Out with the old

Making room for the influx of new stuff is always a challenge after Christmas.  Recently, Clara's room has become more clogged than ever, with her baskets, drawers and closet bursting at the seams.  I know that I can always convince her to part with a few things if I appeal to her love of organization.  My main problem is that I really don't want her to give away anything she isn't ready to part with, especially if it happens to be something that keeps her from growing up too fast.  Today, when I tossed out the idea of taking out her Barbie house to make room for a small dresser, she jumped at the chance.  She even wanted to get rid of all (but two) of her Barbies, and their substantial wardrobes.  We know a family with two little girls, and the acreage to support the Barbie mansion, so I tried not to be too sappy and nostalgic as I posed Clara for one last picture with a long-beloved home.

Trevi has enjoyed it, too.

Sentimentality aside, I think the Barbies will enjoy the change of pace, and they'll probably get to socialize a lot more.

De-Christmafication

We were all sad to see Uncle Bryan go today, but we hope he'll be back again soon.  We loved having you here, Bry!

While packing up the air bed and tidying up the general Christmas mess, I got on a roll and managed to completely de-Christmafy the entire house.  The tree is down, the knick-knacks are packed away, and the recycling bin is crammed to capacity.  I usually feel sad when I put all of the stuff away (and I usually wait until January), but this year, I was just ready to move on.  It feels good.  But I'm glad that I still have almost a week of vacation.  :) 

The Exploratorium!

For Uncle Bryan's last full day here, we got our science on.  The Exploratorium is one of the coolest places in the Bay Area, and we knew it would be a hit.

We checked out some optical illusions.

We made waves.

We were entertained by air.

We experimented with the power of pre-conceived notions.

Clara used electrictity insead of conditioner.

And we, uh, sat in different-sized chairs.

Cap it all off with dinner at The Cheesecake Factory, and you're guaranteed to go to bed happy (and full).

Sea Air

We headed out to the coast today for some bowling, some staring at the open ocean, and a tiny bit of strolling along the cliffs.

We were all better at strolling than bowling.  ;)

Scrabble

Bryan is the Scrabble master, and we are racking up hours of play every evening.  It's all about looking for parallel play, and knowing the two-letter words...

Merry Christmas!

It was a peaceful, happy, fabulous day.  Photographic proof abounds...

Santa brought Clara the pear that she had hoped for (ie. the pear for which she had hoped).

Uncle Bryan loved the drawing that Trevi made for him.

We got to talk to Nana and Papa, Grandpa Bob and GrAnne, and Uncle Andy.

There was plenty to open, including a ton of building and crafty projects .

We pretended to be grown-ups and made a full-fledged Christmas dinner.

 

Uncle Bryan read bedtime stories (including a cool new one whose main character is named Trevor).

Merriment all around.  And we still have lots of relaxing and visiting time left.  Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

It was a flurry of activity around here from sun-up to well past sundown today.  The House told us to make cards and ornaments, so we dutifully obeyed.  Clara filled her cards with long, thoughtful messages, and Trevi colored his heart out on special projects for special people.

We headed over to Grammy and Grampy's for an early dinner, and some lovely hang time with the cousins and the rest of the gang.

I tried my darndest to get Grammy, Grampy, and all four grandkids looking at me, but this is the best I could manage:

We had a great time, great food, and great photo-ops (Thanks, G&G!), but we had to high-tail it out of there to pick up Uncle Bryan at the airport.  I started documenting the much-anticipated UB visit as soon as everyone was nestled (ie. squished) in the back. 

Back at home, we did some "baking" for Santa (Thank you, Pillsbury, for helping us get something resembling homemade on Santa's cookie plate under serious time constraints). 

Some commercial had convinced Clara that we should provide St. Nick with an ice cold Coke, instead of hot chocolate, so we broke with tradition and caffeinated the big guy.

With bedtime looming, the just-barely-finished stockings were hung (by the chimney with care), and visions of sugarplums started dancing and all that jazz. 

It feels strange to not be in Nova Scotia this Christmas, but at least we didn't get stranded anywhere or lose any luggage, or have any other travel misadventures like last year and a few years previous.  I'd be willing to endure it all again, though.  Christmas will be wonderful, the kids are cuter than ever, and we are so happy to have Bryan here, but there will be some empty spots around our tree in the morning. 

Tobogganing

Before heading home to the land of flip-flops, we hit the (slightly smaller) slopes for a morning of tobogganing (aka sledding).  

Both Clara and Trevor would have stayed there all day, despite a few mitten mishaps and faceplants.  The adults had big fun, too.

Clara also achieved her goal of finding "The Biggest Icicle EVER!"

We were all sad to leave, but it was a smooth, holiday-tune-filled trip home under sunny skies. Thanks Rach and Andy, Ruby and Zeke for a fantastic getaway! 

P.S.  After the kids were in bed, I knit furiously to finish these:

Maybe if I start now, Chad and I will have our own stockings by next year....

Tahoe!

Chad and I spent our Honeymoon in Tahoe, and I've only been here one other time in the almost eleven years that we've lived in California.  Tisk tisk.  Shame on me.  I hereby vow to come here more often.  What an incredible place.

Rachel and Andy invited us up to frolic in the snow with them, and it's impossible to turn down an invitation to frolic with Rachel and Andy. :)  

The last time I went skiing was twelve years ago, with a fifteen-year lag before that.  So, this was my second time in 27 years.  And I stayed on my feet!
Clara and Trevi had never once even laid eyes on a pair of skis before, so we enrolled them in ski school for the day.  Heh heh.  Yes, it is possible to be responsible, safety-minded parents and get a kid-free day on the slopes at the same time!

We peeked in on our cuties after lunch (who, Rachel said, reminded her of the scrubbing bubbles from that commercial).  They were starting to look like pros.

Many, many parts of me are hurting right now, but it is the kind of good pain that makes me glad we drove over the summit in a snowstorm, in the dark, without chains, with a carsick kid, to get here.  Love it. 

Why I love bathtub crayons

That's why.

Snow Machine

This is one of those things that you kind of regret letting your child do when you reach the clean-up stage.  But how could I resist?  Trevi discovered Styrofoam snow.  I had dug out all the old packing material I could find, and was trying to get together a few packages to get into the mail (even though there's not a hope in H-E-double-hockey-sticks that they'll arrive by Christmas – oh well, maybe next year) when Trevi asked if he could use a few of the styrofoam peanuts.  Ten minutes later, we had a full-on blizzard in the living room.  

Trevi figured out that if you rip and crush the peanuts to smithereens, then shove them into a box and push down on the flaps, the styrofoam snow will go flying around the room.  By the time we were done shovelling, the inside of the vacuum cleaner bag must have looked something like Buffalo, NY.  Also, the Post Office had closed for the day.

The 2nd Annual Puppy Chow Day!

Today, the House told us to make and deliver Puppy Chow.  So we did.  The above picture captures two very different methods of coating the chow with powdered sugar– Clara gently shakes her bag, while Trevor runs around the kitchen shouting "PUPPY CHOW!!!", and tossing his bag in the air again and again.  Both ways turn out delicious.

Our neighbors all remembered the treat from last year, which I think we can take as a compliment.  And wow, have the kids ever changed since last year.