Insta-Friday

Winter break is coming to an end.  Our vacation is over... Eric is back at work and Savannah will be back at school on Monday.  It was fun while it lasted... so so so much fun!

Our little road tripper behind the wheel (of a parked car).

Learning books keep this girl occupied for hours.

Loved this sign.  There were all sorts of cute little quirky decorations throughout the entire town.

He can't get enough of the ketchup.  He eats it by the spoonfuls.  yuck.

Pit stop at the Walmart in the middle of nowhere New Mexico... snack buying, bathroom break, and of course some video game playing.

Savannah has mastered her vintage Fisher Price record player.  Eric dug out the Blue Hawaii record and now that is all she listens to.

New Year's Day... Eric with all the kids.  Our friends and their little girl stayed the night, so we had one big New Year's sleepover.

Home In Time For New Year's Eve

Everyone always looks at us like we are crazy when I say we are driving to San Diego.  They can't believe that we are willingly going to be in a car for that long with two kids.  I'm always asked why we don't fly.  Well, for one, it costs a whole lot more to fly... and two, believe it or not, our kids are actually not terrible to road trip with... you might even say we enjoy it.  Crazy, I know.  There were moments where Ryder was just completely fed up with sitting and would fuss and squeal for a bit.  Other than that, they were both great.  After two full days in the car, we were all more than ready to get back home.  No matter how good your kids are, that drive is still exhausting.  We made it back in time for one night of sleep and then it was time for New Year's celebrating.  We just had some friends over to the house to play on Savannah's new kinect, so not much prep or thought had to be put into it.  Surprisingly, we all (not Ryder) made it to midnight... and then we crashed.  It has been a long, long, long week.  Any day now I am sure that the exhaustion will catch up with me.

Happy New Year!!  Looking forward to a whole lot in 2013... should be a great year!

Tombstone, AZ

On the way home from San Diego we decided to stop and do something that we have been wanting to do ever since our first drive out to California.  Instead of driving our normal distance to El Paso and staying the night, we went a little (only about 30 miles) out of the way and stayed the night in Tombstone, AZ.  We got there at around two in the afternoon... so we didn't exactly have a whole lot of time to site see... we squeezed in as much as we could before dark.  The town (with the exception of the few bars and restaurants) literally dies at sundown.  Plus it was freezing, so we were not interested in doing much walking around once it got dark.  The things we did get to see were pretty awesome.  All the historic landmarks that we all know from history lessons or the movie are now turned into museums that you can walk through.  There are shops and carriages and people dressed the part.  It was really neat to see.  Several gunfight reenactments are performed all over town.  We chose to see the one that actually takes place inside the OK Corral.  It was very cheesy, but still cool to see.  This was probably Savannah's favorite part of the afternoon.  

Eric and the kids cruising the streets of Tombstone.  Notice the soda in Savannah's hand... it's called Doc Holliday (tag line: double barrels of flavor)... this is what they serve/sell in Tombstone instead of Dr. Pepper.  Cracked me up.  Total Cheese.

Ryder wanted NOTHING to do with this picture.  The cowboy in it tried to pick him up and that set Ryder off.  The Savannah started laughing because Ryder was crying... chaos.  

Sav: "Mom, what are those?"

Me: "Caskets, it's what you put people in when they die."

Sav: "WHAT!!  There are dead people right there???!!"

Oops, probably should have explained that a little better.  Took several minutes for her to understand that these caskets were just there for "decoration".

"Mom, take my picture doing what the Indian is doing." -Sav

Insta-Friday

Our week long Christmas break in San Diego has come to an end.  It went by entirely too fast... a week is just never long enough.  I am already counting down to our summer visit.  It will be much longer than a week, for sure!

Savannah was so excited to see my grandparents.  This was the best picture I could get of them all together.  My g-ma throws fits if you take her picture, so I was lucky to sneak this one with my phone.  She was attempting to hide behind Savannah's head... ha!  Got ya, g-ma!

On Christmas Eve we walked a few blocks over to Christmas Tree Circle to look at lights.  Walking is always so much more fun than driving.  No traffic, you can enjoy the weather and take your time, plus, the kids can run right up to the lights.

