An evening in San Pedro

A day in San Pedro with Julie’s Grandparents is always a treat.  Today was especially nice as Christmas decorations were up and the weather was beautiful!

Katie survived her little tumble down the stairs (they are heavily carpeted and padded) and was out playing in no time.  We told her to hang onto the railing, but nooooo.  She hung on after that.  She only rolled down a few stairs and was just fine.

Christmas decorations, anyone?

Bubbles!!

 

See what I mean about the view?

 
 
Katie ran around the entire time.  This was the only time she stopped, and it didn’t last long.  She’s hyper and happy, and we love her.

Nov. 27 – Fashion Island

It’s Christmas time in southern California.  Most people have a few days off to spend with friends and family, shop, eat, or do whatever their traditions call for this time of year.  Our family had a very nice Thanksgiving at Julie and David’s home.  The food was great and the company is always nice.

Black Friday hit again this year, and Julie reported packed parking lots at the malls she passed on the way to work.  I’m so glad that as Christians, Christmas means so much more than rushing out to buy the latest “stuff”.  When you get to the bottom of it, the sales are nice I guess, but it all seems to empty.  “Stuff” will never satisfy…ever.  No matter how big that HD TV is.

We spent most of the day at Fashion Island.  We weren’t there to shop (although we did get a few things with some old gift cards), but to enjoy the beautiful weather and some nice Christmas atmosphere.  Katie just about fell over when she saw the carousel.  She rode Disneyland’s a few months ago and loved it.  It was great to see her want to ride this one too.  She’s 20 months old now and really holding onto memories and getting a feel for life.

 
Katie decided to be especially cute outside of Santa’s house.

A successful picture with Santa.  Last week we tried sitting her on Santa’s lap at a different mall.  No dice.  Not even close.  Baby had a meltdown.  This time she did much better in Julie’s lap.  She was tense but held her grown.  Good job, Katie!

Santa’s helpers gave every child a Mickey’s Clubhouse Christmas book.  Katie loves it!

After we finished at Fashion Island we drove down the street to Roger’s Gardens.  Julie and I have been there a few times, and this was our first time with Katie.  She loved running around and looking at all the different types of plants.

Merry Christmas!

Halloween with Katie Bee

Katie helped with carving the pumpkin this year…sort of.  She wasn’t too sure what to think of the pumpkin’s innards.

 
Ladies and Gentlemen, miss Katie Bee!

We spend the evening at our church’s “Trunk or Treat” event.  Sadly the days of traditional trick or treating are probably over.  But church provides a safe atmosphere that’s fun for all of us.  Katie wasn’t sure what to make of it all, but she quickly caught on.

Katie isn’t a sweets girl, so we were very surprised at how she downed her first bites of cotton candy with gusto.  Only later did we find out the cotton candy contains soy, one of Katie’s allergens.  Who knew?

Two pails of candy are better than one!