Southern California Extravaganza

There may be no such thing as a free lunch, but if you are under the age of 2, you do get to fly free.  But guess what, Reese, that's all over.  You had a good run of 9 round trip flights before you turned 2.    Impressive work, though it is less than your sister.  So pictured here is Reese in her very first purchased seat as we prepared to head to California just a couple of days after Christmas.  Unlike Callie's first paid trip, Reese's was a little bit more dramatic with a flight attendant who proved inflexible with the rules and refused to compromise with a 2-year-old who didn't understand why she couldn't sit on her Mom's lap even though she had done it three weeks earlier.  Good times.

Our first stop was in sunny Pasadena where we spent a couple of days with the Leshneys.  Fun was had by all, as you can see in the picture below.  It's amazing how quickly kids under the age of 5 can get comfortable with each other.  

They all had a great time playing together, and Callie even slept in the same room as Clare and Nora.

Reese also quickly became fond of Tyler's ability to speed her around the race course they have developed in front of their house.  As Callie, Clare, and Nora sped around on their tricycles, Reese led the way with a huge smile on her face.  Tyler could not push her fast enough.  Amazingly, there was only one crash during the time we spent outside.  It seems the car you see above might have been a bit too close to the second turn of the race course.  Time just flew by as we caught up with Tyler and Stephanie and their wonderful family.  Hopefully we can do it again soon.

Our next stop was Manhattan Beach at the Perrone's.  Everyone was excited to see Kate, Ashlyn, Auntie Lo, and JP, but one of the real stars of our visit was the recent arrival, Bradley Branstetter.  Here he is with Sarah, a big smile on his face.  Honestly, he is an extremely happy and mellow baby.  You might remember his parents from our blog - we went to their wedding September 2011 in Paso Robles.  Alicia and Bill are handling parenthood quite well and Bradley, no surprise with Alicia as his mom, is a bit of a fashionista.

Another new addition to the southern California family is Joy, Denise's new puppy.  Ironically enough, she is also a fashionista, as you can see by her matching scarf in the picture.  Joy has been a blessing for Denise, especially since earlier in the year she had to say goodbye to Puma, a constant companion of hers since college.  And because of that, Puma was a roommate to Sarah and many members of the clan over the years.  Indeed, if Puma could have only talked, the stories she could have told.  

Callie and Reese enjoyed their time with their Aunties.  It's pretty impressive how much spoiling can occur in a matter of days.  Although we wish we lived closer to them, it might be good for our family budget that the girls don't get too much fashionista time.  In the end, it is just fun to have these get togethers where the number of kids keeps getting bigger every time.

Speaking of getting bigger, here is the whole crew, including Joy of course.  You can tell from the facial expressions how much fun they had on the entire trip.

Kate, Callie, Ashlyn, and Reese are quite a handful when they are together these days.  We imagine it's only going to get crazier as the years go by.

One day we took all of the girls to hang out in Auntie D's neck of the woods, Palos Verdes.  Our first stop was a small maritime museum built on the bluffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean.  The museum itself wasn't necessarily all that incredible, but you certainly couldn't beat the setting.  They let you exchange your driver's license for a pair of binoculars so you can look at the ocean in case gray whales happen to be swimming by.  And yes, while we were standing there, a man told us to head to the bluff because someone had spotted a couple of spouts.

We all ran to the fence to look out.  And even if you did not have binoculars you could clearly see the whales when they spouted.  Just another day in southern California.  It's moments like these that make living in a landlocked state so difficult.  Thank goodness we have friends and families on both coasts to provide us with the opportunities to meet our ocean air quota a couple of times a year.

Our visit to Manhattan Beach coincided with New Years, and in typical fashion Lauren threw an appropriate party that embraced both parents and children.  There were a lot of children at this shindig.  A lot.  It was loud and it was fun.

Reese definitely had her party face in full effect, and Callie, as shy as she is, was well warmed up by this point and happy to be in the mix.  As sad it is, the next day we had to pack up and prepare ourselves for a long drive to northern California for the next stage of our trip.

But we couldn't leave without one last visit to the ocean.  If we were going to spend hours driving through the central valley of California on I-5 (and if you have done it you know what we are talking about), some quality time on the beach was necessary.  Reese and Callie both loved getting their feet wet.  Not surprisingly, we had to put them into new pants once we got back to the car.  Wave jumping will do that to you.

It's funny how the world looks different when you have children.  John lived for about two years in an apartment right along this stretch of beach.  He never noticed or used the swings.  Sarah, in her many visits to this beach, never noticed or used the swings.  But within moments of pulling up to the beach, both of the girls shouted "Swings!"  It's fun to see life through the eyes of a two-year-old and a five-year-old.  You never knew how many swingsets, slides, fountains, horse statues, and so on were around until you hang out with those two.

It means a lot to us to bring the girls back to the place we met.  They seem to love it so much, but they don't truly understand quite yet how important this particular area is to their own existence.  One of these days we hope it will make them realize how cool their parents once were.

Fortunately for us, our road trip to northern California included a quick traffic free getaway from the Los Angeles metro area.  Our next stop was Sacramento!

Christmas 2013

This year was a big year for us because we finally made the decision to celebrate Christmas at home before traveling to see our families.  So it meant we had the opportunity to experience Lexington during the holidays before we headed out to California.  

