1.15.2016

A California Christmas

Our trip out to California started out not-so-smoothly.  I thought we had left plenty early enough but the traffic was much worse than we had expected.  It's in moments like this that I realize what a good match Bryan is for me.  I was in total panic mode and spent the whole drive hyperventilating while Bryan calmly reassured me, "It will be fine, we're going to make it."  We got to the airport at 8:00 and somehow miraculously made it on our 8:45 flight (along with all our luggage!)  Bryan later admitted he thought there was no way we were going to make it, but he figured at least one of us should keep their cool.  We got on the plane and breathed a huge sigh of relief then 20 minutes into the 6 hour flight Mattie threw up allllll over her lap and my lap.  Thank goodness I had packed some wipes because it took the entire package to clean up the mess.  And luckily Mattie had a Halloween shirt under her dress that remained unscathed.  The rest of the flight was less eventful and I've never been happier to be back on solid ground.



The rest of the trip went much more smoothly.  We had a fun Christmas party with all of the Griffins that included a sweet nativity.  Jilly was pleased as punch to play Mary and Mattie was a happy and adorable cow.







Other Christmas prep included decorating a gingerbread house, doing puzzles, and playing outside in the cold (for most of the time California was a solid 20 degrees colder than it was in Maryland!)




On Christmas Eve Bryan's dad always reads 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.  This year before reading he told the girls, "And now we're going to read a really fun story."  And Mattie replied, "Oh, I know- Frozen!  I will go get it!"  She was just a tiny bit disappointed to find out the book was already chosen, but she was perfectly content once he started reading.



Christmas was so fun with the girls.  Jilly had most wanted a jack-in-the-box and Mattie wanted clothes for her baby, and Santa really pulled through.  The girls also got matching nightgowns, magformers, books, new clothes, legos, and sparkly princess capes made by their Nana. 





The rest of the trip was spent relaxing and enjoying time with family.  Mattie was shocked when Bryan finally shaved and kept telling him that he should put his mustache back on.  We went bowling and my two-year-old beat me handily, we went to see Star Wars, and ate some real Mexican food.  







We went to the beach one day and it was pretty cold but some sand and salt did us lots of good.  





Our last day in California was my 30th birthday.  Bryan's parents offered to watch the girls while we went away for the night but I'm so glad we stuck around because the girls were SO excited and treated me like a queen.  Bryan and I did go out for lunch and a movie and the celebrations continue because we're going to New York in a few weeks!




It was a week of fun and great company, and we're already counting down the days til we get to see our Martinez family again.

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