Icemageddon -- December 2013

We had an early December surprise -- ICE!  The kids had lots of fun.  Chris and I had decidedly less fun, since we were forced to cancel a long-awaited trip to Napa because DFW came to a grinding halt and poor Chris ended up stranded in Detroit for three extra days after an already lengthy work trip.

Icy hugs.  (Note Max is prepared with his flashlight in case of a power outage.  Also note that he refused to wear gloves or a hat and was nearly frozen solid by the time he made it back inside.)

Icicles under the casita deck.

Icy trees.

Inspecting the frozen pansies.

Mini-icicles on the wrought-iron fence.

Icy Winnie.

Testing the flashlight.

Yep, it still works!

Ice-laden trees hanging in the driveway (the ice was so heavy we couldn't shake it off, and my car was trapped for days; even without the trees, our steep and narrow driveway was like an ice-rink).

Another day, more ice adventures.

My car wasn't the only trapped vehicle -- even Max's car was stuck in the ice!

Laundry basket sledding with Grandma!  (Paw and Grandma beat the ice and were in town to watch the kids for our ill-fated Napa trip.)

I love Max's big smile watching Sister having fun sliding down the hill.

Daddy finally made it back from Detroit (after ditching American Airlines, and flying Delta from Detroit to Minneapolis to Austin, then Southwest from Austin to Dallas).

Making brownies with Grandma.

Max lends a hand.

The only Icemageddon casualty, which is pretty good considering we had a two and three year old trapped at home for four days.  Thank heavens we never lost power.  And that there were brownies.  

L.A. Part 3: Hooray for Hollywood, Thanksgiving, and Chill-ing Out

Finally, my last L.A. post! 

Mark, Monica, Maya, and Emma are currently living in Westwood (near UCLA) while they house hunt.  Papa Tig, the kids, and I had lunch at a pizza spot around the corner from their house while the rest of the crew prepared for Thanksgiving, which was the following day.  Love this mural on the wall at the pizza place.

After lunch we were off to Hollywood for a sneak preview of the (then brand new) Disney movie "Frozen."  Before taking in the movie, we wandered up and down Hollywood Boulevard, home of the Hollywood Walk of Fame ... and lots and lots of loony people.  Here's Scarlett acting crazy on Tom Cruise's star.  Well played on many levels, Scarlett.  Well played.

Silly girls on Aretha Franklin's star.

We saw Frozen in 3-D at the El Capitan theater, a beautiful restored theater that originally opened in 1926.  It was both Scarlett and Max's first movie in a movie theater, and they both did great (although all 30+ pounds of Max insisted on sitting in my lap for the entire movie).  Scarlett was ready for the show with her lemonade, popcorn, and upside down 3-D glasses.

The kids (and Papa Tig and I) really enjoyed the movie -- it featured two strong female leads and had really progressive messages.  Scarlett liked it so much that her official present request from Santa (both in person when she talked to Santa and in her "letter" that she wrote him at school) was for  a "Frozen doll" (translation:  Elsa, one of the two sisters featured in the movie).

Thanksgiving was a beautiful day and an amazing meal.  The Oaxaca 4 joined us -- Monica's brother Miguel, his wife Paula, and their kids Joaquin and baby Marco.  Check out these adorable Pilgrim ship snack containers crafty Paula made for the kids.

Crafts before Thanksgiving dinner.

Little turkey.

Pilgrim hat sneak attack.

Reluctant pilgrim.

Pilgrim hat hair.

Making play dough turkeys with Auntie Monica.

Maya, Miguel, and Marco.

Rocking the pink scooter and helmet with a little help from Papa Tig.

Family shot.

Who you callin' turkey, turkey?

Papa Tig and Mimi.

Making "berry soup" from mud and berries they picked from bushes in the backyard.  Despite their efforts, we went ahead and stuck to the previously planned menu.

Almost time to eat!

The kids' table.

Dig in!

You too, Papa Tig!  And for the record, the food was AWESOME.  I loooove Thanksgiving dinner, and Monica (and her assitants, but clearly not me) did an amazing job.  And now I'm hungry.

On our last day in town we headed to Long Beach to check out the Queen Mary's winter festival called "Chill".  There was ice tubing, an outdoor skating rink, a giant interactive snow globe, and "The World's Largest Rocking Horse."  

Checking out boats at the Long Beach dock after lunch.

Heading in to "Chill."

Scarlett's -- and Chris's -- first time ice skating!

Luckily only Scarlett flashed her belly on the skating rink.

Silliness!

Hands up in the air to catch the falling snow in the giant inflatable snow globe.

Prepare to be wowed by my amazing ride on "The World's Largest Rocking Horse."  JEALOUS?!?  no?  Yeah, that sounds about right.

Snowman hug on the way out.

Heading to the ship for a quick look around.  (Hard to read, but to the right of Chris's shoulder you can see where it says "The Queen Mary".)  

L.A. -- you were lost of fun, but exhausting!