California... part 6 ~ the final days

We had an absolutely wonderful time in California with the DeBoers! The tail end of our vacation was even more laid back and relaxing than the first few days were... if that's even possible... in that we didn't really go anywhere or do anything outside of the house. We decided to stay close to home and let the boys get some good naps, rather than continue running ourselves ragged chasing all over southern California. :) But we found plenty to do at home to keep everyone happy. Since it was a little chilly outside (and the adults didn't really want to sit outside and watch the boys play) we got creative and brought outside in!

Setting up the slide in the kitchen ~

Luke at the top ~

Here comes Micah ~

What a face!

As Great Grandma Phillips would say, "Whee!"

Trying a different approach to the top ~

We did get some time outside, once the sun came out and it warmed up a little bit...

All those toys lying around and Micah finds a bowl to play with

And we made one last trip to Frugos for some frozen yogurt and a few pictures of the boys... more on their shirts later :)



At the end of yet another fun-filled day, it was bath time! And what's more fun than bath time with a buddy? :) I think I was almost as wet as the boys were by the time we were done, but everyone had fun and there were no serious spills in the tub... meaning, no bumped heads or anything like that. There were plenty of spills with the water going everywhere, but what do you expect from a 19 month old and an 11 month old? :)

Luke helping Micah get that oh-so-hard-to-reach spot ~

Bubble boys ~

The next morning, we got a few more pictures taken before heading to the airport.

Grannie Jannie had sent Thanksgiving bibs for the boys, so naturally we had to get a picture of them in the bibs! :)

Matt on a gopher hunt ~

It was hard to say goodbye, but we couldn't have asked for a better vacation spent in better company! So thanks, DeBoers, for opening your home to us for the week and for making our vacation so memorable! We love you guys and miss you tons!!

Playing at the airport ~

Zonked out after a wonderful vacation ~

California... part 5 ~ Thanksgiving

We are truly blessed! There is always so much to be thankful for, but I just love this time of year when the focus is mostly on being thankful. This year, I am thankful for my sister and her family, and for the amazing opportunity to spend Thanksgiving with them... among many other things! Not only was this a Thanksgiving full of blessings and things to be thankful for, it was also a Thanksgiving of a lot of firsts. It was Micah's first Thanksgiving, it was our first time celebrating Thanksgiving in California, I'm not sure about this one, but it might have been Matt's first time carving a turkey by himself, (there was some online research being done on how to do this) and it was my first time preparing an entire Thanksgiving meal with no help or guidance from mom or dad! Granted, I didn't do it on my own... I did have help from a seasoned Thanksgiving meal preparer, my sister... so maybe this "first" doesn't really count, but we had a blast working together to get everything ready, and the end result was delicious!

Warming up those stomachs for our feast later on

Luke helping me make cheesecake... yum!

Is it done yet??

Lisa and Matt with the bird ~

Our buffet line

The chefs with our labor of love ~

Dig in! I love how Lisa and Matt are the only ones who could pull themselves out of their plates to smile for the camera! :)

Even Micah was a huge fan of the meal! I have NEVER seen this kid eat so much! And usually, whenever I give him meat of any kind, he puts it in his mouth and promptly spits it right back out again. Not this time! Our turkey was delicious!! :)

"Get your own, Luke!" ;)

Luke had just woken up from his nap as the food was being put out, so he wasn't too interested in eating right away. Eventually he did sit with Lisa and eat a bit, but before too long had to get up again and play with Micah.

Mmmmmm

After dinner playtime. No tryptophan sleepies for these guys!

The boys were gracious enough to clean up the dishes afterwards... check Lisa's blog for pictures of Luke and Micah "helping" too :)

Relaxing after a job well done

Later that night, some friends of Lisa and Matt's stopped by with an apple pie for dessert. Add that to the peppermint chocolate chip cheesecake Luke helped me make, and we were in sugar heaven! :)

Micah sitting with Suzanne... Matt, Mike and Mike's son, Carter are at the table in back.

Luke and Carter playing

I think this Thanksgiving gets the prize, in my book, for my favorite Thanksgiving to date. It was so much fun making up a menu, preparing everything, and doing it all with my sister! We missed the rest of our families back home, of course, but had a wonderful time just the same. Let's do this again next year! ;)

California... part 4

We were all pretty worn out after our hike around the zoo, so we decided to have a more low-key day on Wednesday. Aaron found a childrens' museum in Palm Springs that we thought sounded like fun, so after yet another fairly lazy morning, we packed up and headed out. It was a pretty tiny museum, compared to some others I've been to, but there were more than enough things to keep a 19 month old and an 11 month old occupied and happy.

There were toys EVERYWHERE!

Time out for a quick spin in the car ~

Sandbox fun!

Micah playing with the balls ~

Our artists at work ~

Micah needed a little assistance from Daddy ~

Magnets ~

The archaeologists in full gear ;)

Rolling a ping pong ball down the ramps ~

The look on Aaron's face in this picture is priceless! I'm not sure if it says, "I love these kids, but please help!" or "I'm having flash forwards to this time next year and I'm not sure I'm ready for that..." or "aren't we cute?" :)

The gear wall ~

After the museum, we headed home and relaxed for a while before Lisa and I started making preparations for our Thanksgiving meal. More on that later, but I'll just say that I felt VERY grown up this year... making the turkey, and all the trimmings with NO help from mom or dad! What fun! :)

Story time before bed ~