Gardens and Santa sightings

On Saturday, we immersed ourselves in holiday cheer. We tried to find a Christmas tree last Thursday, even picking the boys up early to do so, but ended up totally discouraged. We were determined to find a nice tree today. 

But first, we had pancakes for breakfast then walked over to the neighborhood holiday bazaar. It was great, with the high school acapella group providing musical entertainment, fun crafts for the kids, and lots of neat and creative crafts. 

After the bazaar, we headed over to Roger's Gardens in Newport Beach. Not only did they have a great selection of trees, but Santa was there:

After pictures and chats with Santa - bet you can't guess what Caden requested for Christmas - we checked out the trees. Caden picked out a great one:

We loaded up the tree and returned home just in time for Caden to practice his duet for tomorrow's piano recital. Then, after a quick dinner, we headed back down to Corona del Mar to go to the "Night of 1,000 Lights" at Sherman Gardens. Santa was there, too - he really gets around this time of year - and the place was beautifully decorated. 

Then, we returned home and started decorating our tree and house for the holidays. Finn even "helped" a bit:

Happy holidays!