Sunshine & Santa

Since I'm a teacher, I get two weeks vacation for the holidays. Lucky for our family this year, Phil decided to take the two weeks off as well. We figured we couldn't leave our dog Charlie all alone, so we decided to road trip it down to the Bay Area. I was pretty nervous about traveling all that way with a fifteen month old, but Micah ended up doing really well. Especially considering he was cutting two more molars! I kept him busy with books, dolls, and a special little animal puzzle set. I found a great little Christmas themed peekaboo book from Costco that he also enjoyed and although I am a little embarrased to admit it, we broke our no TV rule and let Micah watch two short kids programs on the Ipad. We left our house around 8am Sunday, stopped to visit with my cousin and her girlfriend in Portland area for lunch, then made it all the way to Ashland for dinner and Redding to crash for the night. We made really great time the next day as well until we decided to go out of our way to explore the Auburn area. Then unfortunately we totally mis-timed rush hour and hit it at its worst on our way across the bay to stay at my parents house on the peninsula.

I found lots of ways to keep Micah entertained on our two day drive down. This puzzle was the longest lasting activity. Thanks again Meghan!

After the hustle and bustle of the long drive down, plus going back and forth to Dublin in the East Bay and my parents on the Peninsula, we settled in to enjoy our two weeks off all together. The trip was busy and relaxing at the same time. It was full of friends and family. We ate great food, drank great wine, had a few dates thanks to some very wonderful relatives, and had so much time just the three of us (which was beyond welcome after three months of Phil taking two online college classes while working full time, his appendectomy, and then his month of working nights where we didn't even see each other during the week!). No offense to our family and friends, but the best part of the trip was definitely soaking up all of the warmth and sunshine! I couldn't narrow down my photos to just one post, so stay tuned for the non-Christmas related photos soon!

My brother and sister in law showed up for ten hours or so before they met my parents in Vietnam and Cambodia. We squeezed in an 11pm visit with our Gramma and of course the Xmas Eve traditional In N Out Burger. Since it was after midnight on the 23rd I think it still counts. They even got in some Micah time in the morning. They proceeded to send cute photos like the one below the rest of their trip.

We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with Phil's family in the East Bay. It's always so nice being together, relaxing, eating, drinking, relaxing, eating, and drinking. We took Micah to a fun playground near their house and then when it got dark, we all walked around a cute Candy Cane Lane. As always, Susan and Cassie whipped up an amazingly scrumptious meal with attention to every detail. 

We decided to do Christmas morning just the three of us. While we are pretty sure the whole Santa thing is still over Micah's head, he did get the hang of reaching in for more surprises in his stockings (he had one at Aunt Cassie & Uncle Andrews too!) and he definitely got the hang of ripping open gifts! When asked where Santa was, he would point down to the picture of Santa on his pajamas, so we know he has a lot of receptive vocabulary going on even around special holidays!

There were lots of 49ers & disney gifts, yet one of his most intriguing gifts was his new baby doll (that was his moms old one).

Finally, we spent the rest of Christmas day back at Aunt Cassie & Uncle Andrew's enjoying more walking in the sunshine, time with the cat and dog, and eating gourmet meals this time thanks to Andrew's amazing cooking.

What a wonderful way to spend Micah's 2nd Christmas. :-)