Sunday, December 1, 2019

Keevah Nyx: Three holidays & a visit from Gran


WOW!  Time always flies by so fast!  We wrote the last post right before Halloween, so you never got to see our costumes!  Then we just finished Thanksgiving and are already decorated for Christmas!  So - three holidays for this post! 

We had a super fun Halloween weekend - with Trunk or Treat at Declan's school, Halloween party with our friends Levi & Indy, and trick or treating with Declan's friends Haines & Ethan.  We also walked around downtown Napa for their trick or treating, and our costumes were the HIT of the day for pretty much everyone.  Can you tell who we are supposed to be?  Even Spirit got to come along, since we needed our Scooby! 


Downtown Napa for the Scooby Doo Gang
Mount George Elementary trunk or treat
Haines (the Alien) would have gotten away with it if "it weren't for those meddling kids!"
Gee, Keevah (Velma), and Mama (Daphne)
Since Shaggy looked a little strange without the rest of the Gang, Declan wore his Dia de los Muertos costume for the school parade.  (with Haines & Aiden)

For Veteran's weekend, we headed to Tahoe to celebrate my Great-Aunt Dana's 80th birthday (she's Grandpa's sister).  I got to play with my second cousins Nora and Alyssa, and everyone got to play with Spirit.   We had a lovely hike along Emerald Bay, and I walked the whole way all by myself without complaining at all!  We also spent an afternoon playing at Kiva Beach, and watched Spirit chase balls and dig holes.

At Emerald Bay
I'm a strong hiker!


Me and Declan on the hike
                   Queen of the Mountain!

Spirit was like a little billy goat on the rocks

The whole gang: L to R:  Great Aunt Dana & Sara, Dada, Gee, Mama, Cousin Sharon, Cousin Tim, Grandpa.  Kids in front:  Declan, me, Nora, Alyssa & Spirit! 
goofing off with Dada 

The whole gang again - with our 80th birthday glasses on

Then it was time for a visit from Gran!  We always love when she comes out and this time was awesome as always!  She took us to the bowling alley - TWICE!  We went to Sonoma to a cool art museum, we saw Frozen 2,  went to a pottery/ceramics studio to paint, did lots of art at home, did a private art class at Art Lab, did some walking along the river, ate at Morimoto, ate at Don Pericos THREE TIMES (since Declan and I LOVE mexican food)...and then she and Mr. John stayed to celebrate Thanksgiving and helped us pick out our Christmas tree.  I'm exhausted just writing it all down - Gran must have been happy to get back home to relax too!

With Gran at Morimoto
Thanksgiving - Declan Hercules (8)
Keevah Nyx - ALMOST 4
Gee & Grandpa came for Thanksgiving as well
Siblings!
And Mama is never in the photos - so we had to snap one!
Mama and me
Mama made a delicious Turkey - and bought 6 extra turkey legs so there wouldn't be any arguments!
We had our annual Stranded-in-Napa Thanksgiving and hosted the Grandparents, as well as the Li's, the Romps, the Corradettis, the Montague/Pribyls and a friend of Dada's from work.  Lots of fun, food, kids, and noise!  We had a great time with everyone!



Declan and Haines at Farmstead - Haines' dad is the Executive Chef there and we had a special VIP experience! 
Dinner at Haines' house, with Gran too - His mom, Miss Tiffany is reading a story that Haines wrote...

Declan loved it, so while we were eating, he wrote his own story that Miss Tiffany read to the whole gang. 


As soon as Thanksgiving was over, it was time to move on to the next holiday!  The day after Thanksgiving, it was time to get our Christmas tree!  Gran & Mr. John came with us to pick out the perfect tree.  Declan was the ultimate decider, and we think the tree is perfect.  I got to pick out a tiny tree all of my own for my bedroom.  We read a book by the tree and sing Christmas songs before I go to bed.  


With Gran and Dada at the tree lot
This is the tiny tree I picked out 
Giddy-up Rudolph!
Getting my tiny tree upstairs to my bedroom
Declan and Dada on the roof getting up the lights before the 10 days of rain started - they just barely made it!
Isn't it petty?
Christmas is coming!
I helped Mama decorate the inside of the house while the boys were on the roof, but we all decorated the tree together at night.  We always play Christmas carols, turn on the fire, and get a special drink while we decorate.  I loved re-finding all the ornaments I forgot about - and figuring out which ones are mine!



Even Spirit has matching jammies
Mama and Dada with their "first Christmas" ornament from 2005


Family selfie - we finished the night by watching Home Alone for the first time.  It is hilarious!  

While we watched the movie, we figured out what keeps happening to the pillows on the couch...with the Home Alone sound track in the background!

And today is December 1st - the start of the Christmas month, the start of my BIRTHDAY month, and the day where the Advent Calendars start, and the day when our Elves arrived!  Pit & Twinkle (and their reindeer Sparkle), arrived this morning in a hot air balloon!  And our Advent calendars had bouncy balls to add to our collection.

And here are a few random things from this month:
The day I accidentally dressed like the hot air balloon that landed right next to my school.
Learning to ride a bike
 


Being a crazy person

Learning to dive ( I still love my swim lessons!)

Family craziness

Can't wait to post more about the Christmas/birthday month.  We head to Tahoe next weekend, Flagstaff AZ the next weekend and then it is Christmas!

No comments:

Post a Comment