Christmas Blvd

A nearby church has a Christmas event they call Christmas Blvd with sledding, trains, horse rides, food trucks, a puppy petting zoo, and other fun stuff. 

We had fun with Mavry and Eliel.  Mavry's favorite thing, judging by what she talked about all the way home, was the fire.  She kept saying "bye bye, hot!"

They had free pictures with Santa.  I thought Mavry would think it was fun, or at least feel relatively neutral about it, but she did not like sitting on Santa's lap.  Eliel, on the other hand, was sleeping, and didn't mind at all. 

Eliel: 2 months

Eliel turned two months old on November 24th!  Time is really flying. 

He enjoys getting time by himself under his mobiles or next to a mirror, but he doesn't get much uninterrupted time unless his big sister is sleeping! (Of course, I try to get him to sleep when Mavry is sleeping, which I am only sometimes successful at doing.)  He gives us wonderful coos and smiles when we make eye contact with him.  He's been rolling over from front to back since he was less than a month old.  He might be able to make it from back to front before the next month is over!

He's really a wonderful little guy and we are so happy to have a family of four!

Thanksgiving on the Beach

 

 

For Thanksgiving this year, we rented a little vacation condo on the beach in San Diego.  We had a full kitchen to make/heat up our Thanksgiving dinner.  We got rack of lamb like last year, which Colin cooked.  I made pork stuffing (highly recommended!), cranberry orange sauce, sourdough rolls,
mashed cauliflower, mushroom gravy  and coconut custard cake.  We took walks on the beach and had a little play time in the rain on the beach on Friday morning too.  It was so lovely!

Friday night, we saw a big Christmas tree from the highway and went in search of it, then found out it was at Sea World.  The parking was free since it was close to closing, so we decided to see if we could get close to the tree.  We ended up getting in for free with a one hour shoppers pass and we got to see the big tree, some reindeer, lots of fun holiday lights, and the dolphins.  When we left, Mavry said "bye bye dolphins!"

Before we headed back on Saturday, we took in some views and had lunch in La Jolla.  Eliel is getting to be a big boy already!

Eliel: 5 weeks

My mom and Colin both asked recently if we were going to do the monthly pictures with Eliel.  I actually have been taking his pictures but I hadn't gotten around to posting them. 

So, here is Eliel with Raggedy Andy at 5 weeks old. (Mavry's pictures were taken with Raggedy Ann, both of which were made by my mom for me when I was little!)

Mavry on a Horse

I love the part at the end where she sticks her tongue out in delight.

Pumpkin Patch and Halloween

A week or two before Halloween, Mavry, Eliel and I met friends at a farm that grows their own pumpkins and had some fun posing for pictures and climbing up pumpkin mounds.

Our costumes were two birds, a tree, and a birdwatcher. (Colin wasn't wearing his birdwatching gear in this picture because he'd just come from work.)  Mavry at first was not a fan of her hat/mask, but after she saw other people in costume at this street fair in Orange, she warmed up to the idea.

On Halloween night, Colin set up a "tunnel of light and wonder" in our front yard out of the chicken run and put lights and a mirror inside.  It was a big hit among the neighbors and Colin is talking about what he'll do next year.  Mavry and I went trick or treating to about five houses.  When we got back to the house, she excitedly showed Colin the contents of her bag, seemingly saying "I just went up to people's doors and they gave me candy!"  It was pretty cute.  She learned the word Halloween (how WEEN!) that night and kept saying it with enthusiasm for many days after.  It still comes up randomly. 

Then the weekend after Halloween, we went to our church's fall festival where Mavry rode a miniature horse, a rocket ship ride, and bounced in the bounce house with the big kids.  She loved it.  Colin had his birdwatcher costume complete with binoculars and shorts with socks pulled up for this one.