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Sunny California

I wish our Christmas break was another month!  We left at 1am on Wednesday night / Thursday morning the week before Christmas and started the drive to Arizona.  We got there just in time for lunch and naps on Thursday. Honestly, the kids did really well all things considered, but Alexa was awake from 3-5am, and they both obviously woke up earlier than normal.  We stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Swingle until Saturday morning, and it was great to have some one-on-one time with them.  Grandma shared neat family stories with us, Grandpa loved watching TV with Alexa, and we absolutely loved the visit and time to relax in sunny AZ.  We even took the kids swimming in their neighborhood pool.  And a random 80 year-old man offered Kyle his golf cart as we were walking by so that he could take Alexa on a ride down the road.  And then gave Alexa a granola bar.




We got to California by dinner on Saturday and began our second Christmas.  The Swingle Christmas Eve tradition consists of going to Balboa Park in San Diego to see Santa and play tag.  Balboa Park is honestly one of my top 10 favorite places in the U.S.  It's beautiful there.  Santa told us that he's been coming every Christmas Eve for the last 22 years as a free service to San Diego because he used to come when he was a little boy.




We were in charge of breakfast Christmas morning, so we made Sweeny Eggnog, Crepes (Danish Pancakes), Scones, and Mountain Man breakfast casserole.  Delicious, and it made me miss the Sweeny gang.

Marmie and Grandpa Swingle gave the kids two of the coolest gifts.  First, Grandpa made (handcarved, built, etc.) a wooden grasshopper toy that hops as you pull it around the room.  I think it's so cool to have a toy built by him for the kids to play with.  Then, they recorded them reading a book.  As you turn the pages, they read each one to you.  Super neat for the kids to have throughout the year when they're far from Marmie and Grandpa.











I LOVE this nativity scene in their front yard.  Someday we will have one.


The rest of the week was spent playing games, swimming, going to the beach, going to a fun Natural History Museum in San Diego, and lots of Grandma and Grandpa time.  Kyle and Dad even tiled the kitchen back splash--doesn't it look nice?!




It was great to see Richy and Megan and play with their kids.  Cody was napping when we took this picture.









Tyler LOVED the sand.  He laughed and kicked his legs, grabbed it and covered his legs completely, and went an entire 10 minutes without trying to eat it.  After he tried it once, though, he just wanted more. 





We came home to cold weather.  Kyle left his water bottle in the car thinking he would just take it to work the next morning.  It was frozen solid when he went to work.  Oh, and our patio froze as well--look closely and you can see Kyle's sledge hammer beneath the ice.




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