I’ll start with this: We LOVE the Holidays! Yes, those holidays. The ones at the end of last year (2023), which believe it or not was now 6 months ago. I was wondering if it was finally time to give up writing for this blog, since I simply can’t keep up. But then, I can only hope these cuties will be glad I captured a least something of their “middle-childhood”, right?

And so, it’s Christmas in (almost) July! And we really really love Christmas. It all starts with me realizing that a) we have little time to get gifts and make all our holiday traditions happen (many captured here) and b) I have to organize a photoshoot for the annual holiday card. Let’s start there.

This year, we have a teenager. Stage set. So unlike prior years where there may have been a cute dress and headband involved, I knew this year would be, well, casual. The middle school uniform: Hoodies & PJ bottoms. Sure, every once in a while there’s a dance where they look like this:

Note that even then, there are Converse high-tops involved… So it’s no surprise that our holiday card outfit was more fun and less fancy. I’ll skip over (though they will likely remember it) the fact that this year we went to the mall not just to take a picture by the tree, but also to buy something to wear, and that was a nightmare. First of all, the teen thought she had to buy a fancy dress and was grumpy about it. By the time she realized she could buy a slacker outfit instead, it was almost too late to salvage the trip. Guess I couldn’t skip that after all… Back to the photoshoot.

Once we got into the swing of it, there was fun to be had. They even tried to recreate this little jewel from almost a decade ago:

Since we’ve got a lot of Holiday stories to tell in this post (and several other posts to write), I’ll spare you the entire annual photoshoot, as we’ve done in prior years, but here are two gems worth sharing:

And here’s the winner, without visibility to the signature teenager dirty high-tops:

With the card ordered, we hopped right into other Holiday traditions, which include our yearly trip to Descanso Gardens for their Enchanted Forest of Light show. Every year we wander through the pathways enjoying the light installations, and the adults get to enjoy it, too (see third photo below):

We also love the LA Zoo Lights (I guess we love to see lights in nature?). Though most of the animals are sleeping, the human animals are not. In fact, the zoo fills up with loud, eager guests who brave whatever the elements (yes, I know it’s LA) to see cool lights and music installations throughout the zoo. This year they had a s’mores station where you could make your own!

And to wrap up the light shows, we headed to Holiday Road, another walking light-stravaganza. Though I have to say, there were few new light installations there this year, so this may have been our last trip down Holiday Road. However, they do have fake snow (aka soap bubbles) that make great photos:

Insert Santa here. We did NOT get a picture with him, but the girls must have been good again this year because he did slip down the chimney and drop off some cool stuff. We stayed in LA so he could easily find us (and also so he didn’t have to find us in multiple places, poor guy).

The girls had 3 weeks off from school, so there were some camp days, sister squabbling on the non-camp days, lots of time with friends, and a couple of shows. Oh, and cookie making:

Then it was time for our favorite way to end the year: our New Year’s Eve dinner and watching the ball drop tradition! This year we brought over a sushi making kit to our friends’ house and the kids made apps and dinner, including this well-crafted cheese and charcuterie tray:

And so, this blog has finally caught up to at least the year we’re in… Happy 2024! And before you ask, no, that’s not champagne, and yes, that’s a hotdog on Ella’s plate, and yes yes, they made hotdog sushi. What a way to start the year!