the sun. That evening we headed to the Oakland Zoo for Zoolights. The kids all liked it, and I thought it was alright. We probably won't go back, but it was fun for the one time.

Sadly, everyone left us on Tuesday morning. We said our goodbyes and then spent much of the next week trying to catch up on all the sleep that we missed when our guests were here. We did splurge and took everyone to see the Star Wars movie one day. I liked it more than I thought I would. That night Neil got sick. Thankfully he was better the next morning, but then Grace had it. We spent probably three or four days where someone didn't feel so good. At least by the next weekend everyone was a bit better.

Saturday was New Year's Eve and we partied hard. We played a few games together after dinner and then we had family time in the hot tub. The kids hardly ever use it and it is even more rare for us to get in with them. So this was a special treat.

After getting everyone dried off and back inside we had dessert and then commenced our annual glow stick dance party. We've been doing it for many years now and it is still fun. I did wish that we had someone else to share it with, but this time it was just us.

By the time we were exhausted from dancing it was 11:45pm so we plopped on the couch to watch the last few minutes on the tv as the ball was about to drop.

The next day the sun was out again so we hit up Six Flags for some fun. It was nice and not busy at all. We all had a good time.

We had the entire next week still off of school. The kids got a bit bored for sure. Claire went to a movie with a friend. We played games, slept in until 10 almost everyday, stayed up way too late, and watched tons of movies. The kids had finally finished the Harry Potter books so for Christmas we bought the set of all 8 movies. We spent 8 of our nights watching those. It was tough for me to get through all of them. They were all really long!

I also took the kids to see Sing and we also hit up Lost Worlds which is an activity place with a giant play structure. It was the first time that Claire took one look around and declared that she wasn't going to "play" there. Apparently there were too many younger kids there. She said she didn't want to be the only old one. ....And so it begins.....

Overall we had a great Christmas break. Everyone had plenty of time to sleep, relax, and play with their new toys. I was able to finish 2.5 books which was amazing. I love feeling like I have the time to read something. It was great to have all the grandparents here as well. We were sad that they couldn't stay longer. Maybe next time. Also, I dropped the ball this year on Christmas cards. So don't feel like you missed out because I just didn't get to it this year. Hopefully 2017 will be better.

Early Christmas at Disney

After only being home for 1 week after our Thanksgiving trip, we were off again. This time down south to Anaheim. We decided to stop at Six Flags Magic Mountain on our way. Our entry was included with our season pass, so it was a fun little break on our road trip. 

Our first family selfie of the vacation. On the Gold Rusher roller coaster.

We spent probably 4 hours or so exploring. There are so many BIG roller coasters there. It would have been fun to try them all. At least for me. Everyone else, besides maybe Chris, would be too scared. Then we headed off towards our hotel through the always busy L.A. traffic.

After checking in we met up with Uncle Calvin and Aunt Jill. It was so fun to spend our time with them. We hit up The Bubba Gump Shrimp Co for dinner. It took forever and we were very ready for bed when we were done. 

Sunday was our day 1 in the parks. Originally we weren't even going to go that day, since I figured it would be way busy. Thankfully we chose to do it anyway. We had a fantastic day! Started out on Big Thunder Railroad twice in a row. Just walked on. It was great. That entire morning was great. 

We all loved the Christmas decor. It was very festive!

Although it was generally chilly in the mornings and evenings, the sun came out in the afternoon. 

Neil was really excited to have his own driver's license, and to drive the car. Thankfully for me he was a fast learner.

The parks were both so beautiful at night. SO many lights! We had plenty of time to enjoy them too since they stayed open until midnight every night!

Day 2 was Monday. You might have thought it would be less busy, but you would be wrong. Monday was our worst day. There were crazy amounts of people there. It didn't help that I woke up with a terrible headache that lasted most of the day. We managed to get our fast passes and watch some shows. It was nice to have more days still to come.

We enjoyed the update Hyperspace Mountain. No more scary monster.

Love those dole whips!

We had one reserved dinner at Cafe Orleans. At the end we had to have the beignets! I should have just ordered them for my dinner. 

Day 3 was Tuesday. It started out much nicer. It was also our magic morning, so we woke up extra early to play. Neil LOVED the "Mattelhorn". We went on it more than anything else I think.

Had to do Cars Racers everyday. It's pretty fun. I also really enjoyed the Tower of Terror. None of the kids wanted to do it again.

Jill's photo bomb.

Look at all of these delicious treats! This was a little shop by Winnie the Pooh. I wanted to try everything. I settled on a caramel and chocolate covered marshmallow with candy cane sprinkles. It was amazing. I even had to eat it over the next couple of days and it stayed good.

 Day 4 was Wednesday. We were on our own that day since Cal and Jill had to head home. We had a fun day trying to get in all the things we needed to do again.

We love holidays in the mansion. They do such a great job using The Nightmare before Christmas.

At 11:40 PM on our last day we decided to be crazy and did Splash Mountain. There was no line and it was freezing! We had the boat to ourselves, which I think made a big difference. We only got a tiny bit wet. It was great! The girls went again with Chris. They have become much more brave. Neil was good with once. :)

This last selfie was on Main St. as we walked towards the exit to go home. It was our fourth night of staying up til midnight and getting up early everyday. The kids were troopers and we had a great time! We are so glad that Cal and Jill were able to come too. It was really fun! Until next time Disneyland.