One of the best gifts we (me and Eric) got this year... a vintage record player.  We have been wanting one for several years now, but just haven't found what we were looking for.  My dad surprised us with this.  I am in love and can not wait to get home and use it some more.

Christmas afternoon nap time. 

Passed out in the recliner Christmas night with her Boo Roo and her new friends.  Santa brought her Peter Pan and Perry.  Happy happy girl... she loves her Disney friends.

The massive walk up fish tanks at Sea World are amazing.  Both kids got a kick out of standing right up on the glass.

Savannah and her Uncle Ry Ry... crazy goobers.

Thanks for a fun week Uncle Ry Ry!

Before we headed back to Texas, we had to meet up with my friend Liz and her husband and kiddos.  The girls always fall into best friend zone within minutes.  It is like they are long lost sisters.  Cracks me up how much alike these two are.

The boys are six months apart... both were crazy at the restaurant.  Feeding off of each other's energy.  Good times!

Sea World For The Day

We spent a whole week here in San Diego and really did not venture out to do a lot.  Most of our time was spent at my grandparents' house hanging out.  They love to have the kids around, so I hate to leave with them to go do things.  I did however want to take a day and go to Sea World.  We had these half off tickets that a friend of my brother's hooked us up with and it seemed like a waste to not go and use them.  Plus, we rarely get to go do things like this as a family.  It was fun to have Eric there to see the kids enjoy the animals and the shows.  Ryder was crazy borderline spastic over everything he saw.  He screamed and pointed at everything... boy was in heaven.  Savannah has been to Sea World a few times before, so she knew what she wanted to see... straight to the sting rays and Shamu.  Everything else was cool to her, but not nearly as cool as those two things.

Ryder was excited to get to touch a star fish.  He probably would have jumped right in that ice cold water if I would have let him.

The sky ride over the bay is always one of my favorites... totally worth the 40 minute wait with an antsy toddler.

We were lucky and caught a close up training session with the orcas.  Savannah was speechless... totally in awe of them.  Ryder was squealing the entire time.  Again, I'm pretty sure he would have jumped in with them if I would have let him.

Waiting for the Shamu show to start.  I forgot how cold it gets here in the winter.  That ocean air is chilly!

Yeah, not so much.  Ryder was hesitant and not so impressed with Elmo and Cookie Monster.  Sister loved them.

Christmas Day

Christmas was pretty fantastic this year.  For starters, we were in San Diego with my family, then there is the fact that it was super low key, and that the kids are older so things (gifts, Santa, etc) is a lot more fun.  Everyone had so much fun opening gifts and playing with everything that the kids got.  Santa brought Savannah a kinect sensor for our xbox... so needless to say, most of our day was playing that.  Santa brought Ryder a little 4 wheeler that he was very excited to try out.  He hasn't quite figured out the whole steering thing so he just goes forward and runs into everything in front of him.  It will be fun to watch him test it out in our backyard when we get home.  Christmas this year was so so wonderful... getting to come home this year was the best gift I got.  

Ryder came out of the bedroom and immediately went straight for the 4 wheeler.  Savannah was so excited to see her brother get so excited.  It was pretty funny.

Each thing she pulled out of her stocking was better than the next... Santa really knew what he was doing this year.

Santa should have buried Goofy deeper in the stocking.  Once Ryder pulled Goofy out, he was done.  Nothing else in there was nearly as exciting.

Santa also brought her the princess Jasmine dress up she has been begging me for.  

He caught on to the whole present opening thing pretty quickly.  Infact, he was so good (and fast) at it that he started walking around the room just tearing open any gift he could find.  

Uncle Ry Ry hooked her up with the Hulk hands she has been eyeing since the Avengers movie came out.  I know I've said it before, but seriously... she is the absolute best mix of tomboy and girly.  Princess dress up and super hero gloves.  Perfect combo.

Everything his sister opened he had to try out.  Everything.

My favorite picture from the day.  Ryder using the toy phone he got to talk to my grandma on her remote control pretend phone.  So funny.

This is how our entire day was spent.  The kinect is AWESOME!

Boy is crazy on the 4 wheeler... clearly not intended for indoor use.