We used our Knott’s Berry Farm 2013 passes for the last time on Dec. 30.  We managed to whittle the price down to less than $5 per person per visit, which was our goal.  I am officially tired of Camp Snoopy and I have no plans to return to KBF until n is old enough to ride the faster roller coasters.  All in all, we had many fun times there, though, and I’m sure the kids will miss it.

One place that I always meant to visit with the kids, but never did, was the replica of Independence Hall.  During our last visit, I made sure we stopped by.

Some day we’ll have to visit the real thing!

It is an interesting stop that took us only about ten minutes. 

Here are D’s big bucket list items: #1 Earn an MBA (Kelley School of Business) #2 Run a Marathon (Completed 5) #3 Visit all 50 states (29 + D.C.) As you can see, I have completed #1 and #2 and am working on #3. I am planning on visiting Minnesota (#30) in April. But it will take me a while to visit the next 20.

We are still recovering from our vacation on the Big Island.  Before I blog on that, I wanted to write about the monthly birthday party that Ikea puts on for kids.  I had signed up for n earlier this year, but someone was sick (can’t remember who), so we had to cancel.  This month, I signed up for k.  You can bring a maximum of 2 adults and 3 kids and it is entirely free.

We started out by making cute snowman photo frames.

Petals the Clown was running the show.  She did face/arm painting for all of the kids.

She also did a magic show, which the kids enjoyed.

(k is smiling funny because I told her to show her missing tooth, which she lost just a few days before).

Each birthday kid received an art set—cool!

The kids each received a kids meal.  The choice was either a hot dog or pizza, so I ordered one of both and had them split.  They had extra meals in the end, so I had a piece of pizza too!

There was also birthday cake for everyone (adults too).  It was a black forest cake with cherry filling, and was actually really good!  I hope they still have these celebrations for n’s birthday next year.

The kids sang during our church’s annual Christmas program.

On Sunday afternoon, k went to a classmate’s birthday party @ Pump It Up!  We made it back in time to see Santa at the pool.

Not sure why n is wearing his tie on his jeans.

Then we went straight to my parents’ house for an early celebration of k’s 7th birthday.  The cake topper is a HK ornament she can add to her Christmas collection.

Seven years.  Oh my.

Here are some glimpses of our Christmas merriment:

These Chocolate & Cranberry Rolls from Trader Joe’s are SO GOOD!  In the store, they were toasting them up and putting a little butter on them.  I would suggest you do the same.

I made 48 reindeer cupcakes for a kids’ Christmas party.  This was my original, based on an idea found on Pinterest.  It looked kind of goofy, so I modified it to this:

Much cuter, no?

We visited this house at 2351 Caper Tree Drive in Tustin after reading an article in the OC Register about the over-the-top decorations.  You have to see this guy’s garage:

CRAZY!  He collects canned food for donations, which I thought was a nice gesture. 

Watching the kids ooh and aah over the little details together really warmed my heart.  k even put her arm around n while they were talking about everything, and it was just too cute. 

The house is on a cul de sac, and a few of the other houses have pretty impressive displays as well, including one that is synchronized to music.  If you are in the area, I suggest you check it out. 

It turns out I spoke waaay too soon when I said it was fortunate that the rest of our family did not get sick.  k was better for a full week, and then n got the stomach flu.  I was the next victim, with D following not far behind.  It was really awful, but we’re better now, thank goodness. 

The Christmas season is upon us, and there is a lot to do.  Yesterday I went to a women’s breakfast at church, and our whole family went to a Christmas concert/play at a local church in the evening.  Both of these events helped to focus my heart on Jesus’ birth, which is often lost in the busyness of the season.

A Christmas vignette from k’s room.

We had a nice Thanksgiving dinner at my parents’ house two days ago.  My BIL made a delicious turkey, my sister made a scrumptious pumpkin cheesecake, and I volunteered for the easy sides: asparagus, rolls and salad.  My mom made the rest of the sides, and it all turned out well, I thought.

We started out with an early afternoon walk around Peters Canyon, which has become a sort of tradition.  It was good to burn off some calories pre-dinner.

Bird-watching

Cousin love—(maybe a little too much!)

Kids’ table

“Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!”—Psalm 107:1.

As previously mentioned, k was sick with the stomach flu two weeks ago, pretty much from Wed.-Sat. night.  Fortunately, none of us caught it, and she has fully recovered.

n wrote this sweet letter to k, completely of his own volition.  (I helped with the spelling, though.)

Since we were stuck at home, I broke out the Lego Holiday Post Office Set I received last year.  Working on a set that is designed for twelve years + with a six year old and a four year old is not the easiest thing in the world.

I’ll have to take a picture when it is done—we’re still working on it.

Luckily, k was recovered in time to go on her Girl Scout field trip to Logan’s Candies in Ontario.  She was able to form her own warm candy cane!

Halloween was busy, like last year.  k had a school parade and classroom festivities that I was able to attend.

k’s room mom did a nice job making the classroom festive!

Mr. B was batman!

After school we went to a community event.

n opted for shorts because is was still quite warm.

At night we took the kids trick or treating around the neighborhood after a pizza party at the pool.  I practiced with them beforehand, to make sure that they would say “Trick or Treat” and “Thank you!”  However, I failed to talk to them about doorbell etiquette, and how only one person should ring the doorbell.  They both wanted to do it, so we had to keep track of whose turn it was.  This method took a while to perfect, so hopefully our neighbors were not too annoyed. 

Today, I had this funny conversation with n.

n: “Did you know that foot butter has nuts?”

L: “Foot butter? What’s that? (racking my brain)…”Oh, you mean Butterfingers?” 

n: “Yes, that’s what I meant.”

Saturday was busy for us.  After going to the Great Park, we went home, the kids took a nap, and then I took them to our local library’s Halloween story time/craft time.  That night we went to Blocktober, which was sponsored by Saddleback Irvine.  We were able to meet up with my sister’s family, so that was nice.

One thing I was excited for the kids to participate in was Trunk or Treat.  Different groups and families decorated the backs of their cars or vans and handed out candy to the kids.  Some even had games to play.  I enjoyed seeing the creative ideas.

This car was decorated by one of k’s former preschool teachers.  Cute!

One car had cupcake decorating.  That was a popular one!

There were a lot of other activities as well.  The kids had fun on the giant slide…and the rock climbing wall!

Oh yeah, and D had fun too!

Cousin j was a cute safari/explorer type person.

More bouncin’…

More slidin’…

Pretty sunset

There were even pony rides!

And we saw Junko at the end!