Saturday, December 31, 2011

Christmas Adventures of 2011

Once again we were lucky enough to fly back home to warm and sunny California for Christmas time. It was so sunny there that anytime we mentioned going outside Macy would shield her eyes with her hand and say, "No, eye!" Apparently she's not used to the sun always being in her eyes.

Before looking at all my pictures I thought, "Sure, I guess we did a lot." Now looking through them all I wonder how we had time to sleep! We were busy!

We got in the night of December 22nd and celebrated Macy's 2nd birthday at Chuck E' Cheeses.

After that it was a whirlwind of Christmas parties and more birthday celebrations. Macy and my dad got to celebrate their birthdays two more times. On Christmas Eve the Seymour family came to my mom's house to celebrate. We started by making gingerbread houses. I had to make one myself because Ja was off playing with Macy who was too shy to be with a bunch of people she didn't know. She was much happier after we ate dinner and sang happy birthday to her. We had to sing twice because she wanted to blow out the candles twice. During present opening time she pretty much stole all the attention because she was going wild with taking tissue paper in and out of a big gift bag.


Christmas Day we opened presents in the morning then went to church. Macy got up at 6 am (and went to bed almost 2 hours late the night before) so she was ready for her nap right as 11:30 a.m. church started. I was sooo glad it was only an hour long. She fell asleep in my arms while I read her books before nap time. She's never done that so that shows how tired she was, and that she slept for a solid 3 1/2 hours. We had to wake her up to drive to the Pundreson's house for Christmas festivities. For a reason we can't figure out she was not afraid of the Pundreson's lab puppy. She is scared of deaf, old, and blind pepper but not a bigger and more energetic puppy. Maybe it's Pepper's old age that is scary.

Macy got so many cute presents for her birthday and Christmas. Last year the theme was clothes and this year the unannounced but obvious theme was books. She got tons! We won't be needing the library for a while. She did receive some cute clothes too, 2 more play tents, a butterfly pillow pet, and more play food for her kitchen.

Here is the annual Francis cousin's on the stairs picture.


And my family (minus Kenny).
It was a little sad to have Christmas over in the first few days of us being in California but it did allow for us to fit in a lot of fun activities.  Here are some of them:

Macy was able to get about 50 clementines.

Macy showed off her super cute personality night after night.

Last year my mom, my sister's, Macy and I rode bikes down at Newport along the sand. I had a great time so this year Randy and Ja joined us. We'll have to do it again next year so my dad can finally join. The weather was so warm we didn't really need jackets. Macy actually did great in the bike trailer until we stopped to ride the ferry; then she wouldn't get back in. Luckily our car was very close to the ferry so it wasn't a big deal. We ride all around Newport and saw some really cool beach houses. I hope it becomes a family tradition.


Knott's Berry Farm was having a special for police and firemen in December. So my dad took all of us to Knott's for very cheap. Although it got crowded we still had a great time. Macy really liked the rides and we got some video of her on them. It will be very fun to go again next year when her ride selection will be greater. She really loved both train rides there. Erica and Jesse were visiting from Idaho so they joined us too.

My grandparents came over to visit with Macy. I was worried how the night would go because as soon as Macy saw Grandma and Grandpa Seymour drive up she started saying, "No! Go! No!" We found the secret to her not being shy to people: serve them food! I had Macy give the grandmas some of her toy cake (which Macy calls pizza) and right away she was having a great time. She even went into the room with all the men and served them too. It was very sweet and I'm glad they got to see her as her cute little self. Not just a clinging little girl who whines.

Aunt Stacie and Aunt Jill took Macy to Chuck E. Cheese again and got her a blue airhead. Macy thought it was hilarious her mouth was all blue. We played at some parks, one had scary geese that walked up really close to us. My mom, Jill, and Ja went frisbee golfing while Macy and I hung out at the playground. Macy played with her new tents. Macy also LOVED her laundry basket rides from Papa but I only took video of that so stay tuned for that video.


We visited the DeVore's a few times. Henry was very sweet with Macy and she loved him for it. She calls him "Henny" and loved to follow him around. He is a great cousin and actually wanted her to follow him. One night the adults and Henry were going to go out for dinner but Henry didn't want to leave Macy behind so he stayed and played with her. He said Macy was so cute and he loved her. So sweet!

Macy loved playing in Granny Dot's pantry. At first she would take cans out and put them on the floor. Then Henry showed her how to hide behind the moving shelves. That was her new favorite entertainment. We also went to Kid Space with Henry and Macy loved it. It's the greatest little kid play space/museum. She could spend all day everyday there.

Since my dad will be retiring December 2012 we realized that Macy may be the only grandchild to see Papa as a police officer. I got a picture with Macy and my dad in uniform when she was a few months old but she was sleeping in it so it doesn't really count. This time my dad stopped by the house so we could get a better picture. He turned on the flashing lights for Macy which were very bright because it was dark outside. At first she shielded her eyes but when he turned them off she asked for more. He is a sergeant so he doesn't arrest anyone which is unfortunate because I really wanted to get a picture of Macy in the back seat getting arrested. She wanted to play in the car but that was definite no since there's a huge rifle in the front seat.

One day Ja went with Darin to La Canada so they could go frisbee golfing and see Mission Impossible 4. He so kindly took Macy with him so I could have a girls day with my mom and sisters. We decided to go to Sherman's Library and Gardens in Newport. It's a little botanical garden in the city. I think it's a hidden gem. I've driven past it many times but had to idea it was there. We had a fun time going to lunch and to the garden.


New Year's Eve was spent at the DeVore's drinking gallons of root beer for Nathan's annual root beer drinking contest. Not really that much, but it felt like it. We had to take a break in between drinking to make room in our stomachs for more root beer. After that we were a pretty lame bunch. We all (except Dorothy) went to bed before midnight. Lame, but we still had fun.

Ja, Devin, Dee, and I saw Wicked at the Pantages.  We think it was our fourth time seeing it and it's just as good as the first time we saw it. We had a different Fiyero this time and we actually liked him better. He acted a little more brainless and ditzy and was comical doing so.

Holy cow, I think that does it! Even if there's more I can't fit anything else! Needless to say, we had a great vacation! I can't believe I almost forgot to add that Macy was an angel on the plan rides! That was a huge blessing!

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