First Run of the Day!

Lake Arrowhead!

I'm officially operating on a one week delay.

We had SO MUCH FUN at Lake Arrowhead! Our friends Jenny and Mike invited us to hijack their family vacation! We joined Mike and Jenny, Mike and Linda, Sonja and Russ, and our friends Sarah and Tony. We also had Maddie and Wil, Lucas, Fallon, Fletcher, and (of course) Lucy and Henry to keep us hoppin. 

The house at Lake Arrowhead (Wow!)

The girls try to feed the ducks (we had no takers!)

We threw our bread in the lake anyway and at one point, Linda decided 

we had ceased feeding ducks and were just littering.

We spent quite a bit of time peeling the "puzzle bark" off of this ponderosa pine that mysteriously had a face.

Lucy got to go snow tubing! We rented our tubes, put on our ancient snow pants and hit the "slopes." Lucy absolutely loved it. She rotated between tubing with Simon and I, but by the end she was zipping down the hill by herself.

Henry and I watched the action

The tubers!

Lucy and Maddie at the top of the hill

THANK YOU CIRIZA'S! 

We had so much fun!

Vegas

Did you know we went to Vegas?

Neither did we!!!

The drive was so luxurious! No children in the backseat. No raisin boxes. And no people on the bus bouncing up and down!!

Just arrived!

(Can you smell the heartbreaking optimism?)

Bellagio

Dinner at Lupo in Mandalay Bay 

Hunts- Party of 2

The Lion King!

A Christmas present from my thoughtful Simon.

January?! Get back here!

I forgot to tell you about the stuff that happened in January.

Stuff like this:

West Side Story with the whole family at the Pantages! 

A wonderful Christmas present from my parents!

And also this happened. . . .

Eaton Canyon

We go to Eaton Canyon a couple of times a week for picnics.

We sit under the same oak tree each time.

We eat cheese sandwiches and carrots. . . or Taco Bell.

Lucy is loving climbing trees.

New Year's Day!

We had new years fun at our house. Pasadena is quite the hub of all things New Year.between the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl, the city feels electric.  We had the fam over for breakfast and parade fun.

Big Bear

We took a post Christmas trip to Big Bear to see some snow.

We ate some soup at a local spot and made a teeny tiny snowman.

I packed warm clothes and extra clothes and jackets and snacks and mittens and hats and toys. . .and forgot to bring any warm stuff for myself so Simon let me wear his vest. What a man!

Christmas morning wow!

Christmas morning was incredible!

Gift opening sprawled out throughout the entire day.
We were overwhelmed with WOW!

A doctor kit for Lucy was a big hit. Mommy needed a checkup. Maybe the doctor discovered through scientific observation that Mommy's sweatshirt is very, very, very old (but still her favorite.)

Robert the Rose Horse was a book for Rosie that needed to be read more than once.

And the vet and chef costumes were a huge hit. Wrigley had multiple check ups Christmas morning by Rosie, and Lucy whipped up desserts for us all day with her new chef attitude.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve and Rosie and Lucy could scarcely contain their excitement.

When everyone arrived from their Christmas Eve services, Lucy and Rosie immediately started singing and dancing together, most memorable doing "Ring Around The Rosie."

Papa sat with the kids in their new Santa jammies. Henry was terrified of Wrigley, so he needed some extra supervision. Papa was the man for the job.

Papa merrily blasted us into Christmas morning with his trumpet and his brilliant renditions of Silent Night, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, and It Came Upon a Midnight Clear. . .

Mary, did you know. . . that you have a pillowcase on your head?

Sometimes things actually happen the way you want them to.

We had some concerns about Lucy getting swept up in the "getting" game of the holiday season. However, this Christmas, Lucy was only mildly interested in Santa. Mostly she was transfixed by the story of Jesus birth.  She wanted to hear the story over and over again, and when hearing wasn't enough, she decided to act it out. 

All month long.

She assigned us roles. She was Mary, Simon was Joseph, I was a "Sheferd," and Henry was "one of the kings."

We were reminded of the wonder of Christmas and the unimaginable gift we'd received. 

Here's one of Lucy's costumes. Pink robe and pillowcase are all that she needed.

Henry threw himself into his role of "one of the Kings" and began looking for the Christ Child with great vigor and determination.

O holy night!