It's the Most Wondeful Time of the Year

We love this time of year! We love teaching Leo about Baby Jesus, decorating our house with lights, spending time with friends, holiday baking, and all the fun things there are to do and see at Christmas time.
We went to "Posada" at Catholic University in Washington DC with a few friends. Based on a Latin American tradition... they dress the children up as Mary and Joseph, and then lead them on a procession from building to building, where there is no "room" for them. Finally we reach the final building, where we are welcomed in with beautiful songs, and yummy food- taquitos, pupusas, rice and beans.  The children decorated cookies and took took a whack at the pinata. Then we went outside to see a reenactment of the Christmas story. The stable was filled with live animals- sheep, donkeys, and an ox.  The Wise Men even arrived with a camel.  (Leo loved the camel!)  It was a wonderful evening.

We went to see the lights at the temple, and attended a Bell Choir concert there.  The lights were spectacular- we loved all the different colors. 

We went to our Christmas Party at the church last night. Leo joined the primary kids on stage to sing a song, even though he's still in nursery.  He stood right up front, and channeled his inner Elvis.   We were loving his smooth dance moves. 

 

I took Leo to the mall to do photos with Santa.  This was our 3rd year with this Santa, and Leo was cute and friendly as usual.  He told Santa that he wants a Fire Engine for Christmas.  (apparently the two he has aren't enough)

 



The Happiest Place on Earth

We flew to California for Thanksgiving, where we spent a week with our extended family at the beach. Our usual campground in Carpinteria (where we've been going for 30 years) was closed for renovations (so sad!) so we stayed at a place in Newport Beach instead. We also bought a 3 day pass to Disneyland, and took Leo to the Happiest Place on Earth for the first time.
My sister and her family, and my parents went to Disneyland with us too. It was great that Leo had his cousin Bridger (who is just a few weeks older) to play with during the day. They were able to entertain each other while waiting in line.

Leo loved Pirates of the Caribbean... he waved to all the Pirates and said "Hi Pirates!" with great exuberance.  He also loved "It's a Small World, which was all decorated for Christmas. He also loved the Dumbo ride, and Autotopia. 

Two of the best rides, which are new, and had the LONGEST lines... were the Midway Mania   (3-D video laser shooting game with Buzz and Woody from Toy Story)   and the new Cars ride (with Lightning McQueen and Mater).  In fact, they have a whole new Cars land, which was incredible! You really feel like you're in Radiator Springs.






The first two days at Disneyland and California Adventure were great- it wasn't too crowded and we hardly spent any time at all in line. Then we relaxed for two days, and went back for our 3rd and final day of fun.  We didn't realize that the schools were out by then, so the park was packed!  We spent way too much time waiting in line.  And poor little Leo was so exhausted by that 3rd day- he actually started running a fever, so we left about 2:00.  He fell asleep as soon as we got to the car.

The rest of the week we spent with our family at the beach. Leo got to play with all his cousins, dig in the sand, and have a great time running around! It was a fun trip.