Horseback Riding

This morning we went horseback riding. After showing up yesterday afternoon only to find out she has scheduled us for the wrong time and overbooked. But it turned out perfect. Gorgeous weather. I admit, I was nervous in the beginning-ok and the end. I'm not a horse lover but I think I can trail ride again since Payton loves it so. Oh, and Wyatt - see him? He rode behind Daddy, pretty sure he had a great time too.

Ice Skating

Fort

Preparing for the carpet cleaner in the morning resulted in a fort in the dining room which equals 2 children usually at odds playing nicely. Priceless.

Coffee Bread

This pumpkin bread has coffee and dark chocolate - 2 of my fave things! YUMMO!

Barbie Fun

This is the suitcase that housed my old Barbies. As soon as Payton heard about them she begged us to get them down from the attic. I warned her that I went through a scissor happy phase and they all probably had been butchered. She didn't care. She asked her Daddy probably 10 times before school to PLEASE get them down before she returned home. And the minute she got off the bus she was dying to open it up.

Yup, they are butchered all right. And smelly. But it was still fun to pull them out and remember them all. Mom even saved some doll clothes (handwashing in the machine right now)

So while we let the Barbies air out on the patio we opened up Payton's designer kit she received for Christmas and got to work. This little number will be waiting for one lucky doll tomorrow!

Hats By Grandma

Views from Big Bear

Discoveries

One of my favorite things at Mom's house was watching what the kids would find, or remember from previous trips.
It had been 3 years since we had been there but Payton still found something to play with. Our last visit she was infatuated with these brass figurines that have since gone. However, these angels worked just fine.

And of course the snow globes. Now one less after Wyatt dropped one on his foot. Ouch.

Uncle Bill's old cars were cool, as were the Star Wars guys circa the 80's. So cool to see what they can get into. They scoured Grammie's house from top to bottom, even finding a "treasure chest". Can't wait to see what the next trip holds.

The Mountains

What a beautiful way to wake up. Hot coffee and a breathtaking view.

Trip

Here are a couple of airport shots. Both kids did great. Only once instance of getting gum too late and having ear issues. Flights were on time and for the most part easy. Although we did check one more bag on the way back making it easier for a certain someone's back.....

Tram

So getting back into the blogging thing is going to be a slow, out of sequence process for awhile. Just going to post what feels good at the time. We had the best Christmas vacation. One of the highlights was our trip up the Tram in Palm Springs. The kids (and the adults) enjoyed our first taste of snow. Although we weren't quite prepared and after getting cold and wet decided we definately needed snow gear for our trip to Big Bear.

By the end Payton's pants were soaked. She didn't care, she had a blast!

Hmm....do you think he is having fun?

The water coming down from the mountain......all that snow at the top was melting on the way down.

The view at the top. Gorgeous.