There are more photos here but here are some of the highlights:

Seen in the wee hours on our drive out on FM 1826:

Seen in Ft. Stockton, TX (I have a thing for dilapidated buildings):

First full day, spent morning in recovery then afternoon at the park bonding with cousins.

J and his cousin K spent the most time playing together.

Of course, would not be caught without his football. Err…soccer ball.

Another day shopping, this time at Irvine Spectrum, one of our old haunts but back then it didn’t have a giant soccer ball.

By now, our hands and lips have showed signs of chapping and we miss the humidity of Texas.

Another day, a big day, a big spending day (ugh!) at Disneyland. Main things we want to remember of that day: J’s response to the hour+ wait for Small World, first ride of the day: “That’s IT?!”

J does better on Space Mountain after I tell him to keep his eyes closed. His fear isn’t the fact that it’s a roller coaster so much as that it is very dark. He rode on two more coasters after that.

Dinner at Cafe Orleans, where they were very accommodating of our diet and the waiter went above and beyond to earn his tip. Getting to ride on the jungle cruise:

The Christmas decor, beautiful in daylight and even more so at night:

The 24th of December, spent at my sister’s so we could enjoy being with my family:

(One of these was a ZuZu pet for J…he was beside himself)

Yes, the fur babies came too:

That evening, we went to church with my in-laws and were reminded what It Is All About:

On Christmas day, we woke up bright and early (no surprise there), had blintzes for breakfast and then opened presents. I have no photos to share because I haven’t got permission to show those to you. But we had fun! We were concerned about the small space and number of people, but it worked out so well and the kids enjoyed spending time with each other.

The day after, my kids had a hard time with our rule of not opening some packages until we got home but we alleviated some of that with a little hike.

When you’re outdoors, don’t forget to look up:

Spied this lovely couple:

The following day, we took our time getting out of the house. As a result, we didn’t get to spend as much time at the Air & Space Museum at Balboa Park.

It’s loaded with all kinds of things related to air travel. From the Montgolfier brothers’ balloon…

to the Air Force’s modern reconnaissance drones:

Our last full day in California was spent with friends, having breakfast then going to Boomer’s to enjoy a game of mini golf.

Both boys enjoyed it! NM had scored a couple holes-in-one. J had so much fun and didn’t get bored until about the 12th hole (19 holes is a lot). And the last hole? Hole-in-one for me!

After our game, we made our requisite visit to Trader Joe’s to stock up on goodies and then pack for the drive home. We almost drove straight through to Ft. Stockton but we weren’t sure we could find a room there so we stayed in Las Cruces, NM. When we got up the next day, it was freezing!

We had breakfast at some place and I do wish now that I’d taken a photo because I can’t remember what it was called but the food was very good. So it worked out that we didn’t drive all the way to Ft. Stockton.

I would have missed the chance to take these:

People often ask how Sprocket does with traveling. She does very, very well. She has come to realize that there’s a space under the back seat that must have been made just for her because she will automatically head there every time we get in the car.