Ready for Christmas

We have been wrapping up teaching (Dada), manuscript writing (Mama and Dada), school (Caden), and presents (Mama, Dada, and Caden). Finn likes to see what's going on when presents are being wrapped, but his involvement usually includes unrolling the wrapping paper tubes or making a beeline for the (forbidden and therefore desirable) stairs so as to make Mama or Dada pay attention to him instead of the task at hand. Finn definitely enjoys the decor, lights, and excitement of the season. 

A week ago, on Sunday afternoon, after Caden's recital, Caden and his Bear Scout Den headed over to the Ocean Institute in Dana Point to tour a replica of a 19th Century sailing ship from the area. Finn slept through the tour, so Mama enjoyed the view from the car while Dada and Caden checked out the tide pools, aquarium tanks, and ship. 

Later that evening, we headed over to our friends' place to enjoy pizza and decorate gingerbread trains. Finn really liked the frosting and cookies. 

We also finished decorating our tree that day - what a busy day!

On Tuesday, Mama and Dada spent the day holiday shopping. At Hanna Andersson, we found the perfect jammies and hat for our little tomten.

On Friday morning, Mama and Dada went to school with Caden to help out with his class holiday party. It was really fun to see him interacting with his classmates. In the picture, you can see the candy locomotive that he built as a "craft" and the wrapped gift he is ready to exchange in the book swap. 

On Sunday, we hosted a solstice open house at our place. It was great fun for all! Finn was super excited by the food and especially the thundering herds of roaming kids. Inspired by the fun lights we saw last week at Sherman Gardens, Mama even ordered a spinning light projector (think, disco ball), and sparkles of red, green, and blue now dance around our foyer.

Piano recital

Today, Caden and the other students in his piano studio performed in their semi-annual piano recital. Caden played all three of his pieces - two solos and a duet - very well.

Here is a clip of his duet of "Yo Ho" from "Pirates of the Caribbean":

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!

Holiday dance

Here is a clip of our little dancing boy:

Pinewood Derby

Today was the annual Pinewood Derby race in Caden's Cub Scout pack. We spent many evenings this week cutting, sanding, painting, weighting, and getting Caden's car ready to race. Caden did a lot of the work at every stage, and we all had fun.

The race has evolved since Dada and Boopa were building cars 30 years ago, and the set-up today included not only a speed track (complete with an electronic timing system) but also a skill track and a car jump. Mama was a great help with recording each car's time on the speed track, and Finn even got in on the action. 

Caden's car won 2nd place in his den, and he also won the cash raffle prize. He was a happy scout today!

Otherwise, we've been laying pretty low this weekend. Last weekend, we had a really fun time meeting up with Auntie Sally in La Jolla, where we also visited the Birch Aquarium at Scripps.

Thankful

Caden had the week off for Thanksgiving Break, so he got to come to lab meeting on Tuesday. We had a discussion and editing party for curricula vitae, so Dada and Caden put together a 2-page bio sketch for Caden to share.

On Wednesday, Caden, Mama, and Dada went to Disneyland! The park was all decked out for the holidays, and some rides were entirely redone. For example, Jack Skellington had completely redecorated the Haunted Mansion. Caden is a few years older and a few inches taller than last time we visited the Magic Kingdom, so he got to go on more rides (like Indiana Jones) and now appreciates some that he was previously skeptical of (like Star Tours). He is also slowly gaining an appreciation for fast rides, including the Matterhorn Bobsleds:

Thursday was, of course, Thanksgiving. We had a low-key, but delicious feast. We kept it relatively simple - though Dada continued the tradition of roasting a couple of Cornish game hens for the non-vegetarians - as Mama, Dada, and Caden went to the Thanksgiving buffet at the University Club for lunch on Tuesday. It was fun to watch Finn appreciate traditional favorites. He liked the mashed potatoes and stuffing well enough, but abandoned everything in favor of roast game hen ("More! More!"). He ate a good bit of one of the birds. The big surprise was his *love* of the horseradish cranberry sauce. That trumped poultry as his favorite dish of the day. 

We have so much to be thankful for this year!