Thanksgiving in SF - Saturday

 On Saturday we packed up and headed to Berkeley.  We wanted to show the kids where I went to school and start getting them excited about college.  We had to skip the campus tour due to rain and fog.  We instead headed straight to the Lawrence Hall of Science.  It's an awesome place for the kids.  Ryan was in total heaven.  It's like the Exploratorium only less overwhelming.

 We spent alot of time on this exhibit.  The kids loved these little wooden blocks.  Steve wasn't satisfied until he had the tallest structure.

 Kayla made an awesome dog!!

Here is the view of Berkeley from the Science Hall.  It cleared up in the end, but we'll have to go again to show off the school.  Thank you so much to Steve and Kayla for all of their hospitality!!

Thanksgiving in SF - Friday

 One of Stephen's goals while we visit him is to completely wear out my kids.  He really did it on Friday.  He took us to a place called House of Airs.  It is a huge indoor trampoline.  There is a bouncy house for the smaller ones and a section for dodge ball.

 Spencer got to show off his flips!!

 Mac jumped like crazy, but preferred dodge ball with his dad.

 Maddie perfected the bum bounce.

 I'm not sure what Stephen is doing here.

 I was having a blast!!

 Ryan was able to do like 50 barrel jumps in a row and took some time to go down the slide too!

 Dodge ball.

 Ryan has the moves!

 John was afraid at first, but warmed up by the end.  Mac really helped him to have a good time.

 After the bouncing, we had some time to kill before lunch.  So, we went to The Fairmont Hotel.  It is a very ritzy place!  Inside they have a huge gingerbread house for people to walk through.  It is really made out of gingerbread and candy.  The roof is chocolate!  It was insane!!

 How cute are these two?

For a special surprise Steve made crab legs for dinner.  Mac and Maddie were in heaven - and exhausted.  Ryan and John had hot dogs.  Kayla and I had salmon.  Steve and Kayla you're amazing!!

Thanksgiving in SF - Thursday

 On Thanksgiving Day, we went to Steve's and just hung out!  We did puzzles, made bracelets, and all sorts of holiday fun!

 We hit the park early!  This is a park that is very close to Steve's place.  We walked over there and had a blast.  The other kids and parents were awesome.

 A really fun part of this park was the hill.  Macky rolled down the hill a bunch of times.  It was great.

 Here is Steve's first turkey.  It was 18 pounds!!  He soaked it in a brine and cooked it breast side down for the first half, then flipped the turkey for the final half of the time.

 Kayla had an awesome spread of snacks!!  They had enough food to feed an army!!

 Once everything was cooking, we did our traditional ginger bread houses.  This time we did mini houses.  That was not a good idea.  It was way more of the hard part (getting the walls to stand up and together) and less of the fun part (decorating).  Now I know.  At first everyone was involved.

 By the end, it was pretty much Kayla...  What a sport!

 When we arrived in SF, my brother had this weird beard.  There was some competition at his work or something.  As Thanksgiving Day progressed, more and more of his facial hair was shaved off.  This is my least favorite stage - the mustache.

 How many people does it take to make gravy?  Apparently, 3.

Beautiful turkey.  Stephen and Kayla did an amazing job!  You wouldn't know it was their first time.  They had so much great food for us and all sorts of fun things to do!  Don't I have the best family!?!

Thanksgiving in SF - Wednesday

 For Thanksgiving this year we went to visit Uncle Steve and Kayla in San Francisco.  We left Wednesday afternoon and made great time.  We ate out for dinner.  Mac got to try corn and crab chowder in a bread bowl.  He loved it.  After dinner we went to Ghirardelli Square.  I thought the kids would want some hot chocolate, but they ended up with ice cream.  It's never too cold! 

We went back to our hotel and had a decent nights sleep!

Thanksgiving Shirts

Delayne, Shannon, and I made turkey shirts for all of the girls for Thanksgiving.  We found the pattern here: http://thecottagehome.blogspot.com/2010/11/gobble-gobble-turkey-shirt-tutorial.html.  We had lots of fun making them and the girls looked so cute!!  Just a tip - batik does not work with wonder under very well.

Christmas Lights

Well, he did it!  He put up the Christmas lights for me!!  Yipee!!  I know that it's early.  No, we don't have a tree.  No, my cards aren't written.  No, I haven't finished my shopping or even planned anything.  Just the lights.  The lights make me happy.  Thanks Spencer!!

The Pearsons

 My good friend Mary came to visit.  Oh how I miss her!  She and I were roommates back in the day.  Her husband is in the Marines and boy howdy are they an amazing family.  They are currently stationed in San Diego, but will be moving before Christmas!  She has a boy that is Ryan's age, Evan.  The two boys had a blast playing together.

 They have a daughter Maddie's age, Elizabeth.  The two girls planned and performed a show for us.  They both love music and art.  It was so fun to see them click!

 Mary has identical twin girls.  The one in the brown is Erin.  The one in the pink (below) is Emily.

 At first, I thought that I was in big trouble and would never be able to tell them apart.  But, after one morning with them I could see the differences.  I'm sure if Mary would just move across the street I'd have it down lickety split!

How cute are these two matching car seats with cute matching girls!  It was so fun to have them play.  The kids were loud and had lots of fun.  The grown ups got to catch up.  I love the holidays!!