Happy New Year!!! 2009

We celebrated New Year's a bit early tonight with a USC cake for the big Rose Bowl game tomorrow. Bennett is wishing everyone a very Happy New Year in the video below!

Hope that everyone has a happy and safe New Year!

Annual Trek to Solvang

Every year both of our families make a trek north to a little town called Solvang at Christmastime and it has become sort of a Christmas tradition. It is like being transported to Europe for a day - Solvang is a little Danish settlement town with lots of shopping, food,etc. At Christmas they decorate the town, have horse drawn trolley rides, carolers, brass bands, etc. Such a fun way to get into the Christmas mood. Bennett especially loved that we found a few new toy stores this year with fun displays to play on. Passed the time while all the women went shopping!

Every year we try to get the kids to sit in the big red shoe outside of the Solvang Shoe Store. Last year Bennett wasn't too cooperative, but this year he thought it was one of those rides you find in the mall or the grocery store. He called it the Big Red Shoe Rocket Ship and asked us to put money in it to make it move. :o) Whatever it takes to get him in there! The pic below is of Bennett 2 years ago in the shoe...geez he has grown!

Bennett sporting Dan's sunglasses while getting a fun ride on Dan's shoulders.

Horse drawn trolley ride. Does anyone else see a letter missing on the little sign next to the horses? :o) That changes the entire meaning of the sign!

Bulgarian kids

Nick and Ardis took a trip to Bulgaria last year to spend some time with family and learn more about the family heritage. They brought back t-shirts with Bulgaria written on the front for the Sam, Max, and Bennett. The other night Ardis requested that we try to get a picture of all of them wearing the shirts before they all grew out of them! It's hard to get all 3 of them to smile at once. :o)

Pismo Beach

This year for Cheryl's birthday she decided that she would like to go to Pismo Beach for a weekend getaway. Dan was having a LAN party so we left him to his geek fest while we travelled north on the 101. We stayed overnight at a really cute inn - the Cottage Inn by the Sea - and it was right on the ocean. Seems crazy but we were out at sunset during the middle of December on the beach and Bennett was running back and forth in the waves...just feet of course! The sunset that night was beautiful. We had a fun weekend. Found a park on the way up and Bennett got to climb some cool rocks.

Sunset from the patio off the back of our room overlooking the ocean.

Sunset walk on the beach.

I thought this looked like a painting...the sky was so neat with the clouds.

Our stop at a park on the way up - Bennett climbing rocks...us running after him! He got a workout and so did we!

Bennett playing with the Christmas tree train in the lobby of the hotel.

Bennett found a (dare I say...) vintage quarter midget toy to play in when we stopped for a break at the Andersen's Pea Soup restaurant in Buellton.

You have to take this picture if you stop at Andersen's Pea Soup!

Goleta Train Station

On our way back from our Pismo Beach getaway, we stopped off to give Bennett some running time at the Goleta Train Station. It is a neat park with an old train depot museum and home on the grounds. They also had a little train that they gave rides on, since it was Christmastime it was all decked out for the holidays and called the Candy Cane Train. Bennett loved it!

Monarch Butterflies in Pismo Beach

We went to see the Monarch Butterflies while we were in Pismo Beach. There is a little grove of Eucalyptus trees that thousands of Monarch Butterflies flock to in winter from about November to March of every year. The day we were there , the estimated count was about 20,000. Such a neat sight to see...especially how well they camouflage themselves in the trees when their wings are folded up.

Snow in Simi Valley!

There is snow in Simi Valley! Well at least every night at 8pm for about 10 minutes during the holiday season you can experience the wonder that is "Magic Snow!" at Simi Valley Town Center. A substance that looks like snow in the air, but looks alot like dish detergent bubbles when it lands on you. :o) No matter...Bennett LOVED it! He doesn't remember being in the snow at this point, so this is the closest he has gotten this year. Hopefully we will go to the mountains for the real snow this winter. He thought this stuff was great, and I have to say that it got us in the holiday mood. :o)

Disneyland!

We took Bennett for his second trip to Disneyland about a week ago. He just loves it there. The day was absolutely perfect for crowds and weather, and they even had the Christmas decorations up. Bennett got to steer an Autopia car for the first time (with daddy pushing the gas pedal!), but it was hilarious to watch from the car behind...lots of swerving! He talked about meeting Goofy and Pluto forever (I wasn't fast enough with the camera to get a good picture of it though). We rode about 16 rides in all that day...he loved each and every one of them, but I think he favorites are the teacups and It's a Small World.

Bennett wasn't too sure about meeting Winnie the Pooh (even though he willingly stood in line for 10 minutes to meet him!)

He was, however, intrigued with whether there was real honey in Pooh's honey pots. :o)

Main Street decked out for Christmas.

Metrolink Christmas Train

My mom, Dan and myself all took Bennett to see the Metrolink Christmas Train at the Chatsworth Station. We decided to make it a holiday tradition. Such fun. The train pulls into the station, they have a 10 minute Christmas play, then about 10 minutes of singing carols while Santa comes out and meets the kids. Perfect amount of time for the kids, and perfect price...free! The train is totally decked out for the holidays with lights and even inflatable snowmen. Our station even serves free apple cider and popcorn. Very fun little thing Christmas event to do.

Below is a short video of the finish of the show. Bennett was just boppin' and dancin' to all of the Christmas tunes.

Farmer's Market

I have to say that one of my favorite places in LA is Farmer's Market and The Grove. I went there as a kid alot, and have always loved the atmosphere. Mom and I took Bennett down there for lunch before heading off to the museum. Bennett got a kick out of running around there. So much to see and do.

This is Bennett throwing a penny into the fountain.

And this is Bennett trying to get the penny back. :o)

He loved the old gas pumps display from the Gilmore Gas Station. Playing a game of Peek A Boo with Grammy here.

I just love that smile and the dimple too!