Forceful

We continued our OC cousinfest with a trip to the Discovery Cube in Santa Ana, which is currently featuring—you guessed it—a Star Wars exhibit. 

It was truly spectacular, featuring authentic costumes, props, models, behind the scenes video commentary, a hovercraft ride, Millennium Falcon simulator and more. We highly recommend it to any SW geek/cool guy in your life. Mark wants to go back and see it again sans kids to really be able to experience it completely and no, Leah won’t be going with him in a Princess Leia costume.

Ben was overwhelmed, overexcited and wanting to be sure Leah was taking lots of pictures (“I want to print them out for my Jedi notebook!”).  Clara soon grew grumpy, collapsing in Leah’s lap with, “I like Star Wars. I just don’t like this much Star Wars.”  She was happy exploring the other parts of the science center, especially the grocery store (the scanner was a huge hit) and the cookie decorating station. They also had a gingerbread contest going (complete with a Star Wars section) and as we were leaving, Santa appeared!

It was a super kick-off to a force-filled little Christmas season. 

Legoland

The day after Thanksgiving we headed down to Orange County and spent a day at Legoland with Leah's brother Adam (thank you for the passes big bro!), Nick and Noah. It was a Lego fantasy come true— it was decorated for Christmas and there was a new Star Wars exhibit featuring a full Lego created scene from each movie. Ben's favorite was the dragon roller coaster, Clara's was the storybook boat ride and our favorite was watching our kids having fun with their cousins in the sunshine. It was a good day. 

Here's Clara with Bob last summer (2010). 

Thankful

We are thankful for a gorgeous Santa Barbara Thanksgiving. We are thankful for the ocean, the sky, a wave that gets you all wet, a stick to draw in the sand, a dog to throw the ball to. We are thankful for a place to call home, for friends that feel like family, for Motown in the morning and Frank at night. We are thankful for parades, for the fast forward button on the DVR, for little ones who aren't too big to sit in your lap. We are thankful for baking projects, for pies, for a feast laden table and well chosen wine. We are thankful for little girls trying out tap shoes, for hands to hold, for hugs from a big boy, for grace— both said around the table and illuminating our every breath. 

Thank you.

Halloween

Halloween was spent with the Rice family and friends at their annual spookfest, complete with a treasure hunt, delicious dinner and a journey down to "Ghost Village Road" for trick or treating. The night was unusually misty, creating an eerie fog that made the adventure all the more fun. Ben and Clara loved the excitement and of course, the candy. It was the first year they weren't scared of scary characters in full costume. It was a special night for Mark and Leah— to spend the evening a mile from their newlywed home in Montecito, recalling a time in their life when they could never have conjured up two little goblins as cute, funny and sweet as the ones that held their hands that night.