We are so proud of our son!!

So our first born...our little boy...our Mr C... can read.  So when he had early release from school last Thursday, Granny took him to AM's preschool and he read her class a book.  A little book his Auntie Peg(Granny's BFF) had given him called Tummies and Tails.

He did a great job and we are sooo proud of him.  When was the last time his smile was THAT big for a picture!!???

Granny took this picture of his proud sister and reluctant hero brother!!  I think this is just priceless!!

San Diego

...which of course in German means... :) oh never mind.

So I took C and AM to San Diego to visit some of our lifelong friends that moved out their 3 or so years ago.  We truly had a wonderful time.  I was so impressed with the weather and their home and neighborhood.  Everything was amazing...I can't wait to go back.

Here we are looking over the wildlife at La Jolla and then we went down to the tide pools.

They have these magnificent tree where the girls pretended they were monkeys(complete with sounds) and then all the kids played hide and seek:)

We went out for wine and bread and cheese...adults only.  I bought him that sweet shirt!  I would be amis if I didn't mention he loves Bread and Cie.  I should have made a slide show so I could include all the pictures!

Here we are workin the glasses I bought.  Very Californian right?

Have you heard of Corvette Diner...Incredible Pizza....maybe a place where your kids are over stimulated and it cost you LOTS of money?  That was this place.  We had a great time:)

We stay with our friends 2 night and then at a SWEET Ramada for 2 nights.  Evidently the Club level is a must so I made it happen with a little help from an adorable 8 year old.  Look at the bedtime reading they have for newborns.

Not to mention the hours of fun had by these kiddos.  All this after we swam in the ginormous pool and spent time in the awesome hot tub at the hotel.

We spend Sunday at Mission Beach.  We stayed mainly on the boardwalk, but I really wanted the kids to be able to say they felt the Pacific Ocean.  AM put her feet in, but not C so much.

I tried to bribe the kids with cotton candy...I think it worked:)  They love me.

Group picture out side the boardwalk area.

This is out last night together in Old Town.  Evidently this is the first town established in CA...who knew?

This is the view from the CLUB LEVEL where we spent breakfast our last day.  Even the kids were impressed!

All in all...we had a great time and I feel like it is an important investment for the kids to travel.  I feel like they learned a lot about themselves and about interacting with others.  I really liked that they got to see a different culture than where we live:)

TX Christmas

After we got home from SC we had Christmas with B's parents:)  I told C to keep his hands to himself for the picture...

 AC has really enjoyed the holiday season this year.  She really gets it that if you unwrap the box there is a wonderful present inside!!

Check out AM and the purse Granny and Pops got her...probably more from Granny than Pops:)

So tired after all the eating and present opening!

Look at these angels in their new princess jammies!  WOW they are cute right?

We capped off the day with some S'mores for dessert.  This may be one of C's favorite foods.  He got soooo messy...he's usually the clean on!

No, he really likes S'mores.  Even ones made by some crazy microwave s'more maker:)

Our bi-annual hike to a water fall

Our family loves hiking.  B and I love hiking...I don't know why, but we do.  We do always seem to run into some sort of mishap, but I guess the good out ways the bad?  This hike was no different.  Look at my little AC, she seems so cute and happy....

 And then she started to turn.  I ended up having to carry her almost the entire way to the falls and a little on the way back.  I am claiming that she was car sick after riding in the back back through the curvy roads up and down the mountain.

This hike's incident involve B trying to cross the river/stream by walking across a log...with rubber boots on...holding C...wearing a backpack.  He didn't make it across dry.  He slip and fell off the log, but caught himself and just stepped in the water that was knee deep.  While trying to keep C from getting wet and manage his footing on the rocky bottom, he succumbed to the icy waters of the Chattooga River.

 Here's the Falls...

And some attempts at a group shot.

 It's sad that this is the best one and Cedar's tail is covering Andy.

You can see by AM's face how cold it was.

And then the crying began.  B was such a great sport as he sloshed the whole way back with water in his boots, freezing in wet clothes and carrying a screaming 2 year old.

Christmas Day

Ac loves the movie "Tangled".  and by loves I means she has probably watched it over a dozen times and she sings all the songs and its a good thing that Santa brought her Crash Cart with scissors on it to open her Tangled Barbie!  

AM got a huge Doll House and a baby Belle with tea set!  She loved it!!

C got a HUGE air hockey table.  This is what happens when Santa is entitled to bring his favorite son a present...

I got Papa a sweet Knuckle Sandwich Knife by Guy Fieri.  I thought he would think it was super cool...he is hard to impress.

My AM with her new hat, gloves, and boots.  She is such an angel:)

C playing with his bubbles in his new boots...

 and AC

Throwing sticks off the dock...a time honored tradition.

Christmas Eve

Our tradition has been to go to the Kwist church for Christmas Eve service and then we go over to their house for dinner.  Here is the traditional kids picture around the tree.  AC was not in a good mood:(  AM however was woking it!!

We both had on boots, tights, and a dress...we are so hip!

The grand kids and Papa...Again..AC was not in a good place.

Two of my favorite people.

 Getting ready for the group picture.

I should really learn how to edit these things, but it is pretty good despite the family patriarch not looking at the camera!!

Ehh... Not bad

Babysitting the cousins

That's a joke because it was more like "getting to hang out with the cousins"  while their mom and dad still had to work on Wed and Thursday...boo! 

We managed to have some fun without them.  Here the boys are in a rousing game of trouble.  I believe it took 3 or 4 session of reconvening before the game was finally finished.

We also made some cookies.  The kids were impressive with their cookie cutting skills.

The proverbial "kids" table for meals.  They insisted on all sitting together.  Isn't that sweet?

 Iced the cookies...

 

Watched some DORA!!

 Wrestled with Uncle B...

 Aunt Turah introduced everyone to cake pops from Starbucks:)

And we had a great time at the Play Nation:)

 This was Occupy the house.  Many kids were chased in order for these kids to gain entrance:)