Snow Weekend

The boys school had a random Monday and Tuesday off for teacher collaboration days so we decided to take advantage of the four day weekend and head to the snow.  We rented a condo in Bear Valley and were very pleasantly surprised to find some school friends in the condo right next to us.  The kids all had fun playing in the snow and building a great snowman together. 

Nick and Noah took two full days of ski lessons and by the end of the second day were skiing really well.  Aliyah took one half day lesson and had great balance and on the other ski day we had a baby sitter so Pete and I were actually able to ski together for the first time in years.  It was a great trip and hopefully the first of many memorable ski adventures as a family.

Christmas

The kids are at that age where Christmas is really exciting for them and therefore really fun for us as parents.  Nick was in on the santa secret this year but he did a great job keeping the magic for his younger siblings.

 A rare out hair style.  What a pretty girl in her Christmas dress :)

Catch Up Time!

We do things.  I take pictures.  I'm on the computer all the time.  So why don't I manage to blog more?  Downloading the pictures.  So simple but it's that one little extra step that makes me put it off another day.

Anyhow, I have now downloaded pictures so it's catch up time! Here are some pictures from our fun annual SF trip right before Christmas.

Noah

It seems that Noah is making a lot of new friends in Kindergarten including his friend Olivia who gave him this picture that she drew for him.  Cuteness abounds :)

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving on the beach, it doesn't get much better than that!  For Thanksgiving we headed down to Southern California to see Pete's family.  We rented a house on the beach so that we could take Buffy with us and we were blessed with beautiful weather.  And the best part about going to the beach in winter is that there is hardly anyone there! 

 

I thought the water was pretty cold but I don't think the kids even noticed.

 

Aliyah and I practiced running on the beach to get ready for the big Thanksgiving day Turkey Trot.  I love the determination on her face!

 

Getting ready for the turkey trot with the cousins.  Aliyah ran the entire 1k and earned her first medal and Nick came in sixth of all of the children running. 

 

 

On Friday we went to Disneyland and although it was crowded for the holiday, somehow we managed to not wait in a line longer than 15 minutes all day thanks in part to planning and good use of the Fast Passes.  We stayed long enough to watch the parade which was extra special since Santa made an appearance. 

 

Noah got a little upset when the Princesses started to make their way through the parade but Nick comforted him, what a nice big brother! 

Beach, turkey trot, Thanksgiving with the family and Disneyland definitely made for a memorable holiday!

Little Girls

Sometimes our house can get a little crazy with all the boy stuff so it's nice to stop and have a tea party every now and then :)

Apple Hill

Tis the season ... for apples!  Two weekends ago we went to an area near us called Apple Hill.  We were experiencing our nice Indian Summer so even though it was Fall it was still really warm! 

We visited four different farms and one brewery.  We fed farm animals apples that had fallen off the tree...

 

and Aliyah went on her first pony ride (she had a death grip on my  hand!)

And of course we picked lots of apples.  I thought thirty pounds of apples was a lot but apparently that's enough to last two weeks in our household!

 

A rare picture of all three actually smiling.

 

This was at the last farm of the day where they had a little pond.  Boys, pond, sticks, life doesn't get much better for them :)  We definitely hope to make this a fall tradition!