"And mom and dad can hardly wait..."

There are a number of things about the Christmas song quoted above that don't seem to fit for us. Never this year could I say "it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas" as I was out and about in San Diego, unless you count Christmas lights wrapped around palm trees. Which I don't.

"And mom and dad can hardly wait for school to start again." Also not true. I love having all three of my boys home with me, so breaks from school are my favorite. They have been sleeping in past 8 every morning and I love not having to rush Nathan out the door. We have had a really fun week with the perfect balance of fun family activities and plenty of down time.

Monday, Josh's parents were still here and the weather was nice, so we went hiking at the Torrey Pines mesa-overlooking the ocean.

Dallen insisted on hiking on his own. Look at that determination!

Jack got a big scrape on his leg and had to ride for a while.
Now you have to know that Jack is getting completely sick of mom and her camera. Nathan? Always a willing participant. Here he is winking for the camera:

On Thursday, New Year's Eve, during the day we went to the Birch Aquarium. Nathan went here last year on a field trip and has been desperate to go back, so he was thrilled. Jack's highlight were the tiny seahorses which of course he took on as his persona immediately. "I am that cute little one mom!"

We saw tons of fish, got eaten by a shark:

And got hands on in the tide pools:
New Year's Eve was the highlight of the whole break for me. We all stayed up till midnight, except Dal. First we ate finger foods like chips and dip and crackers and cheese and beef stick-gotta have those, it's tradition! Then we played Wii bowling (Dal was awake for all of this). Then we watched a movie as a family-Night at the Museum 2-and by then it was almost midnight. After banging on a few pots and pans, we shuffled the kids off to dreamland. It was a perfect night. Perfect.

Saturday we went down the road to the Miramar Base Air Museum-free admission and a little boy's dream come true. And since we have 3 little boys, I guess we will be going back, regularly. The boys were in heaven. Jack was giddy with excitement and declared that he is going to be a pilot when he grows up, but "don't worry mom-I will come home."
And so, alas, it is with a sigh that I put myself to bed now, because tomorrow it is back to normal life.