Merry Christmas (Griswald style) and Happy New Year

Just chillaxin in the airport on our way to Vegas for Christmas.  Who really goes there (Vegas) and stays at Treasure Island for Christmas Eve? The Griswald fam-i-ly, that's who.  The week has been a whirlwind of activities, beginning with a night out with Sophie and Gabi to see "Beauty and the Beast", a Broadway performance in Greeley!  It was fabulous!  And even though it was a school night for all of us, getting home late, it was worth being sleepy the next day. It was a special night to spend with my two special seven year olds.

The remainder of the week was super busy.  On Friday morning, I met with my support group gals for coffee and we updated one another on our husbands and their current status.  Once again, I feel blessed to have a husband who, although he has his shortcomings, he is still with us and able to celebrate this holiday season with us.

Saturday was spent with the grand kids, Corbin and Gabi in the morning and Rory in the afternoon (I took him shopping for new pants), then to Denver in the evening for dinner with Mom, Don and Vicki, Pam, Brad and I and Gramma.

 We got a lot of laughs from talking about Vicki's family tradition of eating Lutefisk on Christmas (some raw fish thing....) and Don posted that idea on his Christmas chalkboard.
On Sunday, everyone was busy packing for the trip (ok, everyone but me!) and since it was a surprise to the kids, Sophie came over while Amie packed her things.  We decided to make pizelles, a thin, waffle type cookie make in an iron.  Sophie mixed up most of the batter, then "sugared" all of the cookies when they were done.Later, we had everyone over for dinner and the little boys played with a train set that I couldn't resist buying ( my only toy purchase for the season!)

Monday, the 23rd was a whirlwind, beginning with awaking to 4" of new (not predicted) snow, packing (at last!) then to a super busy day of work, arriving home just in time to get into the car for our trip to Denver.  It was amusing that the kids didn't pay much attention to our trip to the airport and honestly thought we were just having dinner there.  When we told them that we were going on a plane, they were sure excited!

 Lots of squealing and screaming!!! We loaded everything up and we were on our way to Vegas. It took quite awhile to get there, then rent the van, figure out how to put all of the luggage and people in there, (here, Spencer interjects, "the Griswald's got nothin' on us!") then drive to our hotel.  By the time we got 
to our rooms, it was nearly midnight, we're all exhausted and of course, the boys wanted to go gambling.....Brad got back to the room at 3:00am, followed by Curt and Spencer at around 6:00.  Naturally, they were just a smidgeon overtired to deal with kids and Vegas.  Amie, Carrie and I started walking around the hotels located near us to take in some of the local sights with the kids.
We were all amused at Gabi's take on Vegas.  She had several comments to make about the local attire! (showgirl) and started it off talking about how she'd like to go see "The Thunder Down Under"!  She noted that several of the girls had "wedgies". Anyway, we walked around and looked at the Christmas decor at the Mirage, then went on a tram across the street to the Venetian.  We found a great candy store that sold nearly every type of candy (including some adult-only stuff)

 

After that, it was off to Circus Circus (Parents, please note: don't do it. This place is worse than throwing money away in slot machines!)  A few hundred dollars later, we emerged with lots less money and a bag full of cheap stuffed animals.  By then, Spencer and Curt drove the van to pick us all up, for which we were grateful, having some very tired kiddos with us. Next stop?  M&M World, of course! The boys dropped us off a few blocks from that store, so again, walking along the Vegas Strip with kids is a trip.  "grandma, look at those beautiful angels up there", Gabi says.....Upon closer inspection...."Eeeew, they don't have any underwear on!" And Corbin spotting a dwarf Santa. "Look at that tiny little Santa", seeing the Minions

and the favorite was a Zombie peeking around a corner, scaring all. Much more entertaining than our destination!

Now it was time to have our traditional (Ok, I'm lying) Christmas Eve dinner....drum roll please.....In & Out Burgers!, a natural choice!

 

 Actually, it really hit the spot! Afterwards, we drove to the downtown area to see the light show (and a few other sights....strange stuff....

 
then back to the hotel (no cookies for Santa at Treasure Island!) to hang stockings and get to bed.  (There was some more late night gambling by some members of our party, needless to say) Santa did leave a note in each room letting the kids know that due to various factors, he would leave their gifts at Nana's house in California.  So, Christmas day was spent in the van, on the road to California, arriving at Nana's late that afternoon. What a ride! (as Spencer kept referring to it).

  We were all invited to Christmas dinner at Sally, Richard and Great Grandma Doris' house. What a thoughtful gesture THAT was!  Great seeing the three of them, along with Paula and Bob and Kannon, too.

The next day, we decided to do a beach day, so after stopping for a quick tour of Sarah and Travis' new house (keeping our fingers crossed that all goes well with the closing), we were off to Huntington Beach.

The weather was gorgeous (mid 80's) and we had lunch at Ruby's on the pier (did I mention that travelling with a party of 11, there is sometimes(?) a slight wait for seating at restaurants?)  I have to say that it was worth the wait-scrumptious burgers and shakes and a great table-to-table balloon man, who entertained the kids while we waited on food.

 
The kids enjoyed the beach and the ocean, although the water wasn't quite that warm summertime temperature.

 That evening, we had a get together and a white elephant exchange (the theme was "something paper")/pizza party with the Szabo family back at Nancy's house. I'm not clear on who furnished the moustaches, but they were a hit!

 

 Friday, (the 27th and Elijah's birthday....missing you buddy) was spent on a record breaking 17 hour day at Disneyland/California Adventure.  We began with a breakfast (thanks, Carrie for making that reservation!) with the characters, which the kids (and adults) loved, and especially Grayson, who at first wasn't quite sure about Disney characters that large, but then warmed up to them.

 

 

 Oh what a day it was at Disney!  A record attendance, with the park closing mid-morning when it reached capacity (85,000ish), so after a 2 hour wait in line to ride Space Mountain (Rory and Sophie's favorite ride), we went to California Adventure where it was much less crowded, enjoying lots of amazing rides and sights.

Did I mention that Sophie had the "barf bug" all morning, but rallied to enjoy her day!

 

 

 

 

 We were a tired group at the end of those 17 hours!

Saturday morning, before we left, Sarah was kind enough to fit me in to her hair schedule for a little "root re-do".  THANK YOU, SARAH! After packing up all of our stuff, we headed to the airport, had some serious laughs while Spencer navigated our huge van into a not quite tall enough parking garage and, then in the true Simmons/Griswald fashion, the plane was delayed, getting us home at 3:00 am on Sunday morning.  Poor Grayson did not sleep until we got to our car (1:30am), managing to not only stay awake, but also vocal until the car started!  On our way back to the parking lot on the shuttle bus he says, "Where's my suitcase?" LOL!

P.S. On the very bright side, Southwest Airlines gave each of the 11 of us a $200 voucher for a future flight!
What an amazing trip!  Happy 2014 to you all.