Christmas at the Beach

My Christmas wish was to spend some time with my family on the beach on Christmas day.  The weather the last few days has been unreal and I wanted to take full advantage of it!

 We threw on some clothes and headed out the door so we wouldn't miss THIS!  Amazing, right?!

 80 degree weather on Christmas Day - I love it! (Apparently Lexi does too!)

 And not only did we get to see tons of starfish, but we got to touch them, too!  Usually you see them, but they're way to hard to get to to touch, but for our own little "Christmas miracle!" we got to touch tons of them!

 Lexi got in on the action, too!

 This is Christmas???? Really???!

 Honestly, the starfish were EVERYWHERE!

 We did some climbing...

 some crawling...

 some more climbing....

 ...and the girls did lots of sand-sliding. 

We had to pause for just one more shot of the amazing scenery on the way out!  Wish we could stay all day, but turns out there's more presents to open.  Rough life, I know! ;)

Christmas Morning

I swear, there is nothing better than Christmas morning for a family with a 3 year old and an 18 month old.  It was exactly what you imagine it should be...and more!

 The first glimpse of the loot!

 Princess heaven!

 Santa brought Libby just what she asked for - a Princess Aurora barbie doll...and then some!  She got a Princess Aurora dress-up dress and Lexi got an Ariel one.

 Dresses are on, it's time for stockings!

 What a cute little princess surrounded by fun.

 Libby and I showing off our treasures from Santa.

 Lexi thought the chocolates in her stocking were the greatest thing ever!

 Layer #3 of clothing was added to the ensamble.  New PJs, Princess dresses, and aprons...gotta love it!

We got to Skype with Grandma and Grandpa to open the presents from them and the girls were so thrilled with their adorable, soft blankets!  

The rest of Christmas morning was spent in toy heaven.  Life is gooooood!

Christmas Eve

This year we decided to attend a Christmas Eve service at "Libby's Church" as we call it (the Lutheran church she attends for pre-school) before our dinner.  It was a wonderful service and we were so glad we went.  I think it will be another new tradition!  After the service we raced home to meet up with Brad (who had to work a full day - boooo!) and the Stewarts who drove in from Las Vegas a bit earlier than planned to surprise Jason.  We got a late start on dinner and weren't even sitting down to eat till 8:00pm, but it was well worth it to have everyone there!

 The first picture with my new camera!  Hooray!  (Lexi decided to dip my perfectly good one in a pool back in August and I've been without one since.  So happy to have one back!)

 My cute parents

 Libby actually doing a decent smile!

 If you want Lexi to smile, all you've gotta do is put some grub in front of her!  So cute!

 The dinner group commencing an enchilada feast at 8:00 pm - a perfect time to eat with little kids! ;)

 Afterward we did our own version of the Nativity story according to casting director Libby.  She was so kind that she cast a donkey, a sheep, and a star, among the other standard roles.

 From what I remember, the Nativity story isn't supposed to be a comedy, however this group took a few liberties with the script (and the costumes!).  My dad, in case you were wondering, was playing the role of one of Caesar Augusta's soldiers.

 Ty and I being turned away at the inn by a Hispanic Chuck Norris.

 Grammy made a great angel (complete with pink fairy wings).

 Brad was the dutiful narrator that kept us all on track - somewhat!

 Syd the donkey and Libby the sheep accompanied Summer the sheppard to the stable. (Notice Libby grazing on the grass.  She took her role very seriously.)

And notice which gift baby Jesus like the most - Minnie Mouse dress-up set!  Hmmmm...not quite how I remember it, but you get the idea!

Sunset, Storytime, and Santa at the Ritz

The Saturday before Christmas we took the girls to the Ritz Carlton for a fun afternoon that turned out to be even better than we expected.  We got to see the Gingerbread display, watch the sun set over the ocean, listen to some great stories at storytime, AND meet Santa.  Yeah, I'd say it was a VERY successful outing!

 One of the many gorgeous trees in the lobby.

 This year's gingerbread display was an "under the sea" theme. Libby loved that it included stuff from the Little Mermaid and Finding Nemo.

 Grammy was the one that tipped us off to this great event - thanks Grammy!

 Amazing that the entire display is edible!  Wow!

  For the 5:00 storytime they had rows of pillow set out for the kids to sit on while they listened to two Christmas stories and sang songs.  It was adorable and my girls LOVED it!

 But, best of all, at the end of the stories, Santa came in through the back!  Wow!  Talk about a room full of excited kids - it was awesome!  The girls were so excited to sit on Santa's lap and couldn't believe that the real Santa actually came.

What an awesome experience!  Next year we'll dress up for the occasion, for sure! ;)

Newport Beach Boat Parade

Believe it or not, I had never been to the Newport Beach boat parade before until this year.  I've wanted to do it the past few years, but we've missed it for one reason or another.  So, this year we decided to not just attend, but be a part of it!  We had tickets on one of the boats and paraded around the harbor with all the other decked out boats.

 Libby enjoying our pre-boarding dinner on the run.

 The gang all decked out and ready to be paraded around.  Our boat was adorable!

 Silly girls!

 When it was all said and done, the girls were all doped up on hot chocolate and we all loved being a part of the parade.  Being on board was awesome and it felt like more of a house parade for us than a boat parade!  What a cool thing to do!

We finished off the night on the ferris wheel in the Balboa Fun Zone.  What a great night!

Thanks for the fun, Mom and Dad!

Christmas Caroling

If you know our family at all, you know our singing voices are not exactly in high demand.  So, whom, you may ask, would actually invite us to sing for them at Christmastime?  An old folks' home full of partially deaf and/or senile people!  Perfect!

 The carolers...

 ...turned crazy!

 We joined a group from Saddleback church and had a great time, but the girls definitely stole the show.  Singing or not, old people sure do love little kids!

 We had a great time visiting with the residents after our "performance."

Libby's favorite parts:  1. Santa showed up at the end and she ran over and gave him the biggest hug ever!  It was so cute and stole the hearts of everyone there.  2.  the cupcake.  Someone handed them out to the residents, but one of the men we were chatting with afterwards said he couldn't eat it anyway and gave it to Libby.  She devoured it and had a stained-red face the rest of the day.

Christmas Parade

Laguna Niguel had our annual Christmas parade and the girls loved it.  I don't know what it is with kids and parades, but they LOVE them!

 The girls are ready to enjoy a great parade in their cute Christmas outfits from Grammy.

 Staking out our spot before it starts.  Fortunately, it's not like the Rose Parade, so a night spent sleeping in the gutter was unnecessary - just a few minutes early was just fine! ;)

 Daddy and Lexi goofing off - as always!

 Gotta love the Christmas green and red.

 Grammy, Pops, and Syd joined us for the fun.

The was the first of our many festive events of the day.  We still had Christmas caroling and a birthday party to top it off!