Newport Beach Cruise

We went out on Mom and Dad's boat with the whole Hunt family.

Mom stayed home with the kids so we could relax. Normally I spend the whole boat cruise intermittently shouting,
"WHERE'S HENRY?" WHERE'S LUCY?" "ARE WE GOING TO TIP OVER?" "IS HENRY VOMITING?"

But this time I just got to just relax and enjoy the sights and sounds.

And because I wasn't shrieking commands at others, we were quiet enough to hear. . .  

THE WHALE!

We heard a whale blow and my dad went after it Ishmael style.

We chased it for about an hour and watched it surface, blow, and dive. It was IN-CRED-I-BLE.

Warner Brothers

One of our gifts to Simon's parents was a day at Warner Brother's Studio on a VIP tour. We boarded a tram and experienced the sights and sounds of real life Hollywood-y-ness.

Hollywood Hills

Warner Brothers Tour

The Backlot!

Sharon and the Mystery Machine

Central Perk from Friends

Everyone who knows Terry knows he loves "Everybody Loves Raymond." Although he claims to have, "gone off it," we know he's a true fan. The best moment of the tour for me was when he saw the sound stage where the show was filmed. He had the tour guide stop the tram so he could go in and see the space.

Have A Holly Jolly Christmas! Just in Time for St. Patrick's Day!

We had an amazing Christmas.

Truly wonderful.

The Hunt seniors were in town and we had a ball.

Christmas morning was magic; squeals, giggles, and laughter. . . and that was just from Simon.

Santa showed up!

Wonderful toys from across the pond

Head lamps from a very safety and electricity conscious Santa

I mean come on. Cutest picture ever?

 Beautiful Belle

And hooray for the pudding! Lovingly baked in Wales and enjoyed in California!

Ever tried to take a Christmas Eve picture with the whole family using a self timer?

Camera not cooperating.

Kids not coopering.

Ok forget it.

Let's just go to church!

Getty

Simon's parents came over from Wales for Christmas.

We decided to see some sights!

We headed up the hill on the tram to the Getty museum.

The art is fine, the cafeteria is good, but the views are Uh-Maze-ZING! Really, really pretty. 

And who knew there was a family room that lets kids interact with art? 

The kids had so much fun with Nana and Papa Wales.

We had a great morning, and were home in time for naps!

(For me, that is!)

Ahhhh advent and the build up to Christmas! . . . wait.

I think working on our house before Christmas combined with the wind storms bumped me a full month  off schedule. Normally I would only be 2 or 3 weeks late blogging about my favorite season, but this is getting ridiculous.

It was a tough call- do I go BACKWARDS and blog about Christmas and all its wonder? Or do I just start from the right now and cut my losses?

Well, bear with me people, because I'm going back.  . . back. . . back in time. Back to a time before Christmas. . . . Sadie's birthday.

Heather and Ron planned a fun evening celebrating little miss Sadie turning two. We ate at the Lazy Dog Cafe (which was a super cute dog themed restaurant) and then we headed up to Irvine Park for their Santa Train event! (Think Polar Express. . . you ride a train up a winding hill to find Santa at the top)

The birthday girl! Oh my gosh I love my niece. She is so darn cute. . . AND FUNNY!

 Heather nailed it, as usual, on the adorable themed cupcakes.

 Waiting for the train! The line was all the way around the entire station, but the Eckerts new a guy named Joe, and we were given VIP treatment. What is it with those Eckerts? How do they always know a guy? Love that woo you two!

Thanks for bearing with my through my blog hiatus.

See? Wasn't it worth it?

Weren't the Sadie's birthday pictures cute?