Christmas at the Beach!

We went to Seaside, Oregon for a week with my parents the week before Christmas and celebrated Christmas with them there. We stayed at the timeshare there and had such a relaxing, enjoyable time! We spent our days taking naps, walks, visiting the arcades, playing and swimming. The kids LOVED the pool and would've spent much more time there had it not been the middle of December and very cold outside! Joel took them down to the pool almost every evening after dinner and before bedtime, bringing them back to the condo very worn out and mostly ready for bed!

One of the afternoons, Mom and I took Abigail to see the new movie, Tangled. We all enjoyed it and it was fun to get out and have some girl time together! The boys ventured down to the aquarium while us girls were doing our thing. Elijah loved the seals and actually, he and Joel went there a couple more times after that! Once you've paid one time, you can get your ticket stamped and have free admission the rest of your stay at the beach. It worked out great! He took Abigail one of the times, but she didn't like how the seals splashed and decided to wait for them out in the gift shop. Funny girl!

While we were there, we celebrated Christmas Eve and then Christmas morning the next day since my folks live in Central Oregon and we wouldn't be seeing them on the actual holiday. My parents lavished gifts on the kiddos (and us too!) and they loved all of it! Elijah's big gift was a train table that they scored off of Craig's list! He's been drawn to those for quite some time now and all month would point them out in toy ads that he found. He's been enjoying playing with it since we got home too.

Abigail was thrilled with new Strawberry Shortcake toys! It's amazing how they smell the exact same as when I was a little girl! And little Caleb was thrilled with anything...toys, wrapping paper...whatever! : ) My parents bought him a new dress shirt with blue checks and we bought my Dad a similar one! They're pretty cute together in their matching shirts!

One of the days we made it to the Carousel Mall too! Abigail isn't too fond of rides and every time we've ever ridden a carousel, she finds a bench seat or an animal that doesn't go up and down. Elijah just picks the animal that he wants. Caleb wasn't quite sure of it and I'm glad my Dad was standing next to him the whole time to keep him seated for the entire ride! It actually moves quite fast...the fastest one I've ever been on and I was happy when it ended! : ) On this one, there are actually only a couple animals that don't move, so Abigail chose the giraffe and sat completely contentedly the whole ride. As we were walking around afterward, she said, "If I go again, I think I'm ready to sit on one that moves up and down now." I just love that about her. So aware of herself! 

Two of the nights we were there, Abigail and Elijah both slept next door at my parents condo. It was so relaxing for Joel and I to just drop them off at bedtime, let my parents do the (usually) exhausting work of getting them to bed, to stay in bed and eventually fall asleep and then to have them wake up and stay at Grandma & Grandpas was oh-so-nice! We did have Caleb with us, but he's still in that nice sleep stage where he goes to bed around 6:30 at night and sleeps til about 7 the next morning...(usually). One of the nights, Joel and I actually went out on a date while my parents used the monitor to listen for Caleb! We also snuck in a few other coffee dates in the mornings. It was nice to take advantage of free babysitting time! Thanks again, Mom & Dad!!