Christmas in California

We usually take an annual trip to California in the summer, but because Caleb was born in summer of 2011, we decided not to travel with a newborn.  The Copes have wanted to celebrate Christmas with us for several years so we thought this would be a good year to do that.  I took the kids out of school a few days before the break (since we only had 1 week off this year) and flew by myself with them.  Matt came a few days later.

Joan hosted a cookie party for a few little girls- Lexi & Ella and some of their second cousins (I think- they are the children of Matt's cousin).  The girls hit it off really well and had a fun time decorating cookies and playing in the yard.

The next day I took the kids to California Adventure with another of Matt's cousins & her son.  It was a great time, although chilly and the Santa Ana winds were blowing pretty fiercely which resulted in several rides being shut down.

 Caleb was very agreeable, as he usually is, and fell asleep for a couple of hours in the stroller.

 Matt's brother Keith and his wonderful family arrived the day before Christmas Eve and then Matt flew in late that night.  We spent the next several days spending time with them- eating, talking, hanging out.  And Christmas Day!  Full of generous gifts and wonderful company....

 Our niece, Amanda, designed and knit these hats for the kids.  They are even lined with fleece.  Perfect for our cold and windy NYC winters.

 Of course Caleb was more interested in the wrapping paper than any of his gifts.

Just after Christmas, our niece Kimberley got married in the Redlands California temple.  Here is Matt in the new suit he got for Christmas.

This is the drawing Alexis made on the chalkboard at the luncheon.

And Caleb had a good time bonding with his baby cousins.  I really loved watching them interact and check each other out.  So cute!

We also visited the LA Zoo.  It was sooooo busy!  I have never seen it as crowded as that day was.  But the animals were in good spirits and we saw lots of action.

 This orangutan was holding her newborn baby very close and protectively and then went and hid behind this rock.

 And these tigers were wandering around a lot and there were 2 babies climbing on the tree stumps.

 Even the hippo was out walking around.

 And the snow leopard was camoflauged, but still visible.

 The girls always love a ride on the little zoo train.

Lexi's birthday was on a Sunday, so on Saturday she and Grandma went to see the movie HUGO together.  Although she says she liked it, she got a bit worked up that night and ended up throwing up twice.  She and I stayed home from church the next day but she seemed fine.  We have come to the conclusion that Alexis feels emotions very intensely and if she is scared or really dislikes something, she ends up throwing up after thinking about it for awhile.  She threw up after she saw the King Tut exhibit with dad, after she saw the Harry Potter exhibit with dad, after this Hugo movie with Grandma (and I'm almost certain there's at least one other example of this kind of reaction).  Anyway, we determined she wasn't really sick, so we went to visit our friends the Smiths in their new home.  We had dinner and the kids played and we ate lemon cupcakes with cream cheese frosting after singing happy birthday to Alexis.

We also were able to visit my cousins and walk around Seal Beach and see a pretty good sunset. And meet Pumpkin. It was pretty chilly, but of course the girls wanted to play in the water and sand.... so they did.

Caleb took a nap.

It was a really busy trip with lots of family time and good food.  And we're glad we went!