Christmas Morning...

time for presents...

The girls had a hard time getting to sleep last night--guess they were too anxious. When they did wake up they had a lot to be excited about. Santa was supposed to take it a little easy this year since we went to Hawai'i, but he didn't quite listen. The girls were so happy with all their presents and genuinely appreciative. They are so sweet on Christmas morning. Maren's favorite gift was a cell phone (not a real one), Carsyn's favorite was her stylin' Barbie heads, and Logan's was her Polly Pocket Jet!

playing so nicely together on Christmas night...

We Wish You A Merry Christmas...

We had a great Christmas Eve. We went to mass and opened presents and are going to bed so Santa will come! Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

ALOHA!

Since we're living out here on the west coast, we decided to take advantage of the cheaper flights and shorter distance for a Hawaiian vacation! We drove down to LAX and took a direct flight to Honolulu. This was our first visit to any of the islands. We had such an awesome time. We stayed at the Hale Koa resort on Waikiki Beach right next door to the Hawaiian Hilton.

Carsyn: a true beach babe...

Maren learned to walk on the island of O'ahu--at 16 months...

Logan, Carsyn, and Maren soaking up some rays, and a lot of sand and salt water...

the girls posing for a picture on the rocky part of the beach...

The girls we were in heaven being able to play at the beach and pool every day. Logan, Carsyn, and Mommy also participated in a hula lesson. Carsyn was very into it. We did a bit of site seeing as well. We went to the Dole Plantation and tasted some yummy pineapple ice cream, we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center, and saw the huge waves on the North Shore.

here we are at the Dole Plantation...

Carsyn and Logan at the Polynesian Cultural Center...

Little tourist...

We went to Pearl Harbor, but only saw the Arizona Memorial from a distance. The tickets were already sold out the day we went and we didn't want to come back and wait in line for hours--next time. We also went to luau. The girls loved seeing all the dancers, especially the fire dancer. We even tried poi--yuck!

Maren at the luau...

Logan at the Ala Moana Shopping center...

And, what vacation would be complete without dinner at our favorite restaurant...C.P.K. We also ate at Buca's (another favorite). Neither the girls, nor mommy are big seafood eaters. It was definitely one of the most beautiful places we've ever seen. Our weather was great, and we all got pretty good tans--although when you come back home to 55 degrees it doesn't last very long. It did rain a little every day while we were there, but it never lasted longer than ten minutes and the sun was always out. And, we really did see a rainbow every single day we were there.

there's a rainbow...

Carsyn at the beach where they filmed scenes from "From Here to Eternity"

Sunset on Waikiki Beach...

Mele Kalikimaka!

School Christmas Festivities...

Thursday was Carsyn's last day of preschool for 2007, so her class had their Christmas party. They made the cutest reindeer shirts using their own hand and foot prints. They had tons of yummy snacks and received lots of goodies. Carsyn had a super time. She especially loved all the treats!

Carsyn @her Christmas Party...

Friday was Logan's last day of Kindergarten before the new year. All six Kindergarten classes had been working very hard learning songs, poems, and dances for a multi-cultural holiday celebration. They put on a wonderful show! Logan did a dance for "Feliz Navidad"--she was very good, and looked super-cute. Afterward Logan's class had their Christmas party. They also had tons of delicious snacks. It was a really fun day!

Logan @ her Christmas Party...

Weekend in Monterey...

On Friday Logan was chosen for "Star Student" of her kindergarten class, and she was so excited that she got to take home the class bear for the weekend. And, the bear lucked out because we had a super-fun weekend planned! We went up to Monterey to visit friends. We always have a really nice time up there, as our friends are always extremely hospitable. The girls just love playing with their friends! The kids exchanged gifts and had a great time staying up way past their bedtimes.

Oops! We did not get a picture w/ their newest friend, Morgan...next time that will be a priority!We also went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which is always a favorite for the girls. This was Daddy's and the bear's first visit.

Logan, Carsyn, Maren, Daddy, and Bev the Bear at the Aquarium...On the way home we stopped by the San Juan Bautista Mission. This is the Mission where the Alfred Hitchcock film "Vertigo" was filmed...pretty cool. We had a great weekend--thanks Chad and Jill!LoganMarenCarsyn

Happy Birthday, Nana!

It's our Nana's birthday today. We're so lucky to have her. Nana, hope you had fun at Macaroni Grill the other night--sorry we were sooo bad: )

A Disney Thanksgiving...

Maren, Carsyn, and Logan in front of Sleeping Beauty's castle, decorated for Christmas...

