simply livin' it up
Today we headed in to Acadia National Park. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed a beautiful hike that included some tough climbing, using metal rails embedded in the rock face.
We have a long-standing tradition in our family: we always go to Panera on Valentine’s Day. It started either right before or after Andrew was born and we don’t usually miss.
Well, there is no Panera in Las Cruces, so we went to La Posta de Mesilla. Mesilla is an historic part of las Cruces that dates back to the Wild West. The restaurant is famous for its history and its food.
Christmas in San Diego was a lot like Christmas back home. The kids were up early and we started the day by going through the stockings that Santa filled for the kids. After stockings we had our traditional breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes. Then it was back to the tree to open the rest of the presents. Normally at this point we spend a few hours playing with our new toys and then head to the Reagens’ for Nate’s Birthday, but this year we had to settle for a 15-minute skype session late in the afternoon. That was definitely the strangest thing about being on the road.
Holidays on the road are interesting. We haven’t found another family to hang out with in San Diego, so we pretty much do our own thing the whole time.
For Christmas Eve that meant finding something to do in the afternoon, to take advantage of being in San Diego, and then the usual church and Christmas lights at night.
Just us at the pool this afternoon, but we met up with the Bennions at the Festival of Lights parade in Palm Springs.
Susan had the good idea of looking up some holiday lights in Palm Springs, so we could cap off our day of decorating. She found Robolights, which was awesome. Words cannot describe the scale of this place, which was at a private residence just a few blocks from downtown Palm Springs.
Traditionally we decorate for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving, or as soon as we are home after Thanksgiving, if we are traveling. This year was no exception. We had already bought a small tree and some decorations at our last stay so we were all ready for the decorating. The kids were very excited to listen to Christmas music and to decorate.
One of the strangest things about being on the road is celebrating major holidays. Normally we spend most of Thanksgiving with family, but on the road it is just us. We try to make the most of it. Today was easy because after spending the morning doing food prep, we were able to spend the whole afternoon at the pool. It was definitely a different Thanksgiving.
