Happy New Year

Because New Year's Eve was on a Sunday, Todd and Amy didn't host their New Year's bash, but opted for a small family gathering instead.  Movies were watched, games were played and food was eaten. We had the usual chips and dips, veggies and dips, and goodies and chocolate dip and toasted the New Year in at 9:00 with the east coast so grandma and I could drive home at a decent time.

Honest, it was just sparkling cider!

Beach Bike Ride

We attempted to work off some of our Christmas overeating with a bike ride from Newport to Balboa Piers.  It was lots of fun, but I think the Balboa Bars were counter productive!

Too Fun to be Forgotten

As always, the tree was beautiful.

Lots of people got involved with the puzzle this year.

The train was played with...

...but the fit of the season had to be the mermaid pillows!

Dinner almost smoked us out when the excess juices from the ham spilled all over the oven bottom.  Amy and Owen to the rescue!

Saying goodbye is always hard.

Medievel Times

The Johnson kids had never been to Medievel Times before, so we thought it would be a fun way to end our vacation together.  What could be better?  A restaurant/dinner show where you eat with your fingers and are encouraged to scream and shout throughout the entire time!  GO YELLOW!!!

The yellow knight won all of the contests, but when it came to time battle the bad guy, he was the first one out!!!

Glow Zone

We spent the afternoon at a new place called the Glow Zone.  It was so much fun.  We all tried our hand at Bazooka Ball, shooting at each other with guns shooting soft ball, we crawled through a couple of laser mazes, a few tried the ninja courses, and everyone loved the bumper cars.

Game Time

We rally didn't any board games played this year, but lots of fun family time was spent with the wii/switch.  Especially popular was Mario Cart...

...and Just Dance.

 And then, of course, there was lots of time spent on devices.

I love this picture with Owen on Luke's back. 

PJ's

I always stress over the kids pajamas for Christmas Eve, looking for something cute but not babyish, something  available in all the sizes we need, and affordable.  Amy came to the rescue this year and found really cute ones and available in all sizes, even adult!  And, they came with hats!!!

Mom got these cute PJ's the next morning from Mark and Kris.

Fun at the Park

Normally, everyone goes to the movies to give me a little quite time to finish dinner and get the tables set.  However, today, being Sunday, we had to improvise and a trip to the park seemed to fit the bill.