Here's a Christmas Break highlight reel! Generous presents, a visit with my sister, purple crabs, the sun setting over the Pacific, competitive golf, and strong skating were a few of the big things that made this break another fantastic one! Little things, not pictured, included cashing in various gift cards for meals and activities, time with friends, and tons of game playing.
Thank you to every one of our thoughtful family members who once again sent such perfect presents to open!
Ella got Uggs and Delia got a mini donut maker from Auntie Karen and family-- two of the favorite gifts this year.
But, every gift was wonderful and has already been put to use. Here we are realizing that the fitness tracking watch we gave Delia can take remote pictures with my phone!
We had a fun fondue dinner on Christmas Eve.
Then, around 11:15 pm on Christmas Eve, we got a special visitor! It wasn't Santa...it was Auntie Heather! We were delighted to share Christmas and the first week of break with her! She pulled this awesome Ivy blanket for Delia out of her sack of presents along with new roller blades for Ella.
One outing we took with Heather was to Half Moon Bay, where we strolled the beach, hiked the shoreline, explored the tide pools, and watched the sun set.
This is sadly the last picture you will see of Ella because she was fighting a nasty virus the whole time Heather was here. She was a trooper to join us on our outing when she was feeling so miserable, and did what she could to keep up, but ended up spending a good part of the day napping in the back of the car. :(
The tide pool system here is pretty amazing. As the tide starts rolling out around 2:00, it just stretches wider and wider, revealing a whole new world of underwater life.
We crossed the usuals off our tide pool wild life sighted list: star fish, anemones, urchins, hermit crabs, etc. Then we found these HUGE, bright purple crabs to admire! I had some fun playing with filters on the above picture to show just how vibrantly colored these new-to-us creature were. We all worked up the nerve to pet it, even though it shook its giant claws at us menacingly, evoking much hilarious screaming.
In Colorado, Heather led us to big horn sheep, elk, and moose. In California we petted sticky anemones, prickly urchins, leathery star fish, and scary crabs. If my sister and I are trying to one-up each other with cool wild life experiences native to our states, I'll just say, "Your move, Heather." ;)
This outing is best taken in the afternoon, to work with the lowering tide, so it also works perfectly to catch the sun set before we head back home. Heather and I chatted about the coolest places we've ever caught a sun set while watching this one turn the sky pretty colors. Her list is admittedly way cooler than mine, but this conversation proved we've both been pretty remarkably blessed with travel opportunities!
The girls and I gave Dave Top Golf for his birthday, so this was another fun outing we shared with Heather! Top Golf is essentially a fancy driving range, which is completely computerized allowing for this neat competitive experience . You rent a bay and then get an hour to play as many rounds as you can against each other, wacking golf balls into big targets. Your computer shows your hit in replay and then awards you points. The bay has heaters, couches, and a server who brings you food and drinks.
I needed a little golf refresher since I haven't touched a club since before Ella was born. I was far from winning, but didn't do terrible either, thanks to the many different ways you can earn points in this game.
Delia gets nervous about trying new things and she loved it! It was fun for all-- even Ella who still wasn't 100%. Heather beat Dave by one point!
Even though my sister had to leave, we still enjoyed her generosity with her birthday present for Dave-- an ice skating outing for our whole family, which we used on New Years Day. We try to skate once a year and I loooove watching my girls lace up and take right off on the ice. They are becoming such strong skaters, my Midwestern heart swells with pride. It does not seem that long ago that we were teaching them how to skate and coming home with all the aches and pains of keeping their heavy little bodies upright. Yesterday there was only one fall!
I also love that my 12 year old still likes to hold our hand while skating, even though she doesn't need to anymore.
It's been a great Christmas, a great break, and a great birthday for Dave! Though Delia started the week taking her turn with Ella's virus, we are on the mend and celebrate all the fun things we got to try and new memories we got to make!
