Mondays- Writing Day: she chooses a person to write a letter to or she writes in her journal. On this day, she chose to write in her journal.
Tuesdays- Baking Day: we bake together... We've tried all kinds of recipes this year and we've both become better bakers. We've made cakes, cookies, banana bread, cheesecake, muffins, cupcakes... It's a wonder that our family hasn't gained a lot of weight over these past few months! On this day, we made Strawberry Cupcakes (to go along with one of Grace's favorite stories, Pinkalicious). Goodness, they tasted sooo good!
Wednesdays- Art Day: I prepare art projects for Grace to do. On this day, she made Valentine's Cards from scratch for some loved ones. 
Thursdays- Game Day: Grace and I play board games together. Sometimes, I make educational games for her, but usually, we play games like Candyland, Memory, or Chutes and Ladders. 
Friday- Paint and Playdough Day: Grace gets to paint with watercolors or play with playdough. 
It makes me glad that out of all years, we chose this year for me to take my leave of absence. If she was in school for the full day, we wouldn't get all this great bonding time!
She fell a lot, but got right back up and kept trying. It was nice that Grace had a personal helper. I really thought she was going to start crying out of frustration, but she was completely determined to keep up with the rest of the class. 
As we left, I asked, "Did you have fun? Was it hard?" "Yes, it was hard but I had a lot of fun." "Would you want to come back next week?" She responded with, "Yes, since there's no room for me at gymnastics." Hmmm... she obviously still has gymnastics on her mind... 
It was Jason's favorite park as a kid, and I could see why. Our kids had a blast- there was a plane and a train for them to climb on, slides, swings, a climbing wall, etc. It was much better to let them run around at this park than on the bleachers at the track. It had just rained and everything was wet, but with nowhere else to go, I had no choice but to let them play. We were able to eat lunch before heading back to the track.
I was worried that I would miss seeing Jason's race (has happened before!) because of the kids needing my attention, so right when Jason got into the blocks, I bribed them each with a small box of Smarties (Canadian M&Ms). It worked and I was able to watch Jason's race. The time finally came for his race- he ran in the 100m and placed 3rd in his heat with a time of 11:92 secs. He had to ease up partway through his race because of his hamstring tightening... yup, another injury to contend with! I am glad he improved his time from last year, but it's a bummer that his body isn't cooperating.
Here he is, icing his hamstrings. I know it's so disappointing for him, particularly since he's been training so hard!
We chose that place because we knew it was kid-friendly. After dinner, we headed to 
The next morning, we headed off to the 
Jeremy's favorite was the tropical fish tank that had fish similar to those found on the movie, Finding Nemo (we're assuming this was his favorite, based on his excitement and the amount of time he stood completely fixated on the tank). 
My favorite was watching the cute sea otters, and Jason has always loved the huge Outer Bay tank, with the tuna, sardines, sting rays, etc. After our day at the aquarium, we dropped by 
On our next day, we went to the Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary in Pacific Grove to see if we could catch a glimpse of the monarchs. 
Every year between October and March, thousands of butterflies gather at this very spot. Unfortunately, we only saw a handful of butterflies! It was disappointing... On our way back into Monterey, we stopped by Lover's Point Park.
What great ocean views! Here, we watched the waves crash against the rocks, collected shells, and observed life in the tidepools. For lunch, we took a chance and went to Monterey's Fish House. We hadn't read any reviews or heard anything about it, but every time we drove by that place, it was packed with people. Since it's not near the touristy area and not mentioned anywhere in the touristy brochures we got, we assume that the place is frequented by locals. Jason had calamari steak, I had clam pasta, and Grace had the clam chowder. The place isn't exactly kid-friendly (no kid menus- a good place for a date, or business dealings), but they went out of their way for our kids. It was soooo good and we would definitely return!
Several people had recommended that we visit this public playground. The park was designed by Hank Ketcham, the creator of Dennis the Menace and long time resident of the area. Our kids had a blast- there was so much to do: a maze, play structures, slides galore, a bridge, some tunnels, rock climbing wall, swings, and even a real train. 
After this trip, we can truly say that we had a great Winter Break! School starts up again on Monday! (more pictures in the album on the right hand side)
We rang in the new year with our close friends, Jill and Adam, and Christa and Aaron. I don't know how long it has been, but we've been "ringing in new years" with these special friends for quite a number of years now. No gathering is complete without food, and we had plenty of it! We started with appetizers, had a chocolate fondue, and then finished off with Jill's New Year's Cookies (aka fritters). Throughout the night, the boys decided to do a "Around the World" beer tour, in which they sampled beers from different parts of the world. Jason printed off scoring sheets for each beer, and Aaron shared information he had researched on each one beforehand. He even found out how to say "cheers" in each country's language before they drank each sample. Right before midnight, we turned on the t.v. to join the countdown and watch the ball drop. Of course the night wouldn't have been complete without games- we played Perpetual Commotion until about 1:30am! 
Earlier tonight, we joined the Lee and McCreary families for dinner. It has been so long since our families have spent time together- it has been so long overdue! It was wonderful to catch up with these great friends! 
A Blessing for the New Year (taken from Dayspring)