i'm sorry for the things i said when it was winter....

Christmas Eve was one of my favorite days on this contract, mostly because that was when Mike arrived from the airport to come explore Christmas in California with me!




We had Christmas Eve dinner complete with ham, corn and broccoli casseroles, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and some yummy pumpkin pie before heading off to 11pm Christmas Eve church service at Westgate Church.




The next morning was Christmas morning, and Santa found us all the way out in California to deliver our stockings! He also let us know that our actual Christmas presents would be waiting for us back in New York after the New Year.



With Christmas being my only day off from the park while Mike was in town, we decided to go on a big adventure (in our beautiful rental car), to Pinnacles National Park, about a 2 hour drive away.











Hiking a bit, we made our ways to the caves, where I became extremely aware of dark and terrified I was of rocks falling on my head. 








Christmas was a little different this year, however, we did have the chance to celebrate on New Years Day with Mikes family, and it was every bit as magical. 

The rest of the week in California with Mike, I had shows in the evening, so we only were able to adventure a bit during the mornings. The day after Christmas, we headed to Christmas in Park at downtown San Jose, San Pedro Square, lunch at Smoke Eaters Hot Wings and my favorite, the Tech Museum of Innovation, where we had an absolute blast using hands on fun to learn!

smoke eaters

At the Tech Museum, we used materials to create protection for our smart cube, and I beat Mr. Science teacher himself!

 My favorite was building our smart robot, who could move, light up, and turn in all different directions using different connectors.
 We wore these headsets to measure our brain activity while playing as well. 
 Mike learning how to operate a jet pack:
 Another really fun activity was growing our own bacteria, by following these really high tech projections and scientific equipment.




Our final weekday adventure was a morning trip to San Francisco. We started the day off with a croissant churro from Mr. Holmes Bakehouse. 







And what would a trip to San Fran be without seeing the Golden Gate Bridge (where it was freezing, mostly because of the wind).







The best part was when we were surprised by a visit by some seals under the dock we were standing on.




Mike was able to come to Winterfest at California Great America every night he was there, and took some amazing photos and videos of the show. Unfortunately, we had a few cast members take turns with a case of the flu, so he was unable to ever see the show before all the reblocks. He was a trooper though, and was even chosen to be the audience participation member during Santa Baby.

eating my mac and cheese brisket cone

I was sad to say goodbye to some of these amazing people I met on this California Christmas, but I will always cherish the memories made with them during this holiday season.













Since being back in NY, the temperature has not really gone above 2 degrees, but we did have a blast playing in snow, and celebrating all the holidays, Christmas, New Years, and my birthday!

Merry Christmas!

Happy almost Birthday!