It all started with preparing for Santa and the reindeers before the Christmas Eve service.  Callie is somewhat of a pro and knew exactly what to put out.  Reese had fun tagging along, but thought that the carrots were for her.  Hopefully the reindeer didn't mind a few slightly nibbled treats.  The need to do this before service came about because we had plans to have Christmas Eve dinner at our good friends, the Abrahams.

The girls could not have been more excited to spend an extended period of time with Claire and Ella.  We could not have been more excited to spend time with Kirk and Kelly and the wonderful chocolate covered treats that Kelly prepares.  But the best part of the evening came when the Abrahams busted out the Wii and played Dance Revolution, or whatever the game is called.  Reese was giddy and just jumped up and down.  But Callie tried to hold the beat and match the dance moves.  As long as she didn't think we were looking, she let her inhibitions go.  It was pretty fun to watch.

After a fun night at the Abrahams we came home, put the girls in bed, and made sure all was ready for the morning.  When morning finally arrived, we all had had a good night sleep.

But we were also very excited.  John made sure everyone waited at the top of the stairs so that he could make sure everything was ready for the big entrance.  It was obvious that Santa had made an appearance, so the time had come to let the girls see for themselves.

Callie wanted to help Reese with her gifts right away.  The very first present provided many oohs and aahhs, as well as a clear indication that Santa is a smart man.  Reese received her very own bitty baby, which meant she would no longer have to fight with her sister over Bella.  Later, Callie and John would devise a plan so that Reese's new doll became Bella while the old Bella became Zoey.  Then when Reese wanted to have Zoey all the time, the plan was reworked so that new Bella became the new Zoey while the old Zoey became the reborn Bella.  And if you can follow that you will be allowed to babysit.

Callie quickly turned to her own presents from Santa and found a great deal to smile about.  When she was told that she could not have an American Girl doll because she was too young, she stated that she would not mind Barbie and some Barbie clothes again.  Santa was happy to oblige by giving her Belle, from Beauty and the Beast.  It turns out that she is not a big fan of Belle necessarily, but she was still pleased Christmas morning.  Sometimes it is tough to be Santa.

It was extremely fun to watch Reese open up her stocking, because she reacted to every new gift as if it was the best thing she had ever seen.  This in part explains the joy she is displaying here over a granola bar.  This fact will particular please both of her grandmothers who enjoy loading up stockings with toothpaste, batteries, and other extremely useful products.  Callie also enjoyed her stocking stuffings, but also got a huge kick out of watching Reese soak up the Christmas experience.

It was obvious that Santa hit a home run by bringing Bella to Lexington for Reese.  She also received a stroller, which got just as much affection.  Like her older sister, Reese also displays that tendency to express her love with enduring embraces, a la Pepe le Pew.  This love affair has continued ever since, and a day rarely passes without Reese, and for that matter Callie, spending time with their bitty babies.

However, the most magical Christmas moment this year came when Callie saw the cardboard house that Santa left for her and Reese.  When asked what was her favorite gift, she said the house.  "Santa knew exactly what I wanted even though I couldn't say exactly what it was!"  Who knew that $10 could bring such joy?  Both Callie and Reese loved the fact that it was a house they could decorate, and also it was big enough that they could get inside.  It continues to provide hours of entertainment, and it is quite amazing how many things they can fit inside that thing.

Since Christmas Eve was spent at the Abrahams, it was only fitting that they came to spend Christmas day at our house.  All four girls quickly went to work on the house.  They play so well together, and the only real problem was isolating Reese on the house, since she is the least accomplished artist of the crew and has an unfortunate tendency to color over what others have so painstakingly worked on.

Here is a picture of the fearsome foursome in all of their Christmas glory.  We tried our best but could not get a good picture without at least one of them with their eyes closed.  Perhaps this is what too much holiday sugar and excitement will do to you.

We are very lucky to have such wonderful friends like the Abrahams in our lives.  It was a lot of fun to share the holidays with them.

For us, however, the fun didn't end there.  The day after Christmas it was our good fortune to have a visit from the Hannen clan.  Suzy, Brian, and Zoey were spending Christmas with Brian's family up in Cincinnati and were able to fit an overnight trip to Lexington into their schedule.  It was great to see them and the girls could not get enough of Zoey.  They wanted to hang all over her and Reese definitely loved seeing her old high chair put to use.

It's also safe to say that Zoey is not exactly a shy, retiring wallflower.  She held her own with her cousins and seemed to enjoy the visit just as much as they did.  In fact she wanted to stay up as late as possible.  This picture was taken around 10pm after Suzy and Brian had tried to put her to sleep twice.  It was great for Sarah because she had to work during the day.  But the smile on Zoey's face was not exactly echoed on those of her parents.  Oh well, such is life.

The next day Suzy, Brian, and Zoey were able to hang out for quite a bit before they had to head back north.  And this meant that Callie and Reese got to spend even more time soaking up the Colorado love.  Based on our travel schedules, it is a distinct possibility that we will be able to do this any year we don't travel to Connecticut after Christmas.  That is another great thing to look forward to.

The day after this picture was taken, we boarded a plane for sunny southern California.  But that's a story for another post or two or three.