Christmas

 We emjoyed a lovely, merry Christmas! The kids were so pleased with their gifts and we had a great time celebrating together.

Spencer got me some fabulous gifts, including this necklace--love it!

When we took the tree down we let the kids play with the lights. We had already bought replacements since these are missing several bulbs, so they had a good time before the lights were binned.

A few days after Christmas we celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary. We got a couple of older teens to stay with our kids (video games were in abundance!) and we drove all of 15 minutes away to a hotel in Monterey for the night. It was nice to have time together, although everything is closed. We couldn't eat at a restaurant, not even outdoor dining, but we made do and are grateful for our strong, happy marriage. 

December

December started off with our sweet girl turning 14. We had a fun family Harry Potter birthday, with a Hagrid cake, a fish and chips dinner, lots of treats, games, and gifts. She had a lovely, memorable day.

Little Christmas craft one afternoon.

Declan and I spend A LOT of time together during distance learning. He's out in the dining room and has a lot of breaks, and I am usually out in the kitchen or living room. He's my snuggle buddy and the reason everything I do takes me twice as long. :)

I work out in the park every Wednesday morning and the sunrises are gorgeous.

And I take walks along the ocean--it's so pretty here! I'm so grateful to live here.

 

November

In November I took Ian to Washington to see my family, my last of the three trips with each kid. We had a great time (pics at the end). Spencer took Declan and Audrey on some hikes and adventures, to the very low tides and to Garrapata state park.

This is the low tide pic; the rest are from Garrapata.

Audrey sang to water, like any good Disney princess.

Spencer has been taking the kids on more bike rides too. I finally went on one this month. It was fun!

I was able to host a driveway baby shower for my friend Emily, which was a wonderful success.

We had a fun family outing to a favorite restaurant, Lalla Grill.

And here are the pictures from my trip with Ian.

We ran into Spencer's aunt at the Metropolitan Market--such a fun surprise.

Ian got to experience the slides (we got wet butts from the rain!).

My brother Ben, me, my brother Kenny, and Ian. I love time with my family more than anything!

Ian loves dogs (but is allergic plus we live in a no-pets rental home), so he enjoyed time with Lizzy's new puppy, Maggie.

 

Halloween

We had a happy Halloween, in spite of COVID restrictions. For the first time, we had a family themed costume, all characters from the tv show Gravity Falls. 

Declan was a barfing gnome from episode one.

Audrey was Mabel Pines.

Ian was Grunkle Stan.

I was Wendy.

Spencer was Dipper Pines, and we think we nailed it.

The character Dipper is 12 but has a crush on the 16/17 year old Wendy. :)

A friend of ours hosted a trunk or treat on their property, and the kids had a great time.

Then we went to our church drive-by trunk or treat, more COVID friendly on this one, and Ian's buddy was dressed as Soos, another Gravity Falls character. So we grabbed a quick pic!

The kids with all their loot! They did not go without, and made some wonderful memories.

Morro Bay

We had a great visit to Morro Bay for the kids' fall break. They had a week off and we were sick of our house, so we rented a vacation house and relaxed, played at the beach, and explored the area.