The Driskill Family: 2016

Saturday, December 31, 2016

Good-bye 2016...

January.

February.

March.

April.

May.

June.

July.

August.

September.

October.

November.

December.

2016. A pretty awesome year.

Ed and I bought tickets for the Seahawks vs. 49ers waaaayyy back in January at the school auction and found out months later the game was January 1. And then we had the chance to buy two more tickets which we thought would make a pretty good Christmas present for Ava and Jack. So when we were in Monterey/Carmel in October, we scoped out all the good spots and made a plan and the day finally came!

leaving on a jet plane....

glued to the window to watch the landing.

We headed for San Francisco and were treated to a little street show with our fish and chips.

The viewing spot for the Golden Gate Bridge was closed, which gave us the excuse to drive down and see it from below and then drive back around and see it from the top.

And then we got stuck in a major traffic jam, and then took what Siri promised would be a short cut but was actually a solid hour on a curvy back road at 30mph. And three hours later, we finally pulled into Carmel with just a touch of sanity left.

And then we walked into the perfect pizza spot with a cozy spot by the fire and insanely good pizza and all was well again:

Jack checking out the goods at my very favorite bakery.

We hit all the good shops,

stopped back at the hotel for a quick (cold!) swim,

warmed up in the sauna,

picked up the best lunch (at the bakery) and ate on the beach,

and walked for an hour,

went back to the bakery for coffees and did the 17 mile drive.

So much fun traveling with these two!

They loved all the San Francisco architecture and then all the houses in Carmel, appreciate all the views, and the food, and are suddenly all grown-up.

Jack conked out about 5 minutes into the drive to San Jose.

We checked into our hotel and headed down for happy hour, where a local told us which hotel the Seahawks were staying at and we, of course, headed over.

We walked through the Christmas festival and into the lobby of the hotel where we walked right by Micheal Bennett.

And Jack, being Jack, walked right up to him, waited a second for him to make eye contact, stuck out his hand and said, "Good luck tomorrow" and Micheal Bennett said "Thanks man." And Jack just strolled on back to us:

Totally made his day!

I was still in search of a mojito so we found a fun Mexican place for dinner and then headed back to the hotel to watch the ball drop and eat one last treat (or 5) from the bakery:

I'm not kidding about this place.

What an end to 2016!

Christmas road trip!

We took the two littles on a quick road trip to an indoor water park to make Christmas last just a bit longer.

just a little excited

this girl did not stop laughing.

She is fearless!

She went down the slides over and over again.

I had to pay Ed 5 bucks to stand under the bucket drop.

these two did it for free.

Jemma was in charge so we also squeezed in some Target shopping and Red Robin:

These two are so attached that it is a joy to spend the day and watch them just be together.

Tuesday, December 27, 2016

We pretty much love Christmas break.

This handsome guy took me out to Starbucks today, then got a haircut, spent some gift certificates and helped pick out all kinds of good stuff at Bath and Body. Seriously, if you have to go to the mall after Christmas, you should take this kid with you.

And we came home to find these two making dinner.

And not a lick of homework in sight.

December 26.

I LOVE Christmas.

The decorations, the tree, the lights, the presents, the food. But on December 26th, there isn't much that makes my heart happier than cleaning it all up.

Ed took the kids to a basketball camp, I cranked up the music, and got to work.