Christmas in Arizona: 2013 Edition

We spent another lovely Christmas in Scottsdale. Boots and GranDan handled very well having their house invaded by not only us, but the Vander Sluis clan as well.
To accommodate everyone, a tent city for the 7 and under crowd was deployed. We called it "Allenville".

 
After Kacy jotted down (lengthy) Christmas wish list, which included among the requests:

• a hot tub
• a dog
• a drivers license
• a less annoying brother

we headed to one of our Arizona must-dos: In N Out burger.

On Monday, we hit another Scottsdale favorite, MacDonald's Ranch. The kids all got to take a few laps around the ranch on KK the pony.

 

Look mom, no hands!

There was other fun stuff to do, like play with ropes.

Daddy tried his hand at it and caught a Daniel.

Kacy got the cowboy treatment as well.

Christmas Eve had no shortage of activities.

First, it was cousin Will's third birthday. There were cupcakes, balloons and presents.

Among the presents was one very special one: Will got to find out if he is having a baby brother or sister come April.

Pink it is!~

We hadn't done enough so Christmas morning was next.

Santa did find the kids in the desert yet again, and there were plenty of presents under the tree.

In between gift-opening rounds, the boys posed for more pics. Daniel's inner cheeseball begins to come out.

We had an added bonus on Christmas Day in that Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Mary took a day out of their Nevada/Arizona vacation to spend the holiday with us in Scottsdale. It was wonderful to have everyone together. It was even better to take a midday walk around the 'hood.

 

As has become somewhat of a tradition on Christmas, we give the oven a rest and head out for Mexican fare. Mimi and Boots were given ginormous margaritas. 

Boots and GranDan got Kacy a riding lesson for Christmas, and she got her crash course in everything from brushing to trotting on Thursday. She loved it.

Friday, we hit the Wildlife Zoo and Aquarium, another fave. Daniel was super-excited. 

And even though it wasn't hump day, we spent time visiting with the friendly camels.

The aquarium was full of gorgeous fish and other aquatic animals.

 
 
We also helped to ensure that their giraffes are among the most well-fed animals on property. (Seriously--they are fed pellets, at 50 cents a pop, all day--how are they not three times their size?)

The carousel was a hit as well.

A visit to the petting zoo included hanging out with giant tortoises, and putting fawns in their place. Not pictured were the cutest baby goats who tried to eat Daniel's shirt and Kacy's ruffles. 

It was a wonderful week, and great to spend time with Boots, GranDan, Aunt Lacey, Uncle Nate, Will and Mimi. Having Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Mary there for part of it just made it that much more special. It's not about what's under the Christmas tree, but who's around it, so they say. How very true.

Happy new year to all! See you in 2014.

Pre-Christmas Revelry

We got into the Christmas spirit with a new tree this year. Still fake, but new. There are only so many hours in the day and between the kids, the cats and the house, taking care of a real tree is not high on the list of things to add to the mix.
But fittingly, Kacy's ornament (featuring her likeness, from the winning painting) was the first to adorn the tree in 2013.

We all got dressed in some fine clothes for the annual holiday party at the club yesterday.

There was a meet and greet with Santa's #1 reindeer, Rudolph.

And of course, the big man made an appearance too.

Daniel was game for the whole lap thing for about 2.2 seconds. It was then that he eyed Grandma and her party-planning team with a prettily-wrapped gift for him. It was then game over.

So Kacy enjoyed some solo photo opps with Mr. Claus.

We head west to Arizona this weekend. Stay tuned for our Christmas adventures in Scottsdale!

Kacy's 7th Birthday: Wrap Up

Now that all of the 7th birthday festivities are over, a bit of a recap.

We celebrated with cake on the big day, 11/11 at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Kacy chose the menu (salmon and mac and cheese) and the cake detail (chocolate cake and a pony).

For the big finale, we had friends join in for some bouncy awesomeness the following weekend.

And of course, there was more cake.

And finally...I love this picture of Daniel and Siena. I just can't figure out how to caption it.

"Hey Siena, come here often? Can I buy you some water with a splash of food coloring, like I am having?"

Aquarium Adventures and Kacy's Birthday: Part 1

We rounded out our visit with Boots and Grandan with a visit to the National Aquarium in Baltimore last week. Going on a Tuesday is great as there aren't nearly as many people as on a weekend. Other than the school groups--it was smooth sailing.

Kacy commandeered the camera and got some good shots.

Here is Kacy's contraband photo. She missed the "no photography" sign and was mortified when the docent chided her.

Now on to birthday festivities. The AM portion anyway.

Here's our birthday girl. She said she didn't wake up feeling any different. Maybe that's because she doesn't technically turn 7 until 6:50 PM this evening.

She got a new, super-cool, heavy-duty rolling suitcase for her many travels. Hot pink of course. Oh and some new boots.

Daniel liked it, despite it being pink. Maybe Santa will surprise him with one in December.

Giving Sissy birthday kisses. All in all, a good morning. She should be good and sugared up by pickup time, after cupcakes to celebrate at school, and again at daycare. Stop #3: Grandma's. Salmon, mac and cheese (birthday girl's picks) and yes, cake!

Williamsburg Rendezvous

With Halloween in the rearview, and November upon us, we hit the road on Friday for a quick road trip down to Williamsburg.
We enjoyed a lovely sunset dinner at Two Rivers Country Club Friday evening with our hosts, Susie and Byron; as well as special guests Boots and GranDan, all the way from Scottsdale.

Saturday we hit the Yankee Candle Village in Williamsburg, mecca for anyone who likes candles, crafts, toys, fudge or anything somewhat related. They have it all.

They even have an awesome Santa there, year-round. Boots, GranDan, Byron and Sue all took a turn on his lap on Halloween, and shared the pics with us.

He switched out of his Halloween-themed vest for our visit on Saturday morning, as they were in full Christmas-photo-opp mode. You'll just have to wait for the reveal of Kacy and Daniel's visit with the big man.

It was great spending time at our favorite place in Williamsburg (Susie and Byron's house) but on Sunday, it was time to pack up Boots and GranDan and cart them with us back north to Baltimore. We jammed just about every inch of free space but managed to get all of the travelers and their accessories home.

Halloween

Halloween 2013 began with some fog (quite appropriate) but balmy temps in the 70s. Ideal for trick-or-treating later in the evening.

Grandma worked hard to create Kacy's gorgeous princess dress.

Daddy spent a good amount of time creating Daniel's wish, a monster truck.

However, other than a few minutes in the front yard, Daniel's big blue monster truck didn't get much action on Halloween night.

Daddy gets an A for effort, and in 2014, we'll stick to store-bought costumes for Daniel.

He did agree to wear a super-scary mask for trick-or-treating. As usual, the kids cleaned up.