Oh Christmas Tree

Last Christmas we may have had the best Christmas tree ever. But this year's tree might be a close second. We found this gem at my new favorite Christmas tree farm (Theodore's Thicket) out past Greenbluff. It was the skinniest, most sparse tree we could lay our hands on. I guess I'm just a sucker for the Charlie Brown tree.

Quite possibly the worse family picture ever.

Setting her up.

Placing the toilet paper roll star on top. Clara might just
have heigh issues.

Ta da!

Wahoo for the tree being up! Let Christmastime begin :).

Disneyland, My Favorite Land

Moments after arriving at this magical place, Clara announced, "Disneyland is my favorite land". It was a true statement. Our intense ten hour day at Disney was about as good as it could possibly get for our 3.5 year old. Everything was magical, including...

The details of the rides (she loved all of them except Pirates of the Caribbean, which was way too scary). 

Mater's ride in Cars Land with daddy

Teacups with mom (showing some true love to my little girl)

Heading over to explore Tom Sawyer's Island

The princesses (who live in the castles, of course) and Mickey Mouse. 

Princess Aurora

Jasmine, of course

Watching her sign the princess book, in awe

Belle told Clara, "you have brown eyes and hair,

just like me!"

Tiana from Princess and the Frog

And her VERY favorite: "Tangled" aka Rapunzel

Clara's definite highlight!

Family shot with Mr. Mickey

And the shows (the Christmas parade - and Clara's response to it - will be forever sketched in my mind).

Pointing out the princesses

And dancing, of course

I'm not sure who enjoyed it all more, Clara or Jono & me. At the end of the day, I didn't go on any of my favorite rides (no Soaring Over California, Splash Mountain or Matterhorn for me). And I probably clocked three-ish hours standing in line to meet princesses. But it was easily my favorite trip to Disneyland. Ever.

We were all exhausted by eight pm. Caleb thankfully took a nap in the stroller twice, but little Miss Clara did not. Which explains why, just two bites into her promised three bites of froyo on the way home, she passed out, mouth open with spoon in hand. If you know Clara, you know this never happens. :)

Happy little napper.

Very blurry picture - but I had to include it ;)

And so that was the grande finale to our time in Cali. We left Leah & Trav's house at 5:00 am the next morning to catch our plane home. It was a terrific end to a wonderful week in California.

Trip to the Sunshine!

We officially have a California Thanksgiving Tradition, I'd say. When Clara was six months old we took our first trip south for the turkey holiday. We've gone back every year (minus last year, since I was 38 weeks pregnant around that time) since.

It is a wonderful time to leave the cold, dreary winter days and experience a week of warm weather. AND, any time of year is a great time to spend with my sister and her husband. Until they can move back to the northwest (tomorrow?!), we will happily continue visiting them during the Thanksgiving holiday (and any other time we can manage).

Here are a few highlights from our week in Cali...

The park (just a block from Leah & Trav's place, and overlooking the ocean. Not too shabby):

Oh sunshine, we miss you around here!

Loving his auntie

Crazy about teeter totters

Modeling the new Krochet Kids youth line (check it out here):

She got to choose one hat after her photo shoot. She chose the "hoot".

Days at the beach:

Mr. Sweetness

Clara spent approximately eight hours of our vacation scooping sand

Caleb liked digging too

I could live at the beach

My two good looking boys

Turkey day = girls turkey trot + boys surfing + good food:

Time to ride a few Thanksgiving day waves

Off they go

The boys manned the turkey

And watched a handful of youtubes to prepare. Not too shabby!

Time with my grandparents (and aunt Becky - of course I forgot a picture of her!):

Grandpa Jack & Grammy Joanne

Great Grammy snuggles

The hollywood sign trek + the prize after:

It was further away than it looks ;)

Sweaty sisters

Jono single-handedly got both kids to the top of the hill.

Deliciousness

Stuffing our faces (sorry Leah)

Messing around on the beach at sunset:

Saving lives

Racing Unce T

The stare-down

The best family shot we could manage (too much distraction!)

 The Santa Ana zoo:

A sweet little zoo experience

Checking out the mountain lions with daddy

What a wonderful week it was! Thank you, Leah and Trav, for letting our craziness invade your calm space for a whole week. We love you!

Halloween

This year Halloween was a huge hit for Miss Clara, the bumble bee. First of all, she got to dress up for a school parade and party...

Are there more kids or parents at the preschool parade?! ;)

Her class!

And second of all, she got to trick or treat with friends. Last year we visited just a few homes while in California. This year, Clara had some major stamina. It obviously came with the realization that every house was giving her candy! She went for a good solid hour + and came home with a full bucket of sugary goodness.

Caleb, our penguin, enjoyed the whole experience as well. He got to hang out with his favorite big boys (dressed in costume - he loved that!). And then he was carried from house to house, taking in all kinds of interesting sights. 

Loving the big boy costumes

The trick-or-treating crew

Hanging out with Bree while going from house to house

Posing with daddy, the bee keeper. Her two candy choices  Halloween night: a pixie stick & smarties

The best part of all is that the next morning Clara completely forgot about all of her candy. She ate two pieces Halloween night and then that was the end of it. I was trying to decide my candy strategy (ration it over a long period, have the "great pumpkin" mysteriously take it away, let her gorge and puke...) and in the end, no strategy was actually needed. :)