Friends

The most I can do for my friend is simply be his friend.

~Henry David Thoreau

First Hair cuts

Violet received her first hair cut today (certificate and lock of hair included)

I forgot my camera for the momentous occasion (thank goodness for the iphone!)

The process was very concerning to her (photo evidence below)

But in the end, a little bit of glitter and cute pink barrette, and she was as happy as could be.

No tears were shed (by child or parent)

More Cute Cousins

Hopefully you aren't sick of looking at more pictures of Violet and Jubilee.

I am not, they are so cute together.

This is right after bath time.

Bouncy Bouncy

More Jubilee and Violet craziness.

Bouncing on couch yelling "Shamu" or "Bouncy Bouncy" it went for a very long time.

They were dressed as little princesses. So cute, and so crazy.

Sea World

Violet LOVED Sea World.
Her favorite part was "Shamu" the whale show, they teach the kids a song and hand motions for the Shamu show, It's been 2 weeks now and she still yells SHAMU SHAMU.

My favorite, flamingos! Wish I could put one in my front yard...

Dinner with Shamu

Jed & Tammy, and Jed's very special sunglasses

Watching Shamu

We bumped into some special friends and got our picture taken
No screaming and no tears, these friends are very special

Attempting a "family" photo, nobody would sit still. Wiggly little girls

6 Years

Randy and I celebrated our 6 year wedding Anniversary on December 24th. One of the issues with being married on a "holiday" is that we get so wrapped up in family events and traveling (and now Violet) we forget to take the time to remember this special day. It's hard to make a nice romantic dinner plan on Christmas Eve... so instead we attempt to celebrate it sometime during the week when the madness has calmed down.
Randy surprised me with a night out in San Diego at a beautiful hotel in the bay. We strolled around old town, had a wonderful Mexican dinner, watched a bad movie, and the best part SLEPT IN - past 7AM. It was pretty fantastic. I'm still pretty shocked at how quickly 6 years has passed and how things have changed and evolved in our little family. I wouldn't have it any other way. Cheers to 6 years, and many more to come.

The Hyatt at Mission Bay
The view from our room

The pool below, yes there are people swimming, it was about 65... they must have been from somewhere very cold

Violet & Jubilee

Violet has a wonderful little cousin. I missed out on the "cousin experience" as both of my cousins live in England so we only saw them occasionally. I love that they are close in age and can grow up being special friends. They have their moments, but there was no biting on this trip. They are still trying to understand the concept of sharing, but I'm sure that will come soon enough... let's hope.
I'm still on my quest to post all the photos from our trip, but these were taken on December 27th.

Day After Christmas...

We spent most of the day after Christmas playing with all our new toys... attempting to use my camera, and see if I could really take one amazing picture.

Violet played along pretty well with my constant snapping and asking her to pose.
I did one ridiculous request that Randy gave in to... I asked him to take me to SouthCoast Plaza!! this mall is so amazing it even has it's own i phone app!

You thought shopping madness was bad before Christmas? Well, let me tell you I have never seen so many people at one mall in my entire life. All I wanted to do was go to H&M, it turned into quite an adventure since apparently all of Orange County was there as well.

Christmas in California CONT....

December 25th

Okay now on to Christmas day. We woke up to a sunny mild Christmas day! So different than being snowed in last year. We went hiking in the canyon next to Randy's parents home. It was a perfect morning for it!

It was a full house, and oh so much fun! So many presents to open. Violet walked away with so many things it was unbelievable! Randy and I were so excited to receive a new camera (The G11 - which can clearly be linked back to one person - Thanks for the tip Jen - I do not have an eye for photography but I can always dream right? I keep thinking of things I could do with just the RIGHT CAMERA)

We were very fortunate to receive a very special visist from Santa Claus (AKA Uncle Kevin) He knocked on the front door, much to the dismay of Jubilee and Violet. At the site of him they ran screaming (in terror not excitement) see video below.

Violet had no trouble finding the chocolate and treats in her stocking, in fact over the course of the week she managed to steal everyone's else treats as well. I would often find her sneaking off to look in other people stockings.

Christmas dinner was a roast on the BBQ outside. It was gigantic and amazing. For desert a special request was made for my English Trifle. I had made it a couple of years ago, and apparently it's turning into a DeGroot tradition (we need to throw in a bit of Brit with the Dutch right?) Day 2 of Gluttony complete....

On a weird side note... the water in Orange County made my hair CRAZY. It was cross between Bon Jovi and a Lioness all week long - oh hair! Must be all the chemicals in the water. I promise I wasn't trying to make it big on purpose.

Doesn't Randy look like he just wants to devour that trifle?? I think it weighed close to 3 pounds!

We capped the night off with a BABY BATH!

Violet and Jubilee had a blast last summer taking baths , we had to continue with the fun. As usual they had a great time and got us soaking wet in the process.

There was one defining moment though... Violet has a very important phrase that she says ALOT lately

"It's the same Mama"

referring to pretty much everything. But, on this very special occasion, Violet pointed at Jubilee and said (in a very excited tone) "Mama, it's the same poopi!" I'll let you figure out what she was referring to, but she was correct, it is the same! So observant.

Christmas in California

December 24th - Christmas EVE

I was in the process of uploading my 400 photos from our recent trip to California, when it dawned on me that there is no possible way to share all the fun we had. In a feeble attempt to translate our holiday time, I will have to break it down day by day. We did so much while there, and had so much fun with family (and Santa).

The journey begins on Christmas Eve, when we flew out of Portland at 6:30 AM (this will be the last time we attempt this... I think we got the very last parking spot in long term parking). Violet was a trooper and travelled really well, I was extremely proud of her. Thank goodness for the short 2 hour flight!

When we arrived, Violet quickly discovered the living room had been transformed to a toddler playroom! Outfitted with a miniature kitchen, dolls house, baby crib and rocking horse. Oh heavens!

Christmas Eve began at Tammy & Mike's house. We had a fantastic ham dinner (with a side of saurerkraut and bacon which I have been dreaming of every night since) and listening to stories of politics and gold. Tammy made a book of our family vacation at Port Orchard last summer for "Bampa" & "Bamma" (Port Orchard Memory Book) In addition Tammy made an ABC book for Jubilee and Violet. (Violet & Jubilee's ABCs) You can click on those to view both of the amazing books she put together!

Violet and Jubilee quickly became reacquainted with each other. We had a few "MINE" moments, but over all the night was a hit.

We finished the evening of gluttony (one of many for me) with a walk around the block to view the neighborhood Christmas lights.

More to come tomorrow on our adventures Christmas day! I'll give you a hint... Santa showed up and there was lots of screaming!!