Commence Winter Extravaganza -2014!

 This year, we decided not to buy a Christmas tree.  It seemed wasteful to purchase a tree that would sit alone in an empty house over the holidays, only to wither away.  Instead, we opted to decorate our new California Redwood tree (our replacement for the Cedar that we cut down over the summer).  It just barely fit in the house; however, it still managed to look awfully pitiful as a Christmas tree.  But that didn't dampen Tiago's spirits.  He was so happy to decorate the tree.  And, it was lovely.

To kick off the holiday season, aunt Karen bought Tiago some books, Hanukah gifts and a Menorah to teach him about the Jewish holiday.  Tiago really enjoyed lighting a candle each evening, playing with the dreidel, and opening his gifts each morning! It really made the holidays much richer, to honor different family traditions.

As the winter solstice approached, we packed our bags, and tied up loose ends at home and at work.  In the frey, we attempted to create a "gingerbread" house out of Graham crackers.  It turned out to be a modern, California-chic, house!  It was soggy by the next morning.  Just as well.  We had to eat it quickly before flying out.

Literally minutes before rushing off to the airport (to then wait 3 hours due to delays), Tiago and his peers performed in his school's "Winter Celebration."  It was adorable.

Stay tuned for more of the G-Unit Christmas family vacation!

Christmas Trip 1 (of 5)!

Our vacation got off to a slow start.  Our flight out of San Francisco was delayed by a few hours.  Thank goodness for direct flights and unconditional love.  Abuelito and Abuelita greeted us with smiles at the Atlanta airport at 2am, followed by the one hour drive back to their place.   We kicked off our holiday adventures in Ackworth, GA. 

Tiago, infected with a serious case of the travel-bug, was over-the-moon to show his dad around his favorite spots (i.e. the train museum, science museum, and his grandparents' house).  

Tiago and abuelito made Nate a birthday cake from scratch (and love).

(And Korah and Nate enjoyed a birthday date night!)

On The Road (Trip 2 of 5)

Once completely satisfied that his dad had seen everything that he needed to see in Georgia (trains trucks, and treasure), Tiago and the group took a road-trip to the Outerbanks--North Carolina!

After a quick pit-stop at a South Carolina Cracker-Barrel (and an even quicker pit-stop at the kitschy South Carolina "South of the Border" truck stop)...

...We finally arrived at the Topsail beach house.  But, wait!  We didn't pack any extra shoes for Tiago.  "Don't worry," said Tiago.  He quickly remembered a character from Abuelita's book, who wears plastic bags over his shoes in the snow.  Problem solved!

 (Actually, Tiago ended up with a new pair of shoes out of the trip.  (!Gracias abuelitos!)

We didn't find any pirate's booty on the beach, but there were many beautiful seashells.  Tiago and Korah enjoyed drawing in the pristine sand (no footprints on these foggy beaches).

And abuelito brought a very cool pirate-ship-kite!

 Tiago even made it fly by himself.

 Tiago, an expert on all things pirates, knows that the skull & cross-bones is not the actual symbol for pirate Black Beard, who was killed on the North Carolina coast.  But, who doesn't love a Jolly Roger?

Happy Christmas Eve's-Eve!

Westbound! (trip 3 of 5)!

After a wonderful stay at the beach house, we headed west to Durham, to see the cousins.  You would think that after flying for 5 hours and driving for 9 hours, the 3 hour drive would have been a snap.  But, the anticipation of seeing his beloved cousins on Christmas Eve was just too much.  And...

...here it is. 

The rest of the Guilar Christmas Family vacation can be summarized in several quick words.  "They're my best friends."

We all had a blast!  It was great to see our "friends!"

Christmas -2014-North Carolina

The kids had quite the raging, reunion, slumber party on Christmas Eve.  They even accidentally slept in until 7:10am on Christmas day!

(Cue sleepy bed-heads, stumbling downstairs with excitement.)

Tia Korah was almost as excited as the kids were and accompanied them down the stairs, in the dark, feeling the Christmas spirit all around.

In the video below, the children realize that there are 3 suspiciously placed presents, in special wrapping paper, that were not there the night before.  Hmmm...

...Sneaky Santa!

 (Notice how, even when sleep deprived, Tiago manages to summon the crazy-face for pictures.)

 

 Once all of the adults made their way downstairs, the kids started in on the stockings.  Let the Disney foreshadowing begin!

The boys loved their new Star Wars themed hoodies!

Tiago shows us his pirate medallion...

 ...and enthusiastically waves his new pirate Cutlass.

As if Christmas with family isn't exciting enough, Mateo announced to his cousin, "We're going to Disney" as Tiago unwrapped his Disney fast-pass wristband.  Because this was completely foreign and beