Trapped inside all day Monday

Sure enough, we woke up to pouring rain Monday... Mattie was already giving me clues by 10AM that she wanted to go outside... she went into the closet and got out a duffle bag and umbrella... "ready to go mom?"

I had to be more creative than usual today (since we couldn't go to the park or out and about)

So we (I) built a fort... Mattie was excited to play inside... she read books, climbed in and out and under the chairs....

And she forgot all about wanting to go outside!

Sunday... before the storm....

We braved the cold on Sunday and made a trip to the Spectrum to ride the carosel... Mattie now squeals with delight when she sees those lit up horses!

The sky when we left.... is that not the most beautiful sunset you have ever seen????
And it just kept getting more colorful! All those clouds were a sign of things to come...

Annual "Fam" Holiday Get Together

The whole gang got together to celebrate the holiday (minus the Alldays w/ 2 sick kids, we missed ya!)

A ladies shot...
A theme of the evening... Mattie stealing Tatum's stroller...

Goofing around on the couch... Tatum kept saying "more pictures" so I kept taking them till I got one of them both semi-smiling!

More stroller stealing... this time its two strollers! Poor Tatum just scowls in the background as her toys get taken away.... she could be my babysitter, she kept telling Mattie what to do, and would say "no, no Mattie" when Mattie would do something naughty! So cute to see their little personalities!

Aaron's First Birthday Party!

Mattie's friend Aaron celebrated his first birthday party on Sunday!

The sandbox was a big hit... Here Aria is showing Mattie how to properly pour out the sand....
The two slides were also a big hit... Mattie, Aria, and Gavin all want their turn to slide down!

Yes, "muscle Mattie" really carried this play table outside from the living room.. apparently she wanted it all to herself, in the sandbox....

The birthday boy digging in to his cupcake! Fun friends and yummy food, it doesn't get much better than this!

Annual trip to Fashion Island

We couldn't let the Christmas season come and go without making a trip to Fashion Island to see the big tree....

First stop, the carosel... Mattie can't get enough of the horses!
Not a great pic, but check out the background... the sky was eery, but you can see Catalina Island way out in the distance....

The big tree! Mattie liked hitting the big ornaments better than anything else!

A stop by the coi pond... Mattie wanted to go for a swim with the big fish! So many fun things to see when you are 19 months old!

Mattie plays with her "baby friends"

Baby Isaac came over to play twice this past week! He is getting so big and will soon be bigger than Mattie! Mattie is 19 months old here and Isaac is 4 months old.
Baby Sierra (Miller) also came over to play, she is 8 months old and full of smiles!

Laguna Beach Montage with the Kessels

When Jakey comes to town, Mattie gets in as many play dates as possible. Saturday we went to the Montage to enjoy the beautiful sunny day... Mattie enjoyed chasing Jakey all around the lawn before we headed down to the beach...

A quick stop for a family photo....
Playing around in the sand.... Jakey finds a Captain America figure, and Mattie is happy to hold sand....

Mattie sees a dog off in the distance and a neat cave by the shoreline... she is seriously contemplating which one to go see first...

The dog won... but she wasn't sure about petting him because his hair was all wet!

What a fantastic day! Oh the joys of living in southern California!