Sea World

While we were in San Diego, we decided to use up our free day at Sea World as well.

In the shark tunnel:

We got some snacks and went to the dolphin show.

 

Eli's favorite part of the day was the cotton candy.

Eli was so excited to ride another roller coaster.  We stood on this bridge for a couple of minutes watching the coaster and contemplating whether it was a good idea; it was fast and went sideways in a several spots.  Eli was determined to go, so Ben took him.

Alison, Colin and I waited on the bridge to watch them.

He, again, loved it.  Boy am I glad Ben can take him!

Then we stopped by to say hello to the orcas.  No big deal, just feet away from a killer whale.

It was so fun to watch them swim around.

 

We ended at the giant play place and let the kids run around before driving home.  We had to leave because we were freezing! 

Happy 14 years to us!

We told the kids that morning that it was a special day because it was our anniversary too.  The kids were a little confused what that meant and Ben explained that it was like a birthday for our family.  I love that and we certainly had a great day celebrating the gift of our little family.

Legoland, take 2

We had to use the second day of our 2-day pass before the end of the year, so we squeezed in a trip this last week.  Colin got a little bored on the trip over and started taking selfies:

It was nice that we knew our way around the park this time and went straight to our favorite things.  After going through the Ninjago ride, we jumped on the boat tour.  Colin is still not so sure about boats, but had a good time in daddy's lap.

They had several new things since we were there the first time.  One of them was a boat station.  You could add walls to the boat base and then race them down the course.  Lego city in the background is my favorite of the park.

They also added several exhibits to the Star Wars section.

We drove the boats again

And the airplanes.

 

 We walked past the roller coaster and Ben jokingly asked if anyone wanted to ride.  Eli said, "I DO!"  We were surprised by his interest, but Ben jumped on the opportunity and took him on his first roller coaster ride.

I was nervous about how he would do, but he walked off and said, "That was awesome!!!"

They had a Lego Santa and a Lego Christmas tree you could take pictures with and fake snow blowing.

Alison joined the boys on a little ride that was intended for kids much younger.  Ben was teasing her about being a baby again and tried to pick her up like one.  It cracked me up!

 We went through the aquarium and then went to get dinner.  Our hotel was right across the street from an outdoor mall and the food court was all authentic, farm fresh food.  AND it had a skating rink inside!  We ate pizza, watched the skaters and decided that we will be coming back this summer to skate.  Ben and I can absolutely see Alison rocking the skating world.

Christmas activities

The kids and I made up a list of the Christmas things we wanted to make.

We started with candy canes and popcorn garland for the tree.

Making popcorn garland is surprisingly harder than we thought.  After a lot of work, we only had one short strand.  We agreed that next year we'll give ourselves more time to make enough to cover the tree because we loved the way it looked.

Making clay ornaments:

I think our favorite of this year was watching Christmas movies and drinking hot chocolate.

Tamale Festival

We went to our first tamale festival.  It was also our first time visiting Somerton, a town just south of Yuma.  It felt like we were really in Mexico and it was fun to try several different kinds of tamales.

 Main street was lined with different tamale vendors and there was a Mexican band and dancers at the ends of the street.  The kids and I camped out on the side walk while Ben navigated the crowds and bought tamales.  Santa was walking around handing out candy canes, which made Eli very happy.

I think Colin loved the tamales most of all and chowed down with daddy, even on the spicy ones.

The smell coming from this taco stand yelled to me, "You have to eat this!".  Ben always says, if a Mexican woman who doesn't speak English is cooking, that's the place to eat.   He is right and these were the best tacos I've ever had.  Notice Colin's outfit: he has been dressing "fancy" lately, to be like daddy.

We parked next to a bakery, so on the way out we stopped in to check it out.  We have a book about a Mexican bakery that the kids have always loved and in it, they make empenadas de calabaza.  When we spotted it in this bakery, we had to try it!

It was a fun day experiencing a different culture and eating lots of great food!

This and That

Eli and Colin spent a day pretending to be scientists and built their lab in the garage. They pulled out all of our science experiment equipment and did as many experiments as they could. I loved seeing Eli read the instructions to Colin and then them figuring it out together.

The White's invited us to celebrate Ben's birthday with them and we made gingerbread houses.

Eli ate all of his house after construction.  I tried to tell him that the kits aren't really meant to eat, but he said, "It would just be a shame to waste all of this candy."

We are enjoying the advent season and have added a few new traditions this year.  Alison has really loved singing this year and requested that we sing a Christmas carol before reading.  We also added a chocolate treat each evening.  One kid gets to open the Lego advent (and built whatever is in the box and it all adds up to a fun Christmas scene), one kid gets to open the new page of our advent book and one kid gets a chocolate.  It makes for a fun evening!

After almost 14 years, we got a new TV!  The armoire we've stored our little TV in, is finally in our bedroom where it belongs and has led to many nights watching Christmas movies in bed.  I love that Alison loves Christmas movies as much as I do!

That time Colin cut his own hair

Go ahead, grab some tea and get ready for a good story.

