We recently returned from a fantastic Christmas trip to the Los Angeles area to visit family! Ready for a long recap...? Too many great photos!
We stayed in Santa Monica with Uncle Kevin, Aunt Anoosh, and Cousins Sylvia (6 1/2) and Tavio (4 1/2).
Granddad Scott stayed with all of us for the first half of our visit.
Each night Granddad went to the room that Sylvia, Tavio, and Brielle were staying in to read them a good-night story. However, now that Sylvia is a fantastic reader, I'm not sure he actually got the chance to do it. The kids enjoyed having him with them, though.
It was fantastic to feel the warmth and sunshine in California! We took the kids out to a local park to play.
At the LA County Museum of Natural History, we saw a fantastic dinosaur exhibit.
No - I didn't ask them to pose like the dinosaurs...
During this trip, Ronan became quite the picture star. He posed with a sweet smile whenever we asked him to. At the museum, he insisted that I take this photo of him with the dinosaur.
The Christmas celebrations started a day early because Granddad had to fly out Christmas morning. That was fine with the kids!
Granddad enjoyed receiving the grandkids calendar, an annual tradition.
Everyone loved their gifts and the kids played with their new toys together.
Later that night, our family, Granddad, Uncle Kevin, and Cousin Sylvia headed into the valley to visit Aunt Kelly and Cousin Emmy's house for a Christmas Eve party. Grammy Barbara had bought special outfits for the grandkids to wear.
Cousin Stella (5) and Cousin Emmy (almost 3)...
I was so focused on taking photos of the cousins together that I apparently didn't take any photos of the adults. But Kraig and I enjoyed spending some time with Grammy, Grandpa Taylor, Aunt Amy, Uncle Todd, and Aunt Kelly. It was also special for me to have my dad and Kraig's parents and Kevin and Kraig's sisters all get to see each other.
Early Christmas morning, the kids were awake and ready to explore their stockings. Granddad didn't have to leave until after the stockings were emptied, so he got to witness the kids' excitement. They received a lot of fun things from Santa.
Christmas afternoon, our family headed back to Kelly and Emmy's house to celebrate Christmas with the other cousins. Again, Brielle and Ronan were very willing to pose for the camera.
Kelly and Emmy have a lovely house, with a pretty backyard for the kids to play in.
Yay - another round of opening gifts!
Aunt Amy got the girls special Elsa and princess dresses to wear, which, of course, they loved.
One of the most amazing gifts that Stella and Brielle got were remote-controlled flying fairies.
Brielle's was Tinker Bell. We couldn't believe how well they worked!
Later, the girls entertained the adults with a special musical performance.
Back at Sylvia and Tavio's house, we enjoyed the next phase of our holiday with the arrival of Grandma Pat and Grandma Sue, and another Christmas celebration.
"Cheese!"
The cousins loved the slides and climbed the hill over and over to go down them, often together. We were really impressed with how brave and physically skilled Ronan was. He seems to think that he's a big kid too.
Brielle and Ronan were also fascinated by fountains of water that seemed to shoot out of the ground randomly. As they got braver, they inched closer to the water.
Surprise! I love Kraig's "caring daddy" face in this photo...
The park was right next to a beautiful view of the beach.
After sunset, we walked over the the promenade area to see the huge Christmas tree, play on an indoor whale-shaped play structure, and have dinner with the grandmas.
We were lucky to be able to soak up the sun at Sylvia and Tavio's house for a few days. Brielle and Ronan loved playing in their nice backyard.
Ronan enjoyed helping Tavio play with his new remote-controlled car.
After the Christmas celebrations were over, it was time for Cousin Emmy's 3rd birthday party! Grammy helped the kids with art activities.
Happy Birthday, Emmy!
Back at Sylvia's house, Brielle put on the new Elsa dress Grammy gave her...and guess what? Sylvia happened to have one too! What are the chances? They spent the last couple days together both dressed up as Elsa. Sylvia even had an extra hair piece (a genius creation by Anoosh) for Brielle to wear so they could truly be twins. One of the best parts of this trip was how much Sylvia and Brielle bonded and how close they became. They were both very sad to say goodbye.
Before heading to the airport, we made a final excursion to the farmer's market. It was incredible to see a lot of vegan food as well as tons of fruit in season in December!
We really had a wonderful trip. We were so lucky to be able to play with all the cousins (as well as the adults!). Thank you, everyone, for a wonderful holiday!
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