Ice Skating, Botanical Gardens, Aquarium, & Dominoes

The only photo I have from Friday, December 28 (HOW AM I THIS FAR BEHIND?) is this one:

Apparently we didn't do much that day. Saturday, December 29, we went down to Liberty Station in San Diego to the Rady's outdoor ice skating rink. Ever's anticipation could not have been greater. Unfortunately it was pretty much a bust. We rented skates for all three girls, but Wrenzy and Tiny sat on the sidelines.

Ever set out determined, and she remained determined despite the fact that she could barely keep her skates under her. She made her way around and around, very slowly, with much help from the wall. Jim and I skated a little. I tried to help Ever, but a lot of the time she preferred to go it alone.

Tiny finally agreed to try skating. Given her inability to stand, let alone walk, in her skates, she was pretty much done before she started. Turns out the equipment takes some getting used to.

She barely made it once around the rink. Wrenzy, meanwhile, adamantly refused even to don her skates. Everyone besides Ever was anxious to leave, while Ever was intent on mastering skating that very day. Gotta love her perseverance. We finally convinced her it was time to go, promising that we would try skating again sometime. (The next attempt, however, will be at an indoor rink that has ice walkers for kids.)

We discovered that Liberty Station has a sort of market area with a ton of food places crammed into it. We explored the options and then got some lunch to take outside. After lunch, Tiny hung out by the fountain. Oh, those cheeks!

Then we went back to the food area for treats because Jim and his fun tims.

We passed this fun wall on our way back to the car:

And then the littles took off as we crossed the street.

On the way home, we stopped off at Cottonwood Creek Park in Encinitas and killed enough time to justify walking to Handel's for ice cream.

It was really chilly, so Pod got all outfitted before we walked to the ice cream shop. We had a good laugh about his Wyoming beanie that Mamo made for him when they first got married.

Pod struck up a conversation with a guy at Handel's who was there with a big group (two families). The guy was from Utah, and one of the people he was with was a girl I know from Little Bug/Mormon circles. We had a nice chat.

Last up, we went to the Encinitas botanical gardens, which were all done up for Christmas. We put on all the clothes in the world because it was cold. The girls got to see snow for the first time. Tiny's in the foreground of this blurry picture:

Sledding was a big hit.

This incredibly annoying guy (probably around 20 years old) kept trying to take his big dog down the sledding hill. The dog hated it and tried to jump off, and did jump off, and the guy kept trying. Every time, he held the line up for a while trying to get the dog on the sled, and he did it multiple times. It was bizarre and infuriating.

We made a stop at the craft area and let the girls color and make bookmarks. 

We happened to be walking by the live band when they called for all kids to come up on stage. Ever was the only one of ours brave enough to go. She's wearing a purple beanie and is right by the tall man in red in this pic:

The kids got to help sing "Santa Clause is Comin' to Town," and Ever loved it.

The lights in the gardens were really beautiful. My camera can't do night pictures at all, but Jim got a couple.

I have no record of Sunday, December 30, so we must not have done much. 

Monday we went to the Birch Aquarium. Before we left, Tiny lost at strip poker. 

Actually, I think Tiny played with the Frozen matching game alone, while the biggers challenged Tutu to Old Maid.

At the aquarium, it was cheapest for me to get a family membership for the year. I need to get back and use it! 

Tiny got pretty out of control before we were through. I let her jump around in this little pillow area for a little while, and that was helpful.

The waterways outside are always a favorite.

That night we played Dominoes. Mamo and Pod ended up spending probably an hour and a half sorting our different sets and figuring out what tiles are missing. It was quite a project.

We played some more Dominoes the next day. Good family fun.

I can't remember when Mamo and Papo left, but that's the last photographic evidence of their visit I have. We were so glad they could come!

Annie's Canyon & Home Alone 2

On December 27th, we hiked Annie's Canyon. I've seen pictures of the place and wanted to check it out. It was super crowded - largely with families we know from the Oceanside 4th Ward. We saw the Foulgers, Moffats, and Clarks there, as well as another family I've met through them. Pretty funny.

First up was this crazy toppled tree on which Ever would have liked to play all day. (She's in the hat toward the top.)

I wish I'd gotten more pictures up the canyon, but things got rough for a bit.  I had to get Tiny up, and Tutu needed a boost. Then Wrenzy started freaking out when she had to go up a giant ladder. She did great and got all the way up the ladder, but then she fully lost her mind and refused to go any farther, even though we were nearly at the top and the rest was easy. I stood off to the side on a little ledge with her while she cried. Eventually we made it to the top.