It was a school day morning; Colin was playing outside, Eli was working on the computer and Alison was snuggled up on the couch with her math.  She was feeling a little under the weather, so we were having a more relaxing day and decided that working by the Christmas tree, with some hot cocoa and music on, sounded just right.  I called Colin in from outside and told him to go clean up before he started his schoolwork.  I joined Alison on the couch to help her with math and before I knew it, Colin was standing in front of me, in his pj's and casually holding the hair cutting kit.

"Hey mama." 

I slowly look up, first noticing that it's odd he's holding the hair cutting supplies.

"Uh.  Hey Colin.  Um, did you cut your hair???"

"Oh, yea.  I did."

Alison did her best to stifle her laughter and I escorted him back to the scene of the crime.  If you look really closely, you can see the big chunks of bangs laying on the rug.  I really didn't know how to react; I think I was more confused than anything.  I asked him why he cut his hair.

His response was, "I wanted my hair to go to the side."  

He holds up his hand at an angle across his forehead and shows me how he wanted it to be swooped to the side.  Then I asked him if he realized that what he did was naughty.  

With a look of pure astonishment, he says, "But you never told me I wasn't allowed to cut my own hair."

Truth. 

 I thought we were way past the age of these things happening. 

Then I had to break it to him that I had to "fix it".  He did not like that plan, but once I threatened completely shaving his head bald, he sat quietly.  And all while I cut, I wracked my brain on all the things that I need to tell him that apparently I have not.

I didn't yell or even punish him because I knew what was going on was innocent; he was just trying to style his hair like daddy does (hopefully he remembers this lovely thing called a comb next time though).

The boys have been really into doing everything that Ben does.  If he is wearing a belt, they have to be wearing a belt.  In fact, there have been days that they have dressed exactly like him.  They ask for drinks in the "daddy glasses" and if he is working outside, they are right there next to him.  It's pretty sweet, but also a lot of pressure for a daddy.

Helping daddy build a new raised garden...in pj's, flip flops and my weight gloves.

Happy Birthday Maya!

The kids were super excited to celebrate Maya's second birthday.  There can be no dispute that this family loves this dog to pieces.

Alison set up a little party for her and they all worked together to write cards and wrap her presents: dog treats, a special wet food dinner and a new toy.

They had fruit snacks for their part of the party.

It's been quite the adventure getting to know Maya over the last 2 years, as we've tried to figure out what kind of dog she is and how to work with her "quirks".  Ben just did some more research last week and found this video that describes her almost to a T. 

She clearly has become loyal to our family and it cracks me up how she has molded into our family routine.  Point in case:
Usually, Ben lets her out of her crate in the morning and she runs straight downstairs to me to be petted.  She will then only go outside to go potty if Ben or I go with her #spoiled.  She chews on a bone while we drink coffee and waits for the boys to get up.  I always know when they are headed downstairs because her tail begins to thump the floor.  She has to lick Colin's mouth upon seeing him first thing in the morning.  It's almost like she's saying, "Son, let me clean you up for the day!"  After Ben leaves for work, she sits on the couch and looks out the window, watching him drive away and then keeping an eye out for any mail men or the neighbors dog.  If Alison is not awake by then, she will do anything in her power to get in her room and jump on her bed and lick her face-she cannot stand Alison sleeping in.  She spends the rest of the day, following us around, taking naps in the schoolroom while we work or guarding the door if we check the mail or run an errand.  At dinner, she sits by Colin and cleans up his lap for him and when the kids go up to bed, she collapses in her bed in the living room.  She'll sleep there until Ben comes to bed and then follows him upstairs to her crate.  Ben is convinced that he is her human, but I would disagree...she lets the kids smother her and if someone even thinks about messing with them, she will let you know you better back off.  She follows me around constantly and will bark at a new person until I tell her they are a friend.  Ben...well, Ben sings her the most songs and throws the ball for her and gives her baths and takes her for runs and buys her treats...but I say he's just making up for the 6 months he lost with her.

All that to say, I'm so thankful that we were patient with this super scared, very picky, hard to potty train, puppy.  She has brought all of us a lot of joy.

Decorating for Christmas

This year was a night and day difference when it came to decorating.  First of all, I had Ben here to help and second, I learned a few lessons last year and was able to fix some glitches.  I organized our ornaments so that I could just hand each kid their own box, instead of me trying to frantically dish out ornaments.

We also only put out about half our ornaments instead of worrying about getting them all on there.  The tradition continues that Alison puts the angel on top...this might be the last year Ben can lift her up.

Our kids LOVE decorating, so this year I gave them their own space and box to decorate however their little hearts desired.  Ben caught onto my trick pretty quickly (i.e. keep them occupied so I can decorate the rest of the house however MY heart desires) but fears I may have created a monster; the rest of their life their going to be expecting their own box of house decorations.  Oh well, it worked like a charm and they had a blast.

They love decorating so much that they asked if they could decorate their rooms too.  So the next day we took a little family date so they could pick out some of their own decorations.

No date is complete without a snack as Chili Peppers.

I think I used the word "decorations" a thousand times this post, but we are all set to enjoy this Christmas season!

P.S. It was 91° that day...you get pretty good a pretending when you live in the desert.