Out and About

Aunt A is in town so we met up with her for two of our favorite things - pizza and beer!

(followed by frozen yogurt, of course)

Park Pals

The sun came out, so CJ got to enjoy some time at the park with her cousins.

Secret

We made a last minute visit to Seattle this weekend to celebrate CJ's cousin's birthday a little early.

On the card she made for B, CJ wrote "secret - I can't believe you are 5!"

Prince Golden

CJ had a great time visiting with Grandma and her friend. She was excited that they thought of her when shopping and also couldn't wait to show Golden to them.

Bendaroos

With a little help from Mama and Daddy, CJ got an ice cream cone and a turtle made of out Bendaroos. Thanks Grandma.

Christmas Dinner Guests

While we were tiptoeing through our day slowly, CJ's cousin and his parents opened their gifts and drove a few hours to come to our house for Christmas dinner. Besides eating, the kids opened presents, had a band (solicited donations for their music), built a masterpiece out of C's special light-up building blocks, and had several Bop It XT competitions. CJ was glad to have company for the holiday!

Merry Christmas Continued

After a break for breakfast, church, getting dressed, starting dinner, etc. we went back to the tree and opened a few more items:

Slow and Steady

Once again CJ went for unwrapping gifts at a slow and steady pace, only after watching some tv and having a few people ask her if she checked to see if Santa came - luckily he had!

Wonkaland

We heard that the Willy Wonka play at the children's theatre was really good, so as a special treat we went to see it. Willy Wonka is one of Mama's favorite movies. The play was great. We were happy to see some friends at the intermission (CJ was happy that they were serving mini cupcakes since they ran out of warm chocolate chip cookies) and afterwards CJ took some pictures with the cast. Here's what the Oompa Loompa's looked like:

And here are some squirrels:
For some reason CJ didn't want to hang around to meet Willy Wonka or Charlie or Grandpa Joe. But she did get an autograph from Veruca Salt!

Holiday Photos from Peacock Lane

Grandma came to town today and we had a clear night so we decided to take our annual stroll through Peacock Lane. I think it was definitely the most crowded that it has ever been, but we still managed to have fun and got a few good pictures of the lights:

Grandma Time

In the morning we took Grandma out for breakfast to celebrate her upcoming birthday:

Later in the day, CJ and Grandma had some quality craft time. They worked with paper and embossing and put together this beautiful card, which CJ plans to use to write her letter to Santa this year:

Cousin Love

Tonight Mama got some love from the cousins at Grandma's house.

Park Play

We took advantage of the sunny day to check out a park between Grandma's house and the cousin's. It was beautiful and the kids had a great time playing there.

Thanksgiving

This year we enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner at Grandma W's house with some of the cousins.

Building Morning

CJ's cousin brought out his massive Lego Collection and we lost her attention for a long time. She was so busy building that she couldn't be interrupted for anything else. She built people, cars, and even a stable for this horse, complete with baskets full of hay for snacking on.

Toy Battles

The first battle was building one of the toys CJ's cousin received for his birthday. It took a few adults to put it together. But later some weapons came out and a real battle ensued.

Go Karts

While CJ wasn't so sure about the go-karts, her cousin thought they were pretty fun. Especially when he and his father passed CJ and Daddy. By the end a smile was almost showing on her face.

The Fun Zone

Today we headed out to CJ's cousin's birthday party at a fun center While CJ turned down the opportunity to play in bumper cars, she enjoyed the bowling and the arcade games (especially when she won 75 tickets) and shopping for her prizes.

The Birds

Grandma came to town tonight so after dinner we took her to see the birds. We'd never been before and were amazed by the crowds almost as much as by the birds. It was pretty amazing to see the birds circle around and around the sky before they all tucked down for a night in the chimney. Look closely.

(Photo and video courtesy of Mama's Iphone, since she forgot her camera at dinner. Oops)

Bye Bye California

Here's CJ checking out the koi fish in Uncle D's backyard before we headed out on the long drive home.