The last month of 2018, like the two months before it, was packed with fun things. Aubrey had a birthday party for one of her school friends, and she got to have her face painted.
The weather remained mostly nice, so we got to take more trips to local parks. I just love this picture of Carter.
And this video of the kids running at me makes me smile.
There were also plenty of indoor days, where we rocked our pajamas and made our own fun.
Then, as Christmas got closer, there were lots of fun holiday events to attend. First we went to Zoo Lights in Denver, thanks to Daniel's parents giving us the tickets. It was cool! Unfortunately, I stepped in a hole and fell on my face while walking in from the parking lot. I had just found out a little bit before that I was pregnant with Jiblet 3.0, so that made my fall a little scary, but in the end the only damage done was to my ankle, which I sprained. Because I'm cool.
Anyway, I tried to get good photos at Zoo Lights, but my phone was old and dying, so the pictures aren't great. But here's Daniel with both kids. It was impossible to get them both to look at me at the same time, what with all the distracting lights everywhere. But this is something.
A lot of the displays had moving lights, like this one, which showed water "spraying" out of the elephant's trunk.
Carter was really into eating candy canes around that time, so I wanted to get this photo of him in front of a candy cane taller than he was! Aubrey joined, too, though she got blocked a bit.
Pretty lights!
While not all of the lights were animal themed, there were many that were. This gorilla was a personal favorite.
And this tree! I tried forever to get a decent shot of it as I was limping around the place.
Hey, who said Santa can't use magical flying hippos to pull his sleigh instead of reindeer?
I gave Daniel the camera and made myself get in some of the photos, too. I'm trying to be better about that.
A moose! It's Carter's spirit animal, haha. He really only cared because his stuffed animal friend is a moose, naturally.
After Zoo Lights, we had Reindeer Games, a Christmas event in our very own town of Castle Rock. I had wanted to go last year, but for some reason we didn't. So even though I was still limping (I actually tried to use crutches while we were there), we went.
They had a cute little train ride, which was the highlight for Carter.
Aw, see the joy?
And, of course, there were games put on by the reindeer. Aubrey waited in line and took her turn appropriately.
Carter, on the other hand, ran amuck through the course, heedless of any sense of order and process. Oh well.
The last pre-Christmas event was the ward Christmas breakfast. They had a Santa there, and Aubrey told him she wanted a surprise for Christmas. Ah, it's so Aubrey. I love it. Carter wouldn't go near him, so no photos of him.
On Christmas Eve, we had the Jibson clan (minus Karen's family... sad) over to our house for the traditional Mangum Chinese food meal, which we decided to make for Christmas Eve instead of Christmas day. It was delicious (though I didn't quite get the Cashew Chicken sauce right)!
The next morning, we opened presents at our own house for the first time. I decided to just enjoy the moment, and I didn't take any photos or videos of the kids opening presents. In hindsight, I wish I had. But what is done is done. I did get photos after.
Here's Carter playing with his new toy kitchen from Grandma and Grandpa.
And here's Aubrey playing with the art supplies we got her at the art desk Grandma and Grandpa got her.
After a little time playing with their new things at home, we drove to Nana and Papa's house to open presents there and spend some time. Again, I didn't do any photos or videos. But I did get this shot of the kids afterwards playing with the scribble pads Nana and Papa gave them...
... and this video of Aubrey riding her new scooter from Santa.
After Christmas, we traveled back to California to see Grandma and Grandpa, but with all of the cousins this time. When we arrived, we gave the kids a bath first thing. They needed it after the flight. Plus Grandma and Grandpa have the most awesome bathtub!
When cousins arrived, it got more chaotic. But there was still some good down time to be had.
For our first big outing, we took a whale-watching boat out into San Diego harbor. Here we all are waiting to get on the boat.
As soon as we were on board, everyone who wanted to took anti-seasickness medicine. It helped some more than others. Poor Aubrey was helped not at all. Here she is with Grandpa before all the barfing started.
While we did see a couple of whales, the coolest part was the huge pod of dolphins we saw. I'm so sad Aubrey was too sick to see it! Carter enjoyed it though.
See him smiling? He, like his Daddy, was totally unaffected by the tossing of the boat. He didn't get sick at all.
But poor, sweet Aubrey. It was the saddest thing. She threw up seven times, I believe. The last time was as we were trying to walk off the boat. She repeatedly told us afterwards that she never wants to ride a boat again. I can't blame her. It was truly a rocky ride, and many people on the boat threw up. I know I almost did a few times!
Here's some of the boys with Scott, all of them unaffected. Lucky ducks.
Our other big day in California was spent at Disneyland California Adventure (on my Mom's birthday!). I hadn't been there in years and years, and it's really become a cool place! Here are all of the kids (minus cute Riley). We made those matching shirts for them the night before to keep track of them all.
We rode the Ariel ride first, and Carter apparently thought it was a bit too loud. But he did like it.
He also wanted Mommy to hold him all the time, which my back prevented me from doing. So Aunt Maren helped out. Here they are watching the Mater ride while we waited in line.
This was how Aubrey spent her time in line. I love the dancing! So cute.
Aubrey rode with Grandpa, by request. Mommy decided to opt out of this particular ride, due to its jerkiness and my being pregnant. Better safe than sorry!
I actually missed out on a few rides because of being pregnant, but I got a chance to take Carter around by ourselves when everyone else rode a ride that he wasn't tall enough for and that I shouldn't ride (Radiator Springs Racers). We took the opportunity to again ride Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters, which Carter had loved. And then while we waited for everyone else to be done and come meet us, this absolute gem of a moment occurred. This is my all-time favorite Carter video ever.
And that was it! We went home shortly after this video was taken, and then we went home home (to Colorado) shortly after Disneyland. We decided to spend the rest of our Christmas break with the Jibsons. More on that to come!
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