"The Shirt"

This year rather than getting matching pajamas for Christmas, my Dad got us all matching Thailand elephant shirts from the weekend market with black ones for the adults and pink ones for the little girls.  It was fun and frustrating trying to find shirts in the right sizes (mind you the sizes would not be an indication w/ L, XL, and XXL often being the exact same size! - Of they would be an odd size like an F!) and all from the same vendor.  Some vendors would carry different prints that were almost the same, you know "same same but different" with the smalls have elephants and soccer balls, the mediums elephants and ruins, and the larges elephants and trees!   But in the end we got shirts that fit everyone and ended up with 2 extra!  Actually Mom's shirt was double printed on the front and the back!

Christmas with Uncle John and Kaitlin

Though John and Kaitlin sent many Christmas presents for all of us to open on December 25th, we didn't give them our present until we were in person and my parents waited to open and exchange their gifts then too.  Here are a few photos of the end of our month-long Christmas celebration (and yes, as I write this I am very happy to say we have taken our tree down and put away the huge wreath off the front door!). 

Whale Watching

Jeff and I have both lived in San Diego for over 10 years and have never gone on a whale watching boat ride.  This year we went with Grandma and Grandpa on a 3.5 hour Flagship trip.  The Pacific was really peaceful and calm and the weather perfect.  We saw two pairs of Gray Whales, dolphins, and sea lions.  The boat was at 1/3 capacity so we had a lot of room to move around on both decks and great seats when we wanted to sit.  The Birch Aquarium naturalist guides were very informative on all the animals, but also about the Navy bases we passed getting out to the open water - past Point Loma sub base and there was a submarine in the dry dock, the 'bat' research vessel constructed in the 1950s and still in use where in one end sea water is let in so that it floats quietly and vertically in the water.  It was a great day!

One Great Looking Family

I love the JC Penney Groupon deal with 3 digital images!  Here are some photos of my good looking family! 

New Year's and Rose Bowl Parade

Our friends Maaike and Paul had a NYE kid-friendly party again this year which was perfect!  The company was great, the kids had fun, and we all went to bed early after ringing in the year East Coast Style at 9 PM.  Grandma and Grandpa came with us too and the girls wore their new dresses Grandma gave them. 

For the 4th time, we again headed up to Pasadena early on Jan 1 to watch the parade.  We left just past 4:30 AM and were parked and seated by 7 AM.  The parade started at 8 AM and we were half way down the course.  It got to us by 9 AM and was FABULOUS!  Our viewing seats were great too - just one person back and that first row had camped over night! 

There were bands from Panama, Texas, Alaska (they were sweating in their polyester - the weather was 77 F!), Pennsylvania, and floats from Trader Joes, Sea World, Women Pilots from WWII, and vineyards.  The horses and costumes were amazing!  The girls loved it as did we all. 

After the parade we drove to Marina Del Rey to Uncle John and Kaitlin's house for lunch.  It was fun to see them, their Europe photos and walk to the beach and playground.  It was a great way to bring in 2014!