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!

 

Libby's Christmas Pageant

Libby's school had a little Christmas Pageant last Sunday that was absolutely adorable.  She got to perform a cute little poem and sing a song with her class.

 Libby's class ready to perform.

 Their poem was called "Clop, clop, clop" and they each got to wear donkey ears while they recited it.

 Libby did a GREAT job with all of the lyrics and the motions - she really got into it!

 I love how all of the boys were crazy while the girls were just adorable doing their parts.  Boys will be boys!

 I love that little donkey!

 After the show she got to pose with the true star of the show.

What a fun event for our family!  Libby was so glad that Grammy, Pops, and the whole Stewart clan got to come support her.  Christmastime is officially here!

Random Fun

Here are a few random moments caught on our phones.

 Lexi enjoying a sunset walk at the beach.

 What a beautiful night! This was on the day I had Jury Duty and got out by 11:15 - it was awesome!

 Libby at the helm!   Scary!  She and Lexi got to take cookies to the fire station with Aunt Jen one day.

 Lexi taking Scoop for a walk.  These girls sure to love going to Aunt Jen's house!

 One day they even got to ride in my old car!  Summer had the minivan for the day and so my girls were rockin' it in the Civic!  I'm super jealous - I love that car!

 Grammy braved taking the girls to Disneyland by herself a second time!  Is she good, or what?!?

 My girls love nativity scenes (which Libby sometimes calls "activity scenes") and this one is right across the street from Jen's house.  What fun to be a part of it! :)

 Another random sunset at the beach.

 Lexi loves playing with her Daddy!

 It was a lazy Saturday afternoon and it was just what this family needed! ;)

Libby loved climbing around in this crazy tree that was more horizontal than vertical.

Thanksgiving 2013

We had a nice Thanksgiving at our house this year with the "locals" in the family.  It was just the 11 of us but it was wonderful!  Perfect weather, GREAT food, and lots of family fun.

The family all dressed up and ready for some grub! 

 Brad got to join the Stewarts for a Turkey Bowl game in the morning with the obligatory 7-Eleven stop afterwards.  Gotta love a Thanksgiving slurpee! 

 They looked so cute, but getting them to show it is a whole other matter entirely!

Dinner at around 3:30 and the weather was perfect! 

The best part of the whole event was that we did a family weigh-in before and after to see who gained the most in a single meal (not including dessert!).  In only about an hour, Jason was the winner weighing in 4.8 lbs more than he did when he started!  Ty came in second with 4 lbs and Jen and I were tied for third with 3.5 lbs.  Do we know how to eat, or what?!?

Cupcake Fun

Here's what a 17 month old can do to a cupcake in no time flat!

 A cupcake goatee!

Yep, she's loving it!