San Diego Christmas

We had a fabulous time with friends and family over the  Christmas.  We started out with a crazy flight down to San Diego  complete with mechanical failure and 12 hour delay, but we eventually made it and oh, was it worth it!

  We wasted no time jumping into the pool/ocean while the surrounding Californians looked at us like we were crazy (65 degrees  to them is bone chilling).  The kids loved every minute of it and basically swam every day they could the entire time  we were there.

Soon after our arrival, we took advantage of free Disney birthdays at Disneyland.  We  also  went to California Adventures for the first  time.  I think we still prefer the Magic Kingdom, but there were  some great attractions at CA (Grizzly Rapids, Soarin’, etc.).  I didn’t know if they’d have any little kid rides, but they really do.  Our kids are only mild to moderately daring and they had plenty of stuff for them to keep them occupied.  Disneyland never disappoints and it continues to be one of our favorite places to go (for parents and kids).  Pirates of the Carribean was one of the favorite rides and we actually got  to see the back of the ride as it stopped mid way through and we were escorted out the side door.  It’s pretty amazing to see the infrastructure needed to keep those things going.  The girls finally were chosen to do the “Jedi Training” which they loved.  We also enjoyed the parade, fireworks, churros and all the kids made it on Big Thunder which was a first for most of them.  Owen even opted for a second helping.

Back in San Diego, we were soon greeted by the NC Hammonds (my brother and family).  All the kids had a great time playing together at the park, swimming and going to the beach.  We all went on a surry ride where the young boys and older women pummeled my dad and me in several races.  Don’t mess with Annie and Carol!

  We decided to head to Utah for Christmas to see more family.  We drove and were greeted by one of those huge mid-Utah dumps with blowing wind and crazy truckers.  It took about 8 hours to get from Cedar City to SLC, but we did finally make it.  In Utah, we got to see more cousins and hang out with Gram and company for their grand Christmas Eve celebration.  We usually miss that every year as I’m usually working, but we did make it this year and it was definitely worth it.  Gram got a Karaoke machine and everyone took a turn.  We also got to see some real musical talent from adults and kids alike (piano, guitar, etc.).  My sister and family were there so we also got to spend some time with them as well which was great.

Back so San Diego we went for more time with the NC Hammonds,  Maama and Popop.  The time went by too quickly but we got some great memories out of it that’ll last us through the winter.

More photos here.