This year we made reservations instead of recipes for Thanksgiving dinner…in Vegas. The next morning bright and early, we headed to the Las Vegas American Outlaws chapter bar to watch the US play England.
The vibe was phenomenal.
What happens in Vegas does not always stay in Vegas because we both got colds while we were there, the drive home was so much fun (insert sarcasm font).
About a week later we had our yearly visitor.
Everyone this is Tipsytoes Bellshire.
Casey and Aileen took the girls for a day of Coronado fun. They made ornaments and cookies with Santa, explored the Hotel Del and went out to lunch.
They came home happy and hyper, it was a fun holiDAY!
(Why didn’t anyone brush Averi’s hair that morning?)
I was unsure of how the World Cup would look during the month of December but I gotta say that I dig it. Waking up to soccer every morning has been wonderful.
We are about a week out from Christmas and I am happy to say that I think I’m ready for it.
Cold nights, toasty fires, eggnog espresso martini’s and the WC final match….not a bad December.
Did you remember…. the 1st night of December (insert Earth Wind and Fire tune) lucky for us, our elf did remember to pay us a visit. Santa sent his elf Cupcake Dustybum to ours on the first night of December. He left a wrapped present for the girls.
But first, they had to read the official North Pole letter that our elf brought.
In the letter, Cupcake pretty much threatened them to be good, or ELSE!
The present was the Elf on the Shelf book that Santa sends them each year. They each took a turn reading it.
Along with the book, Santa sent them each an animal ornament, so nice, that guy!
Then the girls ran all over the house looking for Cupcake, every noise, anything out of the ordinary, it HAD to be him. But alas, he didn’t show his face until the next morning.
He got himself all tangled up trying to write a joke.
What kind of pictures do elves take?
Give up?
Elf-ies. Haha ha ha ha
Speaking of pictures, I took one of him and this is what I got.
Spooky eh? I didn’t even show the girls, they would have been in distress.
Apparently there was a cold going around Averi’s classroom and I guess Cupcake must of caught it. We woke up the next morning to this….
I think we should take Cupcake to get his Covid vaccine, just to be safe. If this is who he is kicking it with at night, we can’t be too careful.
We went and picked up a tree while the girls were at school that day.
They were so excited to decorate.
They asked Alexa to play the Justin Bieber Christmas song, repeatedly.
Later that afternoon, we had a belated traditional Thanksgiving with Shawna’s mom. I had a game plan, the potatoes were prepped and ready to cook, stuffing was a no brainer, rolls just needed to be heated, but, there’s always a but, the turkey was still partially frozen, or so I thought. I over compensated for the cooking time and I’m pretty sure the (13 lb. ) turkey was done in an hour and a half. I had the oven safe digital thermometer inside of the bird while it cooked, and it read done hours before I was expecting, wtf? Anyhow, I second guessed myself and cooked it a tad longer, and we ended with dry turkey meat. The SOLE reason I’m not a fan on the traditional Thanksgiving menu is becuase there is nothing worse than, dry meat. (Get your head out of the gutter) Boring, not enough dark TURKEY meat, too much white meat AND it was over cooked. Ugh, it still makes me frustrated. Anyhow, I am going to try and make a cranberry pecan turkey salad with the leftovers, wish me luck.
The next morning we woke to this.
Where are his manners?
This morning he was hiding pretty well.
I needed a hint to find him.
So, that is how the first few days of December has gone over here. I can’t wait to see what else Cupcake has up his elf sleeve.
Somehow it’s already mid December, I have so much to catch you up on. Currently our Elf, Peppermint Sugarcookie is playing Twister with a few scantily clad and very limber Barbies.
Every morning the girls give a full report on what trouble he got into the night before.
Our neighborhood puts on a Holiday party each year. It’s the perfect time to meet the neighbors we never see and probably won’t see again until the next party. It’s also a great time for the girls to see Santa. Averi loves to get fancy for all occasions, she also loves to have her photo taken.
Our Elementary school put on a Frozen movie night and of course the girls had.to.go. We saw Frozen 2 the day after it came out and that is all Averi can talk about. Frozen Fever. But the movie theater is different than the school auditorium. Drinks were spilled, bathroom needs were constant and the Avester decided she was “too tired” and stayed put even after the lights came on. Yep that’s my kid.
The next day we spent swimming at uncle Casey’s new place. They decided to slum it for a bit and move to Coronado Island, sigh. The view is awful. And yes it looks cold, but the pool water was just fine….for the kids…and Casey.
Since all three girls weren’t able to attend the holiday party, we went back to the mall for another visit with Santa and some quick shopping.
As luck would have it, when we went to walk the neighborhood Christmas lights, we ran into Santa again. What a tiring job he has. Luckily he will have cookies waiting for him as a reward, or treat? So many kids and cats, I can’t keep it straight.
Averi’s teacher held a rehearsal for the Kinder Christmas show early so I could record it. The girls are heading up to WA with their dad this holiday and she’s missing the show. It was both super cute and painful at the same time. The first picture is when they just sat down in the auditorium, the video is 30 minutes later. Wrangling cats, that is another word for teaching Kindergarten.
A few weeks ago we were still having amazing weather. It was so nice that we braved the crowds and hit up SeaPort Village…Too many people! The line for Surf Santa had to have been 2 + hours long. I would need a gang of people who wanted to take turns holding my place in line while we hopped on the carousel and guzzled adult beverages to ever brave that line.
We took the girls to see the mall Santa. Kali was more excited about the candy cane then she was him, and when asked what she wanted for Christmas she replied “one pink present.”
I paid money for this picture …Shane took a better one with his phone so I need you all to see what money can buy. Awkward smiles and one unimpressed baby.
{I wonder what shade of hair color Santa uses?}
We spent a good amount of time laying on beds. They had legos that kept Kaili busy for about an hour, best nap of my life.
Averi agreed.
We took the whole clan to La Jolla for our Christmas card shoot. It was messy and the kids were soaked by the end but you’ll be happy with the final outcome. Totally worth 20 minutes of chaos.
Kali went to her little friends birthday Tea Party. This place was a trip and totally divine. The girls were in their princess dresses, drank tea out of china, ate tea sandwiches and petit fours, fanciest party I have ever been to. Kali was in heaven.
Kaili is going to be so pissed King Felix got into her candy. ha ha ha.
This is how our Thanksgiving day started out. Pretty brilliant, right? We started our gluttony early in the day and we were lucky enough to do so outside.
“Really getting sick of these pictures, mom” — Kaili ” CHEESE” — Averi
We devoured a traditional menu and it was all so delicious, I am still full.
What wasn’t traditional was that the Seahawks were playing the primetime game against the Niners..I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the most watched primetime game in Thanksgiving past.
I usually prefer a good morning game when the kids are happy and awake and I don’t have to be bothered by baths and bedtime. However seeing this at the end made it all worth it.
Seattle 19 – 3 ( Enjoying turkey on the Niner logo )
That was a great way to end our Thanksgiving.
The next morning we had a visitor.
Meet Elf King Felix <<<— (sometimes you just have to let the man have his way)
Elf Felix is here on Santa’s behalf to watch over Kaili and report back to the North Pole each night only to return in a new spot each day.
Day two and I almost forgot to move the damn elf… This should go very well.
The Art of Thyming 