Dovewood Court

Merry Christmas friends and family,

Today is my last day of work for a few days.  In 2012 I never took more than 4 vacation days in a row so this is a well deserved extended break from work.  Time to get the party started!  Tomorrow I'm taking the twins and Uncle Casey to the space and science museum for some exploration adventures.  I've been waiting for Easton and Layla to get a little older so they can enjoy it.

I found a half-price sale on a matchbox battleship for Easton.  He was excited to get it, but I made him wait until we arrived at Ouma and Oupa's house before opening it.  We're working on attack strategy as we fly around the house.  I had to explain how it's only possible to fire missiles forward, which means he has to be behind the bad guy to shoot him out of the sky.  Now he blasts me out of the sky so I spend most of my time floating in the ocean waiting on Layla to fly in the rescue helicopter.  Christmas arrived a little early for him.

Kendra and the twins spent the weekdays having play dates, shopping, playing at home, and continuing school.  The twins are starting to read sentences already!  Kendra's teaching methods are paying off.  Layla is picking it up a little faster than Easton, but he stays focused when she uses manipulatives to keep his interest.

We joined our friends for a tour of Dovewood Court Christmas lights.  It's an annual tradition when we are in Sacramento for Christmas.   Almost every house goes all out with their own flare including themes, music, and more yard ornaments than I've ever seen.  One lady said they have four sheds in their backyard to house the displays.

This one below has a volcano with red lights representing the flowing lava.  Easton's favorite display, by far.

One neighbor even had a live display... this dog.  He just roamed the yard accepting petting and love from whoever would pay attention.

Isabella and Carlo wandered the sidewalks with us as we continually directed them to stay between the drive-through traffic and the neighbor's front porches.

The display behind us in the next picture took the lady about 6 weeks of continual work to set it up.  I can't imagine doing this every year, but I'm glad they choose to participate and do it!  

 It's hard for me to grasp how quickly the twins have grown up when I think about just a few years of time have past.  Here is a picture from 4 years ago during their first trip to see the lights.  I'm glad they can walk by themselves instead of us hauling them around everywhere.  Those were the days...

Anyway, back to reality...  The kids' favorite display was not the one with the most lights or moving parts.  The wooden, painted Sponge Bob display invoked the most intense excitement.  God help us.

I'm done with work for the day so it's time to start the Christmas vacation officially.

See you soon!