Dec. 30, 2010 - Christmas!!!

One last visit to Santa

All dressed up for Christmas Eve mass

After more assembly than expected, the gifts are ready for Riley

Riley checks out her new kitchen on Christmas morning

Then relaxed at her table

She was happy to pour Mommy a much needed cup of coffee

Giving Seamus treats out of his stocking

Playing with play-doh, a huge hit

Making mini-cupcakes

She slowly and carefully tore wrapping paper from her presents

Helping Daddy put together her shopping cart (just when we thought we had everything assembled)

Yay! Time to pick up some groceries.

I'm always amazed at what she has learned just by watching us. She took one of her eggs, "cracked" it in the skillet and fried it on the burner.

Chad's amazing prime rib

Merry Christmas to Seamus, a rib bone just for him

Soft clothes!

Our little monkey!

Riley waited patiently while Daddy got bath doll out of her box. The packaging on these toys is crazy!

Great Aunt Anita visited and read Riley lots and LOTS of books.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium

Riley loved looking at the fish in the big tank

The octopus is usually hidden in a corner, it was awesome to see it all sprawled out

Touching kelp and starfish with Dr. Kelly

Riley, Great Aunt Anita and Mommy at the outside exhibit

The jellyfish is one of my favorites

Running around with Aunt Anita while anchovies swim overhead

At the Japanese Botanical garden

Peaking through a window

We loved our visit with Aunt Anita!

Merry Christmas! We hope you all enjoyed your holiday as much as we did. We went to the family-oriented mass on Christmas Eve and Riley did better than usual in church; all the extra kids and people were very entertaining. Chad and I made a rookie mistake and didn't start assembling Riley's gifts until 10 pm Christmas Eve. It was a late night but we finished it so everything was waiting for her when she woke up. We took a video when Riley came downstairs and it was absolutely precious. She immediately started playing with her new toys and even said, "Thank you Santa!" It took a few days for her to open all her presents, she usually lost interest in what was under the tree and started playing with what she had just opened. We just let Riley go at her own pace, we didn't make any big plans. Chad grilled an amazing prime rib and we stayed in our PJ's all day. It was a very relaxing holiday.

A few days after Christmas Aunt Anita came for a visit. After playing shy for 30 seconds Riley asked her to read a book and was all about Anita for the rest of her time with us. I think they read a million books! We went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium; Anita is a Marine Biologist so we love going there with her. Riley really enjoyed the splash pools and fish, but her favorite was the wave exhibit. She's been talking about waves nonstop since our trip. We're so happy Anita was able to visit, we all loved spending time with her