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.