So, we spent our Thanksgiving at Disneyland...with tens of thousands of other people. We had heard that Thanksgiving day was a good day to go, well apparently everyone else heard that too and showed up. Oh, well. We still had a really fun time. In fact, it might have been one of the best. We decided to do things a little differently this time. Instead of the normal take-as-many-pictures-as-possible, we just did whatever we felt like doing. The last time we were there (in October) we tried to get Logan to ride Thunder Mountain, but she wouldn't. She insisted that she'd do it next time. Well, we reminded her of that this time, and sure enough she went. She LOVED it. We must have rode that ride six times. She was very adventurous this time as she rode Space Mountain, Soarin', as well as Thunder Mountain for the first time. Carsyn did not meet the height requirement for these rides, but we were able take Carsyn and Logan on the Matterhorn. Carsyn was pretty scared at first, but both girls liked it okay. Of course we still took some pictures. The girls saw Santa and Mrs. Claus too.

Logan hard at work...

Carsyn taking it just as seriously...

Maren still needs help walking, but she sure is cute...

Why is everyone afraid of this guy?

Have to get that famous shot...

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had our big Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday because we are going down to Disneyland this afternoon. Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday weekend!

Sunny San Diego...

What a great vacation we had to Southern California. We always have so much fun in San Diego--it's one of our favorite cities. We had a lot on our list of "to-do's", and accomplished almost all of them.

On Saturday we went to SeaWorld for free--thanks to Daddy being in the Navy. We knew that Logan and Carsyn's friends, Ashley and Jenna were going to be at SeaWorld that same day with there family, and we coincidentally ran into them walking up to the park. That was fun for the girls to see people they know. We saw the Shamu show and had a lot of fun seeing the penguins, dolphins, sea lions, Clydesdale's, and touching starfish. This was Maren's first visit to SeaWorld. She loved it! Her favorite was Shamu. She and Carsyn even helped dad feed dead fish to the sea lions--Logan wouldn't touch them, but she sure claimed her sticker for "being brave."

The girls after a long day @ SeaWorld... Later on we went to Old Town to meet Megan and Jonathan for dinner. It was a lot of fun seeing them again. Carsyn and Logan hadn't seen them in years and Maren had never met them. Logan and Carsyn love Megan--they can't stop talking about her.

Ready for kids yet guys? On Sunday we were just going to take it easy and go to the beach, but it rained. Who ever said it never rains in Southern California? But, it it didn't rain too hard and we still had a good time.

Daddy and Maren on a gloomy day @ the beach... Afterward we ate some pizza at the Pizza Parlor on base. It was nice because while we were waiting, Daddy won us some stuffed animals out of the claw game. Also, we got to see the Chargers beat the Colts on TV. Too bad we didn't go to Qualcomm to see it in person : ). We also went over to Megan and Jonathan's house for a visit.

Monday we had to take Nana to the train station so she could go back home for work. Then we went to the World Famous San Diego Zoo. Neither Carsyn, nor Maren had ever been. It was a beautiful day and we had so much fun. We got to see the Giant Pandas and so much more.

Check out that cute Koala...

World Famous San Diego Zoo...

Sunset on North Island...

Tuesday Daddy was back at class so we went to the beach with Mommy. It was so nice out; we were able to wear bathing suits and everything. When Dad got home we went to Seaport Village for dinner. We almost always eat at Busters when we're in San Diego, but this was the first time the wait staff came over to us to compliment our behavior. In fact, they said that we were the most well-behaved kids they'd ever seen--must have been a really good day. After dinner we walked around the shops a little. There is this Christmas shop we always go in because we like to play with (harass) the cat who lives there.

Seaport Village...

On Wednesday we went out to the beach again while Daddy was at class. We had a blast. Even Maren was helping build sand castles and dig holes. We were all covered in sand!

having a blast at the beach... After Dad's class we went to Mission Valley to visit the first of the 21 California Missions...San Diego. It was a very pretty one. Afterward we went to Fashion Valley Mall to meet Megan at...where else? CPK. We've eaten at the particular one at least five times.

The San Diego Mission...
Thursday we just hung out on the island. We went over to the Hotel del Coronado. We got there just in time for the sunset. It was a lot cooler that night so we didn't walk around for too long. We had a nice dinner and went back to the lodge early.

Day dreaming...
The Hotel del...
We spent almost all day Friday in La Jolla. It's so beautiful there. We went to the cove and saw the seals and then went over to UTC to shop. Afterward we ate dinner at--you guessed it--CPK, the one in La Jolla this time.

La Jolla Cove...

Saturday we left for home. On the way we stopped in Oceanside to go to the San Luis el Rey mission. It is the largest of the 21.

San Luis el Rey...We also went to the mall in Mission Viejo. We saw Magic Johnson signing autographs at a sporting goods store. We're home now. It's good to be home and back to school. But, there is a ton of laundry...