Winter Break 2016

We had a wonderful time at our house in La Quinta over winter break. Our original plan was to go the day after Christmas. But Becky and Arek were going to be there the week before Christmas and the week after, coming home in between. It didn't make sense for them to do that so we went out to California instead.

We opened our gifts on the 19th in Colorado. We found out that Santa will come early if you leave cookies out. :) 

When we got to La Quinta the girls didn't like that there was no Christmas tree, so they made two of their own.

We had a few days with just the four of us in the beginning. 

On Christmas Eve we went to the 4:30 Mass. At 3:50 the choir lead the people in the pews in singing  Christmas carols. It was nice to have something to do when you are just waiting for Mass to start. It was just the four of us on Christmas Eve. We had fun going out to a fancy restaurant! The girls got Shirley Temple's.

They saw some other people taking pictures in front of this mural and wanted to do the same. Yes, they were underdressed. We decided at the last minute to not pack fancy dresses. Bad choice, everyone was dressed up! 

The meals were pre-fix which included dessert. All the deserts at the table had a different Christmas symbol on the plate.

Becky and Arek came on Christmas Day. We opened presents and had a barbecue.

Arek had to work most of the visit. But Becky and the rest of went on a hike at the Oasis Park the day after Christmas. Behind us is the San Andreas Fault.

The kids found "gold". 

The girls favorite present by far was their Fin Fun Mermaid tales. They played with them in the pool every day that it wasn't raining and even one day when it was!

Joey, Brittany, Ben, Avery, Dar, Sean and Danielle joined us for Dan's birthday. The guys all went golfing while the kids swam and the ladies talked.

Dar's gift to the girls would have been great if they had somehow held together!

We hit Minerva Street again for a leisurely stroll among the houses decorated to the hilt.

It rained several days while we there so we found some indoor things to entertain us. The local casino has a great bowling alley.

We went to several parks on the warmer days. This was a park we hadn't been to before. It had a nice walking track and good climbing trees.

We found a hibachi restaurant which the girls always love. You always seem to meet interesting people too when you sit around a grill with them.

Our last night there was New Years Eve.  We didn't do anything as we had to get up early and leave the next morning. Once again, we found a countdown that was many hours earlier than the actual time.

We had a very good time on this trip and were ready to come home and start 2017!