In keeping with recent tradition, Toots and Pops came for Christmas. They arrived within a day of the girls' last day of school. First order of business was gingerbread houses. I stuck Tutu with the job of making the cardboard structures.
We drove to La Jolla and took the train from there to Old Town San Diego. The whole train thing was incredibly complicated, and I had a hard time figuring it out. But we made it to Old Town and found a Mexican place for lunch.
We enjoyed the Mormon Battalion. It had been a long time since we'd been, and the girls didn't remember it well (or at all). Tiny gamely volunteered to try on the battalion getup.
After the presentation, we panned for gold.
We went quickly through the exhibit with the old coaches and stuff.
And we hit the temple lights on the way home. Pod sported the Wyoming beanie Mamo knitted for him when they were first married. Waste not, want not.
Tiny jumped into this pic.
We went on a hike at Palomar Mountain (one of the Doane trails) and ended up having to traverse a fair bit of snow.
There were some sketchy parts, and Mamo needed a hand for balance.
We came upon a massive ladybug colony. There had to have been hundreds if not thousands. I've never seen anything like it. They were everywhere.
Tutu and Ever stayed behind for the last stretch. It ended up taking a long time for the rest of us to get to the end because of snow and ice and an unexpected geocache find. I felt bad leaving Toots and Ever for so long.
There was an icy slope at the end that was incredibly treacherous. Jim had a really hard time crossing it, and I was certain that Pod was going to break a hip. I thought it was a really bad idea, but we all made it over that section and to the structure at the end. Pod somehow very nimbly navigated across this part.
In that old stone structure (with a hollow inside, which made me afeared that a child would fall), we found a box containing a bunch of notebooks. Wrenzy wouldn't leave until she had looked at every page.
It's hard to see, but Wrenzy and I came upon Jim and Tiny in a big love fest. He's holding her in the air and hugging her while she dangles. She's so incredibly lovable.
Almost always, Wren and Ever lag behind together and chat about who knows what.
Tiny used her hat as a face shield against bugs.
Christmas Eve we caroled. Tiny's earnestness while singing was my fave.
When it came time for Christmas songs that Ever had been playing with Miss Amber, she took a turn at the piano. That was an exciting milestone.
The girls each chose a present to open. Tiny was most eager for that portion of the evening.
Christmas morning Tutu and Papa slept in a bit while we got started on presents. I love Wrenzy in her robe.
Ever wore the Christmas sweater she had gotten for a performance with Cadence Dance Project, so that was fun and festive.
After church, we went on a walk on the golf course.
Toots and Pops did some late-afternoon present opening.
Tiny really latched onto this poem. She uses it all the time. I'm not sure if I found this lying around or if it was given to me:
Wrenzy had been working on a duet of "Up on the Housetop," and what better person to play the other part than Tutu?
The day after Christmas, we went to Julian and did a tour of the Eagle and High Peak mines. I'd thought about doing this for a long time and was so glad we finally did. It was very cool.
We did a short hike before heading home. We had a hard time finding it and ultimately did a different little jaunt than the one for which we were looking, as we were running out of daylight. The girls wrote their names in the dirt of the path.
Back at home, we had ice cream cones. At least Ever did; she's the only one I have a picture of.
Our Christmas-break puzzle was an impossible Harry Potter one consisting almost entirely of tiny little dark blue and black pieces. Tutu and Papa had to work hard at this one. Bear (and the other girls) helped, although Berry said no to pictures.
Toots said she'd be up for the zoo again since we hadn't gone for years, so that made for a fun outing.
Of course the girls' favorite part was the sky tram.
We also caught a show, which I enjoyed.
Tutu was so cold she had to hood up under her hat.
I like the children in the background of this one:
The girls begged for another sky tram ride. I love the sister love.
Just more random notes by Bear.
And this invitation is the cutest thing ever. (Tinger, referenced in the last sentence, is Berry's stuffed tiger. Berry is really good at naming stuffies.)
We went for a walk in Carlsbad and then out to dinner at Nick's on State. It was a gray day.
Service at the restaurant was slow, so the Etch A Sketch provided by the restaurant was thoroughly enjoyed. The highlight of dinner was the butter cake we ordered for dessert.
Before we left, Wrenzy wanted to make sure Ever saw this message she had written for her. The sweetest.
Toots and Pops left the following morning. Hooray for another great visit with the best parents/grandparents!
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