Happy New Year from California!

Happy New Year! Our visit to California continues to be fun-filled and eventful. Ryan has officially come out of any shell he might have had before he arrived here. He has talked enough for all of us and has been very very active. I think he's about to catch up with Riley as far as activity and entertainment goes. In lieu of exchanging gifts this year, we decided to grant everyone one "wish" for the week, which has turned out to be a great idea! By the time we leave, we will be able to grant everyone's wish. Brad's wish was to go skiing, so on Monday the guys packed up early and headed out for a great day on the slopes. We were all very concerned that one of them might really get hurt, but they did great and only had a few incidents with the ski lift. It was a long day for them, but I think they all had a really good time. The girls and babies rode up to Mt. Baldy to see some snow, but by the time we arrived, both kids were asleep (picture above) and there really was not much snow. So, Heather and I decided to get out to take a look while Gramma stayed in the car with the sleeping babies. We were out long enough to take a couple of pictures and see several people fall flat on their backs on the ice. I decided I had seen enough after about 5 minutes and we headed back to the car. It was very pretty, but icy and cold were not my ideal scenario to walk around. We then headed to Victoria Gardens for lunch, window shopping and PinkBerry yogurt (Gramma's wish)! They call it CrackBerry out here because it's so good - it's addictive and I agree. It was quite tasty and Riley and Ryan loved it too! I can't wait for it to come to Atlanta. While we were there, we went into the Thomas the Train store and played on the train tables. They weren't quite sure what they were doing, but they seemed to enjoy watching the other kids play and participating as much as they could. Most of all they were glad to be out of their strollers for a little bit.

My wish was to go to Glen Ivy Hot Springs Spa. So, on Tuesday, the girls (except for Riley) went to the Spa for 4 hours! It was exactly what I wanted and needed and we had a great time soaking in numerous mineral pools and spas and just relaxing. We finished the day with some fabulous frozen yogurt! It was different than the PinkBerry, but just as good! I could just about define that day as perfect! The kids were great for the boys and had fun going to the park with Grandaddy and they even took a 3 1/2 hour nap! I think the boys got off easy on that one. We had our first Bridge lesson (Heather's wish was for Kevin and me to learn to play Bridge) that night and I think we might be able to play at some point. It's basically the combination of a bunch of different games. They have wanted us to learn for years and we finally gave in since we now have more time at home. I guess by giving in to this we are officialy "old"! :) Yesterday was New Year's Eve and we started the day with breakfast at Flappy Jack's. It was a TON of food and Ryan, again, ate and ate and ate. We all came home and napped for a few hours. Rest is good!!! When we got up, we planned to go see the Rose Bowl floats, but realized that we had missed the hours it was open, so we went to a local park instead. The weather was absolutely perfect and I don't think Riley and Ryan knew the difference! They enjoyed playing on the swings and slides as well as digging in the sand. Again, an enjoyable time for them. We went to dinner last night and Ryan's over-eating finally caught up with him on the way.... He threw up twice in the car...yuck! We had to pull over to clean him up and of course didn't have a change of clothes. He went to dinner with a very wet outfit on, but he didn't seem to mind and ate a fair amount for dinner. Riley had to greet each and every person that walked by our table and most everyone spoke back to her. We were not able to make it up until midnight here, but did ring in the new year on Eastern time! Not our most eventful new year's eve for sure, but it was a nice time in a different way. Today, Kevin and I are off to the Rose Bowl Game (Kevin's wish)!!! Riley and Ryan will have a full day with Gramma, Grandaddy, Aunt Heather and Uncle Brad. We can't wait to hear all of the stories! I'm betting we are all very tired by the end of the day! Happy New Year!!!

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