Christmas at Grandma's 2019

Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa's is always so good. I'm still surprised every time by the sunshine and the perfect weather and citrus season but I never complain! The kids love being with their cousins SO MUCH and pretty much disappear into play until it's time to eat one meal or another. I love that Christmas at the grandparents' is the perfect mix of going out and about and keeping very busy having fun and down time to sit and talk and laugh. Always laugh.

I decided about three days before we left for Orange County that I wanted to make matching cousin PJs. I don't know why I figured that was a good thing to add into the preparations but I had fun and barely made my deadline. The kids were good sports and wore them happily. They were really cute, although better suited for Norway with the cosy and warm flannel. Next time maybe I'll re-do with a light cotton. Ha!

Grandparents gave the gift of a Disney day but crazily the children begged not to go but to play with their cousins with their Christmas toys so (most of) the adults--and Henry!--went instead. It was probably one of my favorite Disneyland trips ever. We ate the most amazing food and weren't hurried and got to shower Henry with all the attention when he wasn't asleep in the stroller. It was a great day. And it was Collin's and my anniversary (which number??) and it was interesting to think back on all the times we've been together since our dating days. I never would have thought that place would be such a part of our story. 

Our gift to grandma this year was fancy tea at the Langham hotel with just the girls. It was so yummy and elegant. 

Rainy, Disney Paris (Deux et Trois)

The gorgeous weather on Friday wasn't to last, unfortunately.  Saturday and Sunday we had buckets of rain to splash through.  It made the days a little harder to enjoy, but we did our best to have good attitudes and not let it put a damper on.  (bwaha!  So punny.) 

I was excited to see more of Paris this trip.  The black and white columns at Palais Royal were so fun to hop around on.  Monet's water lilies in full glory were spectacular.  Eddy especially seemed to enjoy being there.  He took my hand and had us walk around analyzing details of the murals.  I couldn't have been happier!

I took just a few pictures at Disneyland Paris because of all the rain!  Our feet were still dry at the beginning, hence everyone still smiling.  Toward the end of the day it was harder to be interested in cheerful grins.  Don't get me wrong--we had a fun time, so grateful to be there!  There were a few disappointments with rides that weren't open or kids weren't tall enough to ride.  Those were the hardest moments.  And the wet feet.  Wet everything.  The rides we were able to go on were fun, if not quite the same as the original Disneyland (we're spoiled--we know!).  The food was good, especially the huge ice cream sundaes!  There was a mad rush to get out of the park to catch our train back to London just as the parade was ending and hurrying kids through choosing their present.  There was no time on the day to feel the sunshine moments, I think.  But that's the thing about time and snapshots.  They capture just that best part (or just the worst, but it's easier to filter out the worst!) and leave the magic to linger.

Disneyland (California 2013, part three)

I have two more posts I'm planning on--this one with some moments at Disneyland and one combining two of our other favorite activities.

It's been almost a month now, since our official summer trip has been over, but I'm not quite ready to let it go, apparently.  It's taken a long time to work through the gazillion pictures to find my favorites and edit them--taken a long time because I just don't want to let that time be documented and put away quite yet!  I have loved lingering over all these golden moments with our family and those incredible, funny, generous, wonderful people who make up the Lambourne clan.  I know that a crowded and expensive theme park on a hot hot day do not constitute many peoples' idea of a happy time, so I am especially grateful that sacrifices were made for us all to be together.  Corny as it may sound, there were some truly magical moments amid the logistical and practical and grumpy.

One of the best times of the three (!) days we spent in the parks was a dinner hour we all spent hanging out at the same place, just talking and dancing and jumping and laughing.

Strangers kept thinking Eliza was a boy because of the green onesie.  But I was like, who would put their son in a Bambi onesie?  (Even if he did grow up to be a stag with big antlers.)

The boys each got to choose one toy treat and  one food treat for the trip (not each day).  This expectation talked about at the very beginning cut down tremendously on the I want I want.  (Plus Grandma and aunt Erica got them presents, nevermind the treat of being at Disneyland in the first place!)  Davy chose Legos for his toy treat.  While not technically in Disneyland proper, the Lego store in Downtown Disney is huge and has cool Disney-themed Lego creations all over.  Davy went straight for the Spiderman set and never looked back (despite some biased nudging from Mom).  He was--and continues to be--very pleased with his choice.

One of the best parts about being with family is all the attention the kids get from so many people who love them.  I love this sequence of a ride on Grandpa's shoulders.  We wore that poor Edward out.  He slept through the line to the Ferris wheel, the whole ride, a stroller ride to the (loud) World of Color show, the stroller ride to the car, the transfer into the car, the transfer out of the car and into his bed.  That's a record, even for this determined sleeper.

 

Another shiny moment from my memory of the day with the whole family was the moment when the grown ups went on the big roller coaster and the kids were left in the hands on the grandparents.  I was nursing Eliza on a bench with one eye on the grandsons.  There was a slight pause in the smoothness of the transition, but then, without missing hardly a step, grandma and grandpa corralled those crazy boys and rode the carousel together.  I saw smiles all around as the boys excitedly chose their creatures and witnessed how extra-carefully the grandparents tightened the safety belts and stood near.  The foundation of those precious relationships--that's the magic that lasts.

The food treat was Mickey ice cream Popsicles.  Messy and cold and thoroughly enjoyable.

 

Cleaning up after the ice cream in the drinking fountain provided much amusement.

 

 

I love the wonder in this boy's face.

 

Davy was most content with the rides in Fantasyland and any rides he could see the beginning and process and end.  And he loved flying.  He would have gone on the rockets ten times in a row if possible.

Eddy loved being in control of any rides he could.  He was pretty brave and pretty stoic about all the rides he went on.  We let him go on (with cheater-stuffed shoes and his hair brushing the top of the measuring stick) the rides for 40 inches and up.  This included the Carsland ride, Splash Mountain and Space Mountain.  Though when asked if he liked Space Mountain he said "yes, when asked if he wanted to go on Space Mountain again he gave an immediate "no."

This was an image we saw frequently:  Davy with fingers in his mouth self soothing and holding brother's or cousin's or some one's hand while asking "is it fast?  Is it loud?"

The Mickey Ferris wheel was the last ride of the trip and it was a very nice way to end the day and trip, actually.  Calm and serene, all of us able to talk and see together.