Disneyland!
On Christmas Eve, we took Janie to Disneyland for the first time. I’ve been going since I was really young and it’s been such a huge part of my childhood that our whole family was so excited to take her. Fortunately for us, the park was not very busy for most of the day and we got on the most popular rides in no time at all. It started out a little rainy but cleared up by the end of the day.
We started off at Disney’s California Adventure where I got to visit Cars Land, which was quite impressive. It’s the best job that Disney has done in a while. I loved seeing Mater and the rest of the gang roaming the street and all the added Christmas decorations.
We rode the Radiator Springs Racers and had no wait in the single rider line.
In A Bug’s Land, Kumquat got to ride her first ride, Flik’s Flyers, which I think she enjoyed more than my mom who got a little dizzy.
By noon, we headed over to the Magic Kingdom. Kumquat took her 2-hour nap while we rode all the big rides. 
Splash Mountain was overflowing with water from the heavy rain earlier in the day and Joy and I hopped on with a quick 10-minute wait and then a good soaking by the end of the ride.
By the time Kumquat woke up, it was time to ride the Finding Nemo Submarine ride. She initially enjoyed all the sights and sounds but then we went into a dark cave and it was all over for her. She cried and cried and didn’t stop until the ride stopped. Poor baby.
Lunch was in Downtown Disney where we met up with Jason and Jia. They had lunch with us and then took Jes to Costco to buy the prime rib that would be cooked the next day for Christmas. In the meantime, we went shopping for Kumquat’s first Disneyland t-shirt and then we headed back inside Disneyland to wait for the Christmas Parade. 
I was amazed when Jes actually made it back in time!
He got to watch the parade with his daughter and they both thoroughly enjoyed it. 🙂
It’s a Small World was the highlight of the evening. It was all decorated for Christmas inside and out and it was a nice little celebration for the holiday season.
They even added Lilo and Stitch to the Hawaiian section of the ride. So cute! I can’t help leave that ride without a smile on my face.
After that, we headed back to CA Adventure to have some wine. We basically kept them open that evening and had some dead soldiers piled up by the end.
That was about the time when the parents went home and we were off to the Magic Kingdom again to finish off the day.
We actually stayed until almost closing and rode a few more rides before heading home. Kumquat slept in her stroller for the rest of the night without a peep – even through all the commotion from Fantastmic. I also got my fireworks and snow. And yes, I did cry. Again. Can’t help it when that sappy music comes on. 
Aah…it was another good day at Disneyland. Until next Christmas Eve!!!
Back when we lived in Irvine, we used to throw a big Christmas party every year. Now that we live in SF and everyone else is on a tighter schedule, we usually just go out to eat and have drinks afterward. This year, we met up on Sunday night (12/23) and had dinner at Hsiang Yuen and it was so nice to have everyone (sans Agustins) together in one place.
Afterward, I dropped off the kid with my parents and picked up Brother and Joy for drinks with the gang at Buffalo Wild Wings. Ah, gotta love the ‘burbs. Drinks were cheap, there’s plenty of parking, and the drive home is just 10 minutes.
It was the shortest day of the year but the longest drive ever. On Saturday, we left the house at 11:30 am. The drive started out well but then as 1-580 was merging with I-5, it became a bumper-to-bumper nightmare. Here’s a photo of Kumquat when we stopped for lunch at Panda Express.
Luckily, Kumquat did well on the drive down. However, at about the 7-hour mark, she was done. We were all done. Fortunately, traffic was moving past Kettleman City but it took us about 6 hours to get half-way down and then a total of 10 hours to get to Cerritos. *sigh*
When we arrived at the Magical House, it truly was magical. My mom had prepared a tasty Chicken Rice dinner and had ice cold Singha waiting for Jes. Thanks, Mommy!!
On Tuesday, we decided to have an impromptu HH at Cato’s on Wednesday. I actually skipped out early at 4 pm to drive home and pick up Kumquat and then drove back to the East Bay for this and it was totally worth the wait in traffic on the way back to the East Bay.
It turned out to be a fun little mini holiday party for us and was just the right combination of people, food, and drinks.
Kumquat was a trooper and was passed from one auntie to another all night while she grubbed on puffs. The girls got a good laugh while she ate her puffs and also blew snot bubbles from her nose. Here’s a 
We were able to stay out until at least 8 pm and my little sidekick rocked it all evening without a single complaint.
I love these ladies and I’m so glad that we were able to hang out and celebrate the end of another year together before going our separate ways for the holidays.
Aunties Steph, Mai, and Karen were there too and they each got some time with Kumquat.
Here’s a photo of Karen with both of the chubby cheeksters.
The best part of the party was watching Sophie enjoy her first taste of cake and frosting. Good stuff…
This year’s ornament came in the mail today. It was perfect timing for the tree trimming tonight.
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