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I thought I'd post this just because I thought it was cute.

Christmas

Well, a few things have changed this year. I went back to work full time and have a good commute to Davis. Aron, my man wife, has done really well taking care of the kids. He is now the Art Docent for Jackson's class and actually likes it. He cooks more during the week and helps the kids with homework. I had to make a few changes too, like becoming one of those people that gets up at 5:30 am to work out. The boys have missed me and are really huggy, I love it! I didn't think I would have time to do Christmas cards, calendar, bake cookies and fudge, decorate a gingerbread house or decorate at all. I did the cards (unlike some people in the family :), put together a calendar in one night with only 1 typo, made fudge and bought a Trader Joe's gingerbread house. Not bad! I missed decorating cookies with Zuzanna, didn't bake any cookies, and did the minimum decorations a couple weeks before Santa came. Oh and speaking of Santa, the boys tried to catch him again this year by sleeping in the living room. They kept running up and down the hall to get things and it was keeping me up, so I finally told them they couldn't sleep in the living room. The truth is I wanted Santa to hurry up and come so I could go to sleep. The boys got Lego's, clothes, Rollerblades, video games and candy. Dinner was a mix of all our favorites, butternut squash gnocchi, scalloped potatoes, tempura vegetables and ham, not a culinary master piece but very tasty. Aron and Chig built a puzzle and the boys built, tore apart and rebuilt their Lego's. Jackson had a mean, nasty dinosaur that tried to bite him. Soon after the New Year, cousin Dane came for a visit which is always fun. He's so big now, like a boy not a toddler. What a happy, cute kid. I babysat for Jennifer and Brad and had Dane and the boys help me. They're so amazing with kids. One day they will be great dads.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

There was no Thanksgiving trip this. I think was only the second time we missed a trip in 10 years. The boys are old enough now, they look forward to these trips every year. Being the good natured kids they are, they adjusted to fact that we would be home and looked forward to a visit from Aunt Gina. We went to Pacific and took the "Pepper" too. The first day we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Their displays have changed some since the last time we were there. The sea horse exhibit is amazing along with the jelly fish, although that was scaled down from last time. The boys touched sea anemone, sting rays, sea slugs and urchin.

Some things have changed, like the two story aquarium in the addition that was the whole length of the building. The clam, in the picture below, has obviously shrunk over the past few years. Jackson in the clam, age 1.

Jacob and Jackson in the clam, ages 8 and 10. And lastly, this sculptural fountain that the kids had used to jump in puddles and splash around in, is no longer out back.

And the rest of trip was great too. We stayed close to the RV camp the next couple days and went down to see what we could find at low tide. It rained some but that didn't stop us from using the spa and pool.