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| Then there was the Church Christmas program |
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| Finally Christmas Eve arrived! |
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| The boys were excited |
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| And the crowning achievement was the gift of a new bunk bed |
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| Here's Matthew showing off how much he likes the new bed. |
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| And the next morning came and Santa had brought a snowboard . . . |
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| and tools! |
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| What a great time of year! |
While Matthew wasn't exactly a toothless replica, we do believe he was a cute little dragon.
Luckily the nearby shopping complex has their own Trick or Treat event every year. So the boys went out and invaded Barnes and Noble, Rubios, Jamba Juice, Old Navy and many more establishments. They took in quite a haul.
The best part of the night, however, was when we got home. We didn't go out into the neighborhood, but we still were ready to be invaded by hordes of candy seeking costume clad children. Garrett wanted to hand out the candy. Really, I just had to be nearby (Lori was distracted watching her beloved Chargers play).
And that brought October to an end. But less than a week later, Garrett attended a birthday party that included a face painter. So the G-man became a tiger. A pretty cool looking tiger if you ask me. (For the record Matthew was there as well, but he wanted no part of the face painting).
I, however, grew up largely in the Pacific Northwest. For me the beach meant the Oregon Coast. It was scenic, and contemplative, and largely rugged. For a few summer months it could be sunny and useful for ocean sports that might be familiar to those from California or a similar climate, but even in July and August the weather could be pretty much a coin flip. While I always enjoyed the Oregon Coast it looks and feels very different from a California beach.
And I'm just guessing, but I'm pretty sure I would feel at home near the Ocean in Maine or Ireland or somewhere else grey and misty, and green beneath the salty air. Lori, however, would probably resonate more with the Florida Keys or Tahiti or some Greek Isle. I'm certain there are places where our notion of what the Ocean and beach should be do overlap--places like Kauai where there are daily rains and the mists hang in the rugged mountains overlooking a warm sandy beach with people playing in the surf. 
So off it was to the "happiest place on earth" with the family and maternal grandparents. Of course the boys didn't know it yet. They just knew we were staying in a hotel, and, you would have thought that fact alone was cause for all sorts of rejoicing. Because, lets face it my boys love staying in hotels, and when they found out our two room suite had a bunk bed, well it was time for extreme celebration.
We had a great day of hanging out and riding rides. So much so we had to take a late afternoon break for the boys to catch their breath. We returned, but not before having dinner at the Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney. In case you've never been to the Rainforest Cafe it is a amazingly decorated rainforest themed restaurant that raises awareness and money to help prevent the deforestation of our planets rainforests. The food is expensive but very good and, hey, you're not only helping to protect the Amazon, but you're also paying for the ambiance wateralls, elephants, periodic thundershowers, and an animatronic Gorilla that was positioned right behind our table. About every ten to fiftenn miutes the gorilla would start to move and make noise. It was quite funny . . . for everyone except Matthew.
Unfortunatley, the presence of animatronic gorilla meant the Little Buddy had to be consoled every ten to fifteen minutes. He was not a fan.
But the boys were fans of the land of the theme parks. Garrett went on practically everything he was big enough to ride. Here's the evidence of him on Splash Mountain. He also rode Space Mountain, Grizzly Bear Rapids, Star Tours, Soaring over California, and The Tower of Terror. He loved the Tower of Terror and kept asking if we could go ride it again.
Matthew, on the other hand was too short for thrill rides. This was OK as he was quite happy riding less extreme attractions. Of course the beauty of Garrett's age is that he enjoyed all the rides, the thrill rides and the kiddy rides.
Of course Disneyland is more than just rides its also characters and ambience. The boys also enjoyed this aspect. Here is Garrett with Mickey . . .
And here is Matthew with Pluto . . .
And here we all our enjoying our grand adventure together.
Let's just say they boys love the beach. While Matthew is more content to play in the sand and get his feet wet, Garrett attacks the waves with abandon. I'm sure if we lived near the ocean I would barely know my son. He'd spend all day, every day trying to catch the perfect wave. For now he's content to attempt to learn how to boogeyboard and to persuade his grandpa to take him in a tube (with lifejacket) out on the waves.
Of course there was all kinds of fun to be had. Lori's brother and sister and law joined us at the campground for the same days I was there. My own sister and her brood came by for a day and delighted the boys with extra attention and the catching of small ocean crabs. We played (sort of) football and frisbee and generally ran about having a good time.
Of course there was lots of time spent up at the campsite. One night Matthew entertained the gang by making all sort of strange, laugh-enducing faces. The pictures really don't do the evening justice.
And so when the last morning arrived we would have been very sad, but we knew we had one more stop on our Grand Vacation Tour: Disneyland. This, however, was something the boys did not yet know.
The boys
Garrett and me
Matthew chillin on the beach
While you can't choose your family of origin, these are the four crazies that married into our family on purpose.
Julie and Dan
Jolene and Wade
Jana and Chris
Mom and Dad with the boys
