Christmas night photos

Here are some photos we took before Christmas dinner.

Christmas Day at the San Diego Zoo

We ended up going to the zoo on Christmas day to let the kids out of the hotel room. The best attraction was the panda by far and Jessica enjoyed wearing some new shades around the park.

Jessica and her cousins open Christmas presents

Here are some photos of Jessica and her cousins opening and playing with their Christmas presents.

Santa comes...

Once Jessica and Jack were in bed, Santa finally came. It took a lot of suitcases for all of these presents.

Jessica and Jack leave cookies for Santa

and carrots for the reindeer too.

Jessica and Jack get tucked in by Santa's elves

The hotel we stayed at had a lot of great activities for the kids. On Christmas Eve, Jack and Jessica got tucked in by Santa's elves (Nicky was already in bed). Jack was really into the whole experience, while Jessica didn't want too much to do with the elves. She did enjoy reading along with "Twas the night before Christmas" though.

Jessica likes the firepit

One of the best things about the beach villa we stayed in was that it had a firepit. Jessica really enjoyed standing by the fire on Christmas Eve.

A Christmas Vacation in San Diego

Christmas this year was spent on vacation with my family in San Diego. We stayed at the Beach Villas at the Hotel del Coronado. We arrived on Christmas Eve. After getting settled into the hotel, it was time to get everyone dressed for dinner. With 3 kids, that takes a whole lot longer than I would have thought. Jessica did not seem too happy about being photographed, but we figured we should have at least one photo of her from that night. At least she was happy that night except for when she was being photographed.

meet homey jessica

This weekend, Jessica thought it would be fun to wear Jim's hat. She doesn't like to wear hats, so this surprised us. For a while, she wore it over her entire head. This way, she couldn't see and got a good laugh walking around and bumping into things. Eventually, she settled on the side look and wouldn't part with the hat all afternoon.

is it time to worry?

For those of you that know my mom, you understand that she vacuums a lot. She's one of those people that love vacuum lines. Jessica now has her own vacuum cleaner and she happily follows either myself or her nana around while we vacuum and copies what we do (or sort of). She seems to like it. We'll see if she takes after her nana who loves the vaccum or me who simply vacuums out of necessity. Personally, I wish they made higher powered kid-sized vacuums so she could start doing chores on my behalf.

Jessica plays in her playhouse

Since it was dark by the time we got the playhouse setup, Jessica had to wait until the next day to actually play in it. Her are some photos and videos we took this over the weekend. Notice how no one is allowed inside her playhouse. She likes to shut everyone out -- even the dogs. Poor Mousse had to get in on the action by peering in through the kitchen window.

Jessica gets a playhouse

Jessica's playhouse came today. I'm not sure if she had more fun with the box it came in or the playhouse. Well, that isn't exactly true. She really loves the playhouse. She even had fun with it in its dissembled state. One of the walls had a door and a window. Sbe seemed to be pleased with just that propped up against the fence. She did think that the box was pretty cool too -- probably because Jim could fit in the entire box and was playing in it with her. This video shows her playing with the box and the house before we assembled it. Notice how she already shuts out us of her house with a bye-bye.

Duke really is a good boy

Jessica is really into horses all of a sudden. Check out this video where she rides Duke like a horse. She is actually saying neigh-neigh. After watching this, all I can say is how lucky we are to have such a good spirited dog.

Jessica has fun with the the snowmen and toads (again)

Jessica really likes the singing holiday decorations. When we were out in Indiana for Thanksgiving, she liked to play the Halloween ones with the Christmas ones. I guess it gave her the perfect beat to dance to.

how to entertain Jessica on an airplane

I have found a great way to entertain Jessica on airplanes. She loves to put plastic cups on her feet and play with them. Who would have thought that this alone could entertain her halfway across the country. Check out the video.

Jessica meets Minnie and friends

We took Jessica and Jack to the Minnie and friends breakfast in Disneyland. Jack was into meeting the characters. Jessica was not. See the photo of the wolf to see just how pleased she was to meet him. After a while, we were able to get photos of Jessica with characters by having them sneak up behind her. Minnie tried for a few minutes before she could actually stand behind Jessica without her knowing it.

Jessica is ready to meet Minnie

This photo was right before we had breakfast with Minnie Mouse and her friends. Since Jessica wouldn't keep her mouse ear hat on, we ended up getting her some Minnie Mouse ear barrettes. With those in her hair, she was ready to show Minnie Mouse her outfit. Of course, that assumes that she would let Minnie Mouse get anywhere near her, which didn't really seem all that likely.

Jessica's still not sure about Santa

We tried to take Jessica to Santa again when we were in Disneyland. The first time in Indiana we couldn't really get her anywhere near him. This time we thought that her big cousin Jack would show her how it was done. Well, she still wasn't into him and the only way to get her in a picture was to visit Santa myself.

Jessica gets the driving thing

While waiting for dinner at Goofy's Kitchen, Jessica got to play in one of the cars outside. She'll be driving in no time.

Jessica gets her first pair of mouse ears

You can't go to Disneyland without getting a pair of mouse ears. So, we got Jessica her first pair of ears (Minnie). Unfortunately, she wouldn't keep them on for very long, but we were able to snap a few pictures.