We realized that Ever wasn't with us. I figured she must have gone ahead and kept thinking we'd spot her as we headed down the hill, but we didn't. I was quite sure she was fine but became increasingly nervous. I texted Lauren Foulger and Rene Clark and asked if Ever were with them, but I didn't get a response right away. At the bottom of the hill, Wrenzy and Tiny did some log walking and tree climbing. 

I left them with Tutu and Papa and ran ahead to find Ever. Of course she was back at the toppled tree having the time of her life with all the friends.

Back at home, we had dinner and watched Home Alone 2. Wrenzy was intrigued but also terrified. She could only watch while peeking out from behind the island.

Christmas Eve and Christmas

We were planning to go to Hawai'i for Christmas, but tickets were about $900 apiece. Tutu and Papa could get tickets to California for less than $300, I believe, so they took one for the team. They flew to California the week before Christmas and went straight to Ventura to spend some time with Christian and Shandra's family. Then they took the train down to Oceanside on Christmas Eve. I made a lot of terrible food while they were here. It was tragic, really, this streak of bad cooking I was on. Anyway, we made a chocolate caramel pecan pie that actually turned out OK. Tutu's first order of business upon arrival was helping Ever make the crust.

For some reason, the littles love playing with Papa. He does not solicit their affection, but kids love him. Tiny and Wrenzy dragged him off to play. Fortunately for Papa, Zoza told him exactly what to do. Here, his instructions were to go to sleep on the chaise.

After dinner, we read the Bible account of Christ's birth and awkwardly tried to act it out. (I finally realized that to act out the nativity, the narration has to be a modern-language summary of the story, not a reading from the Bible. News flash.) Then Tutu read The Happy Prince.

We sang. Despite the fact that she cannot read, Zoza tried very hard always to be on the right page in the book of lyrics.

Then Jim read a little more to the kids, and they were off to bed at a pretty decent hour.

The girls slept until a normal time on Christmas morning, which was lovely.

Tiny wasn't really great at the stocking thing. Hers didn't get unpacked until Ever and Wren did it for her. She just fixated on each present and didn't want to move on.

We had waffles with Nutella for breakfast. Ever is a nutty Nutella eater. Somehow she got it on her pants and all over her foot.

I had done a last-minute Target run a couple days before Christmas to get a few things to add to the girls' Christmas gifts. One of the things I'd gotten was a leotard (technically a "biketard," but I hate that word) for Wrenzy since she was starting gymnastics. I was so glad I did because she was ecstatic about it. She said something like, "This is the best present ever!" when she opened it, and she wore it all day.

Ever challenged Papa to a game of chess on her new chess set.

Tutu and Wrenzy played a memory game.

That night we watched Home Alone, which everyone thoroughly enjoyed. I loved hearing the laughter from the couch while I was in the kitchen. It's amazing how many of the lines from that movie I remember.

It was a mellow and lovely Christmas.

Agua Hedionda

The day after Christmas, we did a little hike on the Agua Hedionda Trail in Vista. In the morning before we left, Tiny donned the new dress she got for Christmas and sat down with some treasures in the middle of the kitchen floor to read to herself.

Once we hit the trail, Bear Bear took off running. She's way out ahead of Tutu and Papa here:

I took a ton of pictures of her running.

We stopped for some boulder climbing near the creek.

Papa challenged himself to jump up onto this big boulder. I was pleased that after several attempts, he managed to do it without falling backward down the cliff even once.

Tiny, trapped in the hiking backpack, took it all in.

Papa, Bear, and Ever playing mountain goat.

The biggers tried out their new sunglasses (briefly).

Tiny jumped into the frame while Zoza made a call on her walkie talkie.

Then Tiny got in on the running.

We found more rocks to climb but had to make it quick, as it was getting late. These girls would be happy to climb around on rocks all day.

Lovebirds in the afternoon light:

For much of the walk, Bear Bear was being Owlette from PJ Masks ("Amaya becomes ... Owlette!").  It really made her speedy. She was very cute running with her arms out.

It was nice to get outside. Pod made a comment at one point about how all the hikes here are the same, and it's true. The landscape is what it is. None of the trails in the area are spectacular, but they're better than nothing!