Christmas Day

Merry Christmas!

iFly at Universal Studios Hollywood

With everyone out here visiting for Christmas you know T had some fun stuff planned. On Friday the entire group piled into 3 cars and all headed to Universal Studios Hollywood to do some indoor skydiving!

Sleepy Hollow on Christmas Day with family

After a great Christmas day, we ended our night walking around and looking at Christmas lights in the Sleepy Hollow neighborhood.
Amy suggested we all wear Christmas hats and I thought that was an excellent idea.

Christmas Eve

It's been a fantastic Holiday season this year. We've done so many fun things. It's Christmas Eve and Christmas is almost here!

Making Homemade Peppermint Marshmallows for Christmas

It all started back in 2014, making homemade gingerbread cookies. Since then, every Christmas I've tried to make something new every year. I've done homemade candy canes and fudge and was having a hard time figuring out what to make this year.
I don't remember what was the inspiration, but one day I just decided that peppermint marshmallows would be perfect!

Sleepy Hollow Christmas Lights

Welcome to Sleepy Hollow! This neighborhood in Torrance California goes all out when it comes to Christmas decorations. Each year we make it a point to visit at least once.
After a delicious dinner at the all-you-can-eat Mongolian BBQ restaurant Big Wok, we were all ready to get some walking in. And we've got a good size group going too.

Quick Friday Disneyland visit

T and I happened to be off work on Friday and decided a Disneyland trip would be perfect. All the crowds are expected to show up en-masse next week, and we were hoping for a slow day today.
The best hope for that is always to arrive before the park opens. Well we did our part, but the parking garage was backed up and it took 20 minutes from exiting the freeway to get to the booth attendant. After parking and seeing the line at security, we decided to walk to the Downtown Disney Entrance, as the lines are almost always shorter there.
With both bubble maces loaded, the kids gave me a face-full of bubbles on the walk over.

Santa Claus comes to town

Every year volunteers from the Redondo Police and Fire Associations spend 18 nights bringing Santa to every neighborhood.

Meeting Santa at Disneyland

You've got to meet Santa during the holidays! Did you know that Disneyland has 5 different places to meet Santa? Each park, plus each hotel. Let's go get pictures!

Making Christmas Treats

Ian - We have to make cookies for Santa!
Yes we do.

They're getting big. They wanted to do it all themselves. Ian poured out the mix.

Decorating the Christmas Tree

While decorating the outside of the house is left to me, Theresa has free reign over the inside of the house. Time to put up the tree!

2017 Flowers' Family Christmas Lights

It's Christmastime which means it's time to break out all the Christmas lights! Ever since we've bought this house, I've enjoyed putting on a bigger and bigger light display.

2017 Disneyland Candlelight - Chris Hemsworth

It's the 2017 Disneyland Candlelight Processional! We've been coming to see this show for 10 years now and it's always enjoyable. After waiting on one of the curbs on Main Street for 5.5 hours, the show is starting!

The orchestra takes the stage first and opens with a peppy mix of some holiday favorites. Then, all the lights in the area go dim and you hear the soft sound of caroling. As that soft sound grows louder, finally you see the entire choir assembly coming down the street, all following the leads with their lanterns.

2017 Disneyland Candlelight - Enjoying the parks then waiting for Candlelight

Do you have Christmas Traditions? Since 2008 we've been coming to see Ruston sing in the Candlelight Processional at Disneyland. Yes, this is our 10 year anniversary. But, Candlelight isn't until later tonight. First we've got to enjoy the parks!

Note to Disney. Prep and Landing is awesome. One of my favorite Christmas specials ever. We need more!
We were introduced to the Prep and Landing elves in 2009, with their last TV appearance being in 2011 in Prep and Landing: Naughty vs. Nice. And even though it's been more than 6 years since they've been out, people still have very fond memories of them. The kids got so much attention today. People yelling Prep and Landing! Where did you get those hats? I have to get one of those. Seriously.
All. Day. Long.
It was awesome.

For those who are curious, these hats were released in partnership with Hallmark and sold in Hallmark stores back in 2011 when Naughty vs. Nice first came out. I remember calling my local Hallmark and having them hold a pair for me because I just had to have them for my hat collection.

Candlelight 2017 - Placeholder

I'll be doing a full write-up later, but here's a few of my favorite photos from Candlelight 2017. Chris Hemsworth (the actor who plays Thor) was the narrator this year. He did a wonderful job.