Ian's birthday shenanigans

Ian celebrated his birthday by taking his friend Gavin to Jump 'n Around and then back to our house for pizza, brownies and video games. Happy birthday Ian!

March fun

Early March: hiking with the family; Audrey gets a bold new haircut; and Paul came for an impromptu visit to be my date to Matilda: the Broadway Musical. We have fun!

Ian is eight!

This beautiful boy turned 8, got baptized, and we had these gorgeous pictures taken!

February

Mr. B took Audrey to the school Daddy-daughter dance and they had a great time!

Meanwhile, I took the boys on a date to the Lego Batman movie--loved it!

 I pulled out sewing stuff after a year of neglect and made the kids and their stuffies fleece scarves. Actually no sewing was required...but I'm signed up for a class in March!

 A family walk to the Monarch Sanctuary. We didn't see any butterflies because they've moved on, but we have seen some flying around PG.

 There has been a lot of rain this winter, bringing us out of a years-long drought. Apparently the rain brought us salamanders too, right to our own backyard. Love it!

 Beth graciously watched our kids for four days so Mr. B and I could run off to Vegas and relax, eat, adventure and see Finding Neverland, the Broadway musical. It was a lovely weekend away. And I tried Uber and thought it was great.

January

The waves at Asilomar and Lover's Point have been huge this winter! It's so fun to watch.

  We had a fun bowling outing as a family.

 Crazy hair day at school--even the boys wanted in!

 We made a goal to go on 15 family hikes this year. Our first was in Pebble Beach SFB Morse Botanical Reserve. Beautiful.

 And a quick stop at the Lone Cypress on 17 Mile Drive.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

We surprised the kids with a quick trip to Universal Studios over Christmas break. We left the day after Christmas, driving down one day, at the park the next, and driving home the day after. It was a lot of work and funds for one magical day! Universal Studios is okay, but The Wizarding World of Harry Potter did not disappoint! The hot butterbeer was so tasty. The Forbidden Journey ride was incredible (we rode it first thing, having gotten in an hour early--7 a.m.--and had no wait. Later it was up to a FOUR HOUR wait. Crazy.), and the Hippogriff ride was fun too. We also got to see a wand selection experience and listen to the frog choir. We caught the last half of the Tri-Wizard rally, and we bought a ($50!!) interactive Harry Potter wand so that we could cast spells throughout the park (totally worth it). We tried Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Jelly Beans (felt just like a Hogwarts student) and ate dinner at the Three Broomsticks. The experience was immersive and the decor and ambiance extremely well done. If I went again, I would spend the whole day in Harry Potter World and avoid the rest of the park, which was mostly comprised of standing in line. 

December for the Briens

This month was so full that I must have forgotten to take many pictures! We celebrated Audrey's 10th birthday with a minute to win it party; I flew to Iowa for my Grandmother Carol's funeral; we participated in many church activities and service opportunities; we went to Winterfest in PG; we hosted a piano recital for Audrey and the Bernards; we celebrated Christmas with the Briens' traditional crab dinner; and we went to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Now I'm spending winter break with a cold, recovering from it all. 

  Audrey's birthday shenanigans! 

 Winterfest in PG!

  An appetizer I made for a church social.

 Christmas crab dinner, and below is a walk we took on Christmas Eve when we saw thousands of seagulls on the water--not sure why, but it was an incredible sight!