Christmas & New Year's was quite enjoyable. It was Oliver's first Christmas (although he didn't seem to notice). Samuel was at a great age to begin to enjoy the anticipation of Christmas (mainly Santa). He was helped along by the fact our advent calendar allowed him to open a door each day and get a piece of chocolate before breakfast! He enjoyed decorating the house, meeting Santa at BJs, wrapping gifts, and the overall excitment in the air.
We had 2 weeks off and packed a lot into that time. Unfortunately, our camera broke the first day of vacation. So, I am waiting for photos others took before I can post any fun Christmas time photos. But, here are some highlights from our various adventures--
Pre-Christmas @ Badgett's
- Highlight was clearly our kid-free trip to Yosemite! Kevin and I have been taking a Christmas trip to Yosemite since we started dating way back in 1993! We used to ice skate, do a little hiking, and bring our own hot chocolate. Over the years we have slowly stopped ice skating, don't hike, buy coffee from the cafe, and sit in the lobby of the Ahwahnee. This year was a banner year--we drove straight to the Ahwanee, sat in the lobby enjoying the fire and a book, and then dined in the restaurant under Half Dome! Wow, what a treat!
- The highlight for Samuel was clearly Uncle Ryan and Aunt Amy! We spent several days at the cabin enjoying lots of meals, toasty fires, and watching the Oliver/Samuel channel.
- We went back to G&G Badgett's on Christmas Eve to await Santa. Samuel was a bit hesitant about letting this jolly guy into our house at night. He suggested Santa NOT come inside. Rather, Santa was instructed to leave the presents outside and we could bring them in!
- The Race Track with a big loop was a huge success. We now have race tracks all over his room!
- Uncle Ryan, Aunt Amy, and G&G Claassen joined us in Oakland for a few days. The highlight was Aunt Amy's wheelchair (she had a bone fracture and couldn't walk). We rented a wheelchair and Samuel helped push her around San Francisco. Now, when he sees a wheelchair he looks at me, smiles, and says, "that looks just like Aunt Amy's chair".
- We made the long (7 hour) trip to Los Angeles to see my Grandma Badgett (great grandma Badgett) and my other aunts and uncles to show off our kids! They did great and we enjoyed the Santa Monica pier, Olvera Street, and just hanging out.
- Highlight was "Uncle Ryan with a B". Samuel was convinced we were going to see Uncle Ryan (who he just spent several days with). On the trip down we kept telling him it was Uncle Bryan with a "B" emphasizing the B. Samuel kept calling him Uncle Ryan with a B (putting emphasis on the B)!
