After we were done with Christmas at home, we packed our bags and headed to the airport.
The plane we rode in was an Airbus with little movie screens for every passenger. We didn't even have to get out every iPad.
Yeh-yeh and Nai-nai met us at the airport and after that we had lunch at In-N-Out. Yum!
The weather was beautiful. Elvin's cousin from Brazil was also in town and the kids ended up playing soccer together on the street for hours.
We had last seen them in July. They got reacquainted with each other very fast!
Gabe and his cousin Sebastian were especially happy about getting to play soccer.
Then we had dinner together at a Chinese restaurant.
During our time in California, we had another round of opening Christmas presents. Karina, who is now an avid knitter, made coasters.
As a gift from their grandparents, the girls got tickets to see the Broadway version of Lion King. This was as a follow-up to their own performance in Lion King Jr.
Karina also got a Lego Friends set.
Gabe got a game called Pucket where you use an elastic band to shoot small wooden pucks through a slot to your opponents side. It is an action packed game!
People of all ages can compete against each other!
We also met up with several friends. One friend took us geocaching, where you search for a hidden containers using the GPS on your phone. The kids loved it.
We found a container which was hidden under a gazebo. There were little trinkets inside which you can take. You just have to be sure to replenish it with other trinkets.
The girls got to go see Mary Poppins in the theater. While they were out, Elvin took the boys bowling.
They had fun!
And afterwards we played pool.
And some video games!
For dinner, we had hot pot, which was fun to do.
And we celebrated Uncle Leslie's birthday--he was born on New Year's Eve.
That night, no one, including the adults, stayed up till midnight. We were all pooped.
On New Year's Day, we were looking for an activity to do, so we went geocaching! Cousin Elliott lead the way.
We searched and searched and searched. And then searched some more. It turns out that the "container" was very tricky indeed. It was disguised as a bolt. However it had a false top...the head of a bolt was actually a lid which you can twist off to reveal a hollow center which held a little strip of paper where you can sign your name as one of the finders of this geocache.
For lunch we decided to eat pastries at a French/Chinese bakery. Even the kids were impressed with the variety.
Decisions, decisions...
Being gluten free, Elvin had to settle for a hamburger from a joint next door.
Eliana tried and liked egg tarts for the first time.
Another treat the kids had was Guarana, which is a soft drink from Brazil. It's a cross between Sprite and Squirt. It's very good and the kids love it. Here is Karina savoring every sip.
One thing we noticed was that Eliana was almost as tall as Nai-nai now. We conjectured that by next Christmas, she may actually be taller!!!
And so that was our Christmas #2 in California. We returned our rental and hopped on the short flight home.
And home sweet home...
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