A Day Out and About

Leila and I had such a great day together! It started this morning in Tacoma. We met two groups of friends to see the Gallop and Go Kids Koncert presented by the Tacoma Philharmonic. The concert took place in the Theatre on the Square. I tried to get a picture of all the kids prior to the show, but with six kids, it didn't happen. There is one more concert in March and I would recommend it to anyone with small children!

After the concert, Leila and Mackenzie humored me with a brief moment of posing for the camera.

After the concert, Sarah, me and the little ones grabbed a quick Starbucks. Leila and I were heading home after that, but the weather was SO wonderful that we took a detour and found our way to the waterfront. Ruston Way was a perfect place to spend some time enjoying the sunshine! We walked along the path, played on the beach, threw some rocks in the water, climbed through the trees and ran around the grass.

Trying to wrangle my daughter for a photo and beat the timer on the camera.



Look closely and you can see the tug boat pulling the big barge.

One of the rotted out supports from an old pier. Happy St. Pat's Day!



More snuggles on the beach.
Weed's footprints








By the time we got home in the late afternoon, we were both ready for a nap! The only thing that was missing was Chris (he was working at school all day).

Royal Brunch

Papa Mike and Daddy ran the sound at the Princess Breakfast this last weekend, so of course, Leila wanted to be involved. It was a fun little event and Leila had a great time dancing and making new friends with the other girls that were there.

Giving Gramma hugs.

This is Leila's curtsy:

Thank-you Letters

I wanted to send a picture of Leila to everyone in the family along with our thank you cards. I wanted to dress her in a new outfit, fix her hair and maybe head outside. She was not into that at all, so...we stayed inside, wore her jams and her hair is crazy! Still pretty, dang cute though! Thanks family and friends for such a wonderful holiday season.

Leila and Raja (one of her top 5 Christmas gifts this year). Who would have thought?
Getting silly.

Of course...one of these shots!

Mid-Winter Egg Hunt

We took the lights off the house this morning. While Chris was taking them off the gutters, I had to hunt around the perimeter of the house and pick up all the lights that had fallen off. We have noticed over the last few years that when the weather gets real icy and cold, the lights fall off the strands. Good thing we switched to LED and they are plastic so there is no shattered glass to contend with. Last year wasn't a problem since it was a milder winter, but just look at all the lights that fell off this year!! We might need to upgrade next year and buy some different lights...although it was kind of fun to practice for Easter.

Wrapping Up Christmas

We are officially finished with 2010's Christmas celebrations...as of this Monday. Well, the lights aren't down from the house and I must admit that I am listening to Christmas music on the Comcast music channel as I write this, but we have celebrated with all the different family members. I honestly was not good at chronicling all the family get-togethers this holiday season. I took one not-so-great picture on Christmas Day at the in-laws' house, forgot my camera when we visited my Mom's and didn't take one picture on the 26th when the Tavern extended family got together. Monday evening, my Dad and his wife, Holli, visited us and I actually remembered to take some pictures. So, in an effort to have a decent post I just combined the very few pictures that I do have of our Christmas celebrations this winter. Maybe next year will be better!

Our tree on Christmas Eve.

Thanks to my Mom for sending me the next few pictures from her camera. My Aunt K and Uncle T opening presents at Mom's house.
Leila and her new hat from her Uncle Jonny. He keeps L well-dressed in REI gear!
Jon's snowboarding helmet from our Mom.
My present from my brother. Don't mind the tag.

My Dad and Leila this week playing with one of her Christmas presents from him. He built this house and it fits together like a puzzle. Look at their expressions of concentration...they look alike here.

They finished it!

Christmas Eve

For the second year in a row we had a very low-key Christmas Eve, just the three of us. After a dinner of baked potatoes and salad (and noodles with red sauce for L), we headed out to drive around the neighborhood looking at Christmas lights. We took some cookies in the car for dessert, L was in her jammies already and we listened to our favorite Christmas music. After just about 10 minutes, Leila started asking if we were going home yet! In fact, the whole afternoon she had been saying she wanted to go to bed so Santa could come. Needless to say, we didn't stay out too long. When a 3-year-old is wanting to go to bed, it is crazy not to oblige!

We got home and Leila wrote a letter to Santa, Rudolph and Mrs. Claus. She helped me get the treats for Santa ready and then Chris and I tucked her in for the night.

If you look closely, you can still see marinara sauce from her dinner on her face. Oops.

Carrots for Rudolph and the other reindeer. L insisted that we cut them up into smaller pieces so each reindeer would have his own bite.

Opening the fireplace doors with Daddy to make an easy entrance for Santa.
Santa came! All Leila wanted from Santa was a Rudolph toy that sings and a soft-bottomed Sleeping Beauty doll. He brought both of those and a kitchen too! Santa set the kitchen up in the other room. I didn't take any pictures of it because we video taped Leila's reaction instead. Sadly, something went wrong with the camera and it didn't record.
I tried to get a picture of our tree where the lights would be more visible, but none of them were amazing. This is the best one. I like that you can see the Christmas orb outside on the porch.
Merry Christmas to all!