What have we been up to?

On Christmas Eve, in the afternoon, we went to Sea World. We saw the dolphin show and special holiday Shamu show. It was pretty fun. Clare did great! It was the first time she ever sat on the bench and watched the animals instead of burying her head in my lap. She talked all night and is still talking about seeing the dolphins jump! I was surprised that Sea World was so crowded because I figured everyone would be home doing holiday stuff. This picture, below, I thought would be fun -- to send warm wishes from San Diego! Also, you can see how big I'm getting. (I'm now just starting the third trimester).


Christmas morning Calvin woke up at 4:15am. This is something he has been doing a lot lately, so we had known it was quite possible. We stuck a little TV in his room with a few movies, snacks and a drink for him. He watched Jungle Book and Toy Story 2 before even trying to come out at around 6:30. Pete and Jessica arrived about that time and were waiting for the kids upstairs. They though it'd be fun to see the kids' reaction to their Christmas morning! The kids were shy of pete and jessica and also in some kind of daze so they didn't react the way we imagined. Calvin was silent and very timid 'til about 7:30 when he was finally excited about it! (by then we were done)! I didn't take many pictures but the one below is of Clare opening the present Calvin gave to her. He helped wrap it in white paper and then colored on the white paper instead of using christmas wrap.




We have a fireplace in our living room that we haven't used much but it recently occur ed to us that we should try it out and see if it helps warm up the house. It seems to help a bit so we've been on the lookout for firewood. The other day we were driving by a house and saw some small pieces of wood out by the road. The man of the house was in the garage so I asked him if he was trying to get rid of the wood and if we could take it. He said, "yes and I have a bunch more in the back, come and take a look." Dave filled up the back of the truck with some wood. The wood was chopped into bick circular blocks but Dave had to chop it all into quarters to burn. He was excited to go get an ax, especially since all men should have an ax!