December

Fairyland, Oakland - Sometimes I wish....just kidding.


Made a second trip to Fairyland this month with the Abtas. Poor Amalia had a stomach bug so she stayed home.



Habitot, Berkeley - Space theme!



Ardenwood Farms, Fremont - Holiday weekend with Grandma Valerie: Music, crafts, St Nicholas





Ansel decorating our tree. We put it up on a side table to help keep ornaments safe. As it was, Amalia undecorated the parts of the tree she could reach, daily.
Ansel was very excited about Christmas this year. He had lots of questions about Santa.
He's been very into the Nutcracker music and story. We rented a video of the ballet. I think next year I'll take him to see a live performance.


Christmas Tree Lane, Alameda. This is the first year that Ansel willingly went to see Santa. He knows that these aren't the real Santa because he is too busy. On this occasion, Santa asked him what he wanted and he said, "lots of things." I have tried my best to cull the "I want" monster. It was tough. We did give some to Toys for Tots together but I don't think it made enough of an impact on him. I was happy that after he opened all his gifts on Christmas day he was not sad because there were no more.


We celebrate Hannukah in our house as well. Jeremy laughs at the menorah on the Santa mat. Amalia is forever after the gingerbread house.





The weekend before Christmas we flew to Portland, Oregon, for my cousin David's wedding. We went for a hike at Multnomah Falls by the Columbia River. Cold but beautiful!



Both Ansel and Amalia were in the wedding. They were super cute. They were the last pair of six children walking down the aisle. Amalia was the youngest. During rehearsal there were no flower petals in their baskets. During the ceremony she stopped part way down the aisle and started to pick up the petals that had already been dropped. Poor Ansel was tugging on her dress trying to get her to keep moving, doing his job to a T. It was awesome.

Uncle Geoff and Ansel had a fun rapport. I think one of them was pretending to be Santa.


Amalia cutting up the dance floor.

I hope we'll get more pictures from family. It was super fun dancing at the reception and Amalia joined in. I enjoyed seeing all my cousins.

Kids looking out the plane window on the way home.


My mom and I took the kids to San Francisco to see the lights and decorations. This is in the lobby of the St Francis. It is over 5 feet high and all sugar/gingerbread.



Christmas Eve at my parent's house - Santa brought his elf and reindeer.


We had a quiet Christmas day. Kids opened gifts in the morning. After play time, lunch and nap we went to the Berkeley Marina for some fresh air. It was a beautiful day.









Met the Abtas and Bekah and Bedilu in SF at the Conservatory of Flowers to see the model train/Playland exhibit this week. We also had a lovely afternoon at Tilden Park Little Farm earlier in the week and then had a carousel ride.