Whale Watch

For Christmas, Chris and Aimee gave us a fun day of whale watching in San Diego!The weather has been perfect all week so we decided to make reservations while the kids are still out of school and the weather stays nice. We have gone on this tour before, but it was freezing last time. Today was perfect and we were all ready to board the boat.
Allison was on board quickly and maneuvered her way into side benches for a great view.
We left the port at 1:30 for our 3 hour bay and ocean tour. Taylor was feeling a little uneasy after getting sea sick on our cruise this summer, but I was hoping the Dramamine and sea bands would work!
Allison was "Miss Observant" and loved seeing all of the speedboats, sailboats, birds and other creatures on our trip out to the ocean.
Beautiful view of Cabrillo and Point Loma...the southwestern most tip of the continental United States.
Such a beautiful vessel.
Up close and personal with the sea lions.
I think the Dramamine got the best of Taylor and she was a little sleepy on the boat ride out to the ocean. Luckily, we were able to wake her up and get some food in her belly before we began seeing the whales!
Allison loved talking with the Scripps docent and telling her all about the bubble net feeding we saw in Alaska.
Soon enough, we spotted the first blow and our first whale!
We even got a shot of its fluke!
We saw 2 or 3 swimming at a time and followed them for a few minutes.
We also spotted lots of dolphins and sea lions while searching for the whales.
San Diego City Skyline

On our way back, we made several stops along the shore to look at sea lions and some of the military subs and equipment stationed at Fort Rosecrans and Coronado.
This Coast Guard ship was just leaving the port as we were coming in.
We had a great family day at sea and thank the Boenig's for the fun gift!!

Christmas Day...A True Test in Patience

After all of the preparation last night to get things ready for Santa, the kids came downstairs to all kinds of goodies spread out for them.Allison loves that Santa is nice enough to take their stockings off of the fireplace and lay them next to their pile of goodies. Matt had already left for work, but there was no way to keep the girls from taking a peek at the stuff Santa left.
Allison was thrilled to get the Our Generation Jeep and Salon Chair that were on her list! Santa also brought a donut maker, cooking utensils and a stocking full of gift cards, panties, candy and soccer socks.
Taylor loved her new Hawks soccer bag and Just Dance 3 that she asked for. She can't wait to make pizzas on her new pizza stone and she got a stocking filled to the rim with much of the same that Santa brought Allison. She will have fun with her facial masks and pedicure stuff too!
After making pancakes and visiting with Chip and Teresa, we made a big cookie platter and met Matt down at the Sheriff's Station. It was tough on the girls to not be able to have a traditional day... staying in our jammies, opening gifts and spending the day playing with all of our new presents. However, they were very patient and understanding and we made the best of the situation. I think this is the only Christmas that Matt has had to work since the girls were born, so not much to complain about!
The girls had fun touring the station, although Taylor was scared to death when Matt locked her in a Holding Cell. Hopefully that is the first and last time she will ever be in one!
Allison made herself right at home in the Sergeant's Office. She got a snack out of the vending machine and a drink out of the fridge and got comfortable!
We came back home in time to put the turkey in and watch A Christmas Story before Matt came home. As soon as he walked in the door, we ate our traditional turkey dinner and it was delicious. By 6:45, the kids couldn't wait another second and we finally sat down to open presents! They had been so patient listening to their friends call and FaceTime to discuss all that they had received, but we felt it was important to wait for all of us to be together.
Matt was surprised to open a new Keurig coffee machine.
Taylor loved all of her clothes, gift cards, new hair wand and makeup.
Allison was all about American Girl this year and loved her new outfits and wardrobe case to store everything.

It may not have been a traditional Christmas Day, but we are grateful for all that we have been blessed with!

Christmas Eve

With Matt working both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, I have been struggling with ways to make the holiday still feel special and traditional for the girls under the circumstances. However, the weather was just too nice today to go see a movie or bake so we headed to the beach, but not before a pit stop in San Marcos to see Matt at work. We met some of his team and look forward to going back tomorrow with some Christmas goodies.

Then we were on to Carlsbad to ride scooters and walk the long path along the water (not traditional, but gorgeous anyway).
The girls love watching the surfers from here and climbing out on the rocks.
Not many braved the water, but it was the perfect day to enjoy the sun and scenery.

After our walk, we brought our cooler and blanket down to the sand. It was so nice just hanging out, listening to our music and the waves and the girls had fun creating this lovely design.

Once Matt got home from work, we carried out our traditional Christmas Eve activities. We ate dinner and took a few photos by the tree before rushing out to the last Candlelight service at church.
I love the tradition of lighting the candles at the end of the service that represent the light of Jesus and the true meaning of Christmas. It is what we all look forward to most and really puts us in the Christmas spirit!
The girls were still excited to get home and carry out the rest of the traditional checklist before going to bed. They each got to open one gift...
Allison loved her American Girl soccer outfit
and Taylor loved her sweater, shirt and hoodie from Aeropostale.
They finished up by sprinkling reindeer food on the lawn, putting the Santa Key on the porch and leaving cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer.

Allison went to bed with butterflies in her stomach after seeing the video Santa emailed to her. He had her whole profile (including photos) and she thinks it was Mrs. Claus' idea for him to email instead of call. You could see her sense of relief when he said she was on the "nice" list and she even left a note by the cookies that said "I got your video Santa. Love, Allison"!

My Turn for the Tour

After dinner tonight, the girls wanted to play tour guide and show me some of the best light displays they saw last night with Chip and Teresa. I was quite impressed that they were both able to navigate through Temecula without a map or even addresses to go by!Our first stop was the 1st Place winner in the "Griswold" category and I think our overall favorite too.


I also loved this one because you could tune into a radio station and the lights were programmed to the music and a projection of Santa Claus was up in the top window.
Lauren guided us to this "gingerbread house" in Meadowview...one none of us had ever seen before.

We also got a few laughs at Santa's Runway because a few of the neighborhood kids were blowing out all of the tea light votives that lined the streets even faster than the parents could light them!

Now we are officially feeling the spirit of Christmas!

Holiday Lights Tour

Chip and Teresa carried on the tradition of looking at lights with the girls for another year. Even as the girls get older, their eyes still light up when Teresa calls to set it up. This year, they first stopped at In and Out for burgers and shakes instead of getting pie and hot cocoa at Marie Callendar's.

They map out the route based on the winners in the different categories...Religious, Griswald, Animated and Old-Fashioned. Some were better than others and there are even a few we will revisit so they can show them to Matt and me.

We got to enjoy a nice date night out at the Yard House while they were gone and they will look forward to doing it again next year. Chip and Teresa wonder when the day will come that the girls ask to bring their boyfriends along!

All-Star Exchange

It only seemed fair that Allison's team got to enjoy a Cookie/Ornament Exchange Party too, so we hosted one at our house tonight. To add a little more fun to the festivities, Coach Mike told all the girls at practice this morning to wear their most festive holiday attire and there would be a prize for the winner.Allison spent most of the afternoon creating this lovely number...making the beard out of my makeup remover pads taped to a headband. Very clever I must say!
We had a cute present (took 1st place), a snow fairy and a few reindeers!
Coach Mike actually brought gifts for all of the girls, but Olivia got a little extra for taking 1st place!
Then the girls loaded up their hot cocoa cups and popcorn bags before turning on the movie.
They sat pretty quiet during most of Elf. That movie never gets old!
Kylee and Allison...classmates and teammates.
We paused the movie to do the ornament exchange. There wasn't a whole lot of stealing, but I think everyone was happy with what they took home. They finished up the night making cookie plates to take home with all of the different cookies that everyone brought. These girls have only been together as a team for a few weeks, but they are really getting comfortable with each other and making some fun memories!