Growing up, we always headed to San Diego on Christmas day for a week long vacation in the sun. I love that I get to take my boys to do the same thing. This year, we left on Christmas Day, drove to St. George, then woke up the next morning to complete the drive. The traffic was easy, but we were all THRILLED to pull into Mimi and Papa's driveway! The boys headed out back right away to use some of the energy that had been bottled up for so many hours. We love being at their beautiful home!
What fun to have Tagg already there!!
That night we did a little "Christmas Eve" with new PJs!
Late that night, Shaina, Chaz, and Lula arrived to stay. It was awesome to wake up with them for a little "Christmas Morning." Mimi and Papa are always so fun and generous even when we really had already been given our presents!
Look at the surprise on their faces...they had no idea what we might be getting them :). Luckily it is something they still love anyway.
The moon sand was a huge, messy hit. Kids of all ages loved it...score Mimi and Papa!
That morning we headed out on our favorite...the Torrey Pines hike. The morning was gorgeous and the kids were all ready to roll. The ocean was so beautiful, it reminded us all what a perfect place California is!
Despite the chilly morning the kids headed right for the water.
These two were instant, darling friends.
Up we go!!
At the top there was a little nature scavenger hunt that made the way down even more fun!
It's obvious what these boys are thinking right...December morning, high was 67, water had to be freezing...
Oh yes they did...CRAZY!
That night we went to the annual Lamb's Player's Theater on Coronado then had a lovely dinner in Rancho. I think it was my favorite place...food and ambiance included. It was SO good in every way and we spent the night laughing and enjoying our adult time!
These two are peas in a pod and ended almost every night just like this...fighting sleep on the couch before we made them surrender.
The Romney have such a fun and playful yard, there is always something to do from tennis, to tramp, to pool. We just love it!
Pierce starting warming up to everyone!
These two were hands down the cutest cousins ever. They just lived in their own little world following each other every where, playing imagination games, running though the house yelling tag...it was the greatest.
The big boys were also super awesome...best buds and good helpers. So great to see them growing up, and how much the little kids look up to and adore them.
And these three were hilarious. Parker and James thought Shaina was as cool and funny as they come, and they spent hours singing strange songs, talking in crazy voices and giggling until they couldn't breathe. Cousins are awesome.
We decided to brave the crowds and head to Sea World to give the kids a little treat. It took us an hour just to park and almost 45 minutes to get tickets...we were ready to walk away, but once we were inside the park, it wasn't bad at all! The kids loved it.
These two...best buddies at Sea World.
The Pet's Rule show was pretty cool!
And Shamu was even cooler...
The kids let fish nibble on their fingers.
And pet sharks.
The littles got to ride a few rides before it was time to head out.
Mike and I sent to little ones and the adults home and we stayed with the big kids and had the BEST time. The crowds all went home for the day and it seemed we had the park to ourselves, going on ride after ride over and over again as we ran through each line. We sped on the MANTA and got wet on ATLANTIS even though it was very chilly. The kids were crazy, and we got to join in as we closed the park down. It was one of my favorite moments of the trip...just enjoying being young and together.
We bought this refillable bucket of popcorn and boy did we get our money's worth!
One morning we took the little ones to our favorite little park in the Romney's neighborhood. It was a blast.
All week, there was a lot of hot tubbing.
As a family, we saw the movie Annie, what a cute show! Tagg was in love with the life sized dog!
They fit right in!
We made a New Year's Eve morning doughnut run to VG's. The maples were incredible, but the other items were a little over hyped. I will stick with Solana Beach donuts next time.
These boys love donuts!
Pierce rockin it with Chaz. Chaz was so good to him!
Per tradition, we headed to the trampoline spot on New Year's Eve, perfect since the day was overcast and rainy and heaven knows our boys needed a place to burn energy!
On New Year's Eve, we had everyone's favorite dinner...burgers, watermelon and the best guacamole ever!
We played a few games, watched a movie and had a late night hot tub.
We toasted in another great year!
These crazy peeps all made it to midnight. We lost the others along the way!
We spent New Year's Day our very favorite way, at Moonlight beach enjoying another perfect day of sand, salt and sunshine. The beach may very well be our family's happy place.
Crazy boys!
I love watching brothers and dads at any age...same games, just a little older and a lot bigger.
This boy has always been able to play for hours all alone in the sand and water. He just loves it so much.
Boogie boarding in the frigid water again! No wet suits at all!
We completely wore these babies out. They were gone before we even pulled out.
Packing in one last moment of fun...Yogurtland!What an awesome week...such a bummer to have to say good-bye.
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