Beauties of Bakersfield

You know what is funny? Most of the time that I mention to anyone that I grew up in Bakersfield, CA they immediately say, "Oh, the town with that giant thermometer!" Um, no. That would be Baker and there is nothing there but desert, a gas station and a trailer park.

Although Bakersfield isn't a huge tourist destination for most, we love visiting there at Christmas time. It certainly has it's beauties. We spent the week between Christmas and New Year's there at my parents house and had a grand time.

The warm weather is definitely my favorite part. It's a beautiful place in December when you know how cold and snowy it is at home. All the kids can go outside to play with all their new Christmas toys. We had some lovely days at the park.

Our kids can get their dog fix. I'm not sure there will ever be a dog in our house, but when we are at Grandma and Grandpa's house they LOVE Piko!! I mean truly love her.

And this time, there was a giant, bad breathed, but well behaved golden retriever to add to the joy!
Just Dance 3. The hit of the week. Laura and I went shopping and came home to find Scott and Brian had taken over the game and spent the afternoon dancing together. So cute. There was a lot of dancing all week long! A Day in L.A. Dad had a routine doctor's appointment for his heart, so we loaded ourselves in their van and joined them for the day. We visited one of our new favorite spots, The California Science Center, during the appointment and then we all made our way to a VERY crowded Santa Monica Pier.
Eating crepes and sharing a big ol' hot chocolate on The Third Street Promenade.
The Hot Tub. This is always a favorite spot at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Can't you see why? It was a GORGEOUS December day out in the hot tub surrounded by the orange and lemon trees. Love it.

Cousins at the Movies. Our kids get a lot of cousin time with the Skinners when we are in town and that makes everyone happy. This time they added Alvin, Simon and Theodore to the fun.Brielle and Blake decided to break out and dance with all those new Just Dance 3 moves. They must have really liked the movie.
New Year's Eve done right. We sent 2011 out in style by gorging ourselves on Bakersfield's finest delicacies. We started at Juicy Burger for some big, sloppy burgers and then made our way to the famous downtown Dewars for ice cream. Oy!

This place has a lot of memories from my days at BHS. It was good to be back, especially with a "Black and White" in my hand.
We partied the night away back at home with some cousin snuggling (sorry Laura) and games until New Year's came at an early 10pm and everyone went to bed. That's how to do it.
The very next morning we took off on the long drive back home to cold, work, school and taking down Christmas. Happy New Year!!

Six!

Anytime we tell someone that Brielle's birthday is on Christmas Day, they feel sorry for her like that would be the worst day to have a birthday. Really, it's awesome. Maybe a little exhausting for Mom and Dad, but still quite cool to have such a special birthday - everyone knows her birthday, no one has to work or go to school, she is always with a lot of family. This year was no different. Just take a look at all the guests at her birthday dinner/party. It was a fun night with the family and Brielle felt quite special turning six years old. She got a camera and a Betta fish from us, a beautiful Shrinky Dink necklace from Kea and a trip to Build-A-Bear to make Brittany the Chipmunk from Grandma and Grandpa. Ava made her the very first birthday cake produced in the new Easy Bake Oven. After a really good dinner (thank you Mom) of alfredo sauce over angel hair pasta with shrimp and roasted broccoli, we had an angel food cake covered in strawberries. She chose these all because they are called "angel" hair and "angel" cake. They are both easy, so that worked for me.
And my favorite . . . Brie making a wish before blowing out her candles. She closed her eyes and said, "I wish, I wish, with all my heart . . . . " With all the effort put into that wish it's sure to come true. Happy Birthday Brie Brie! We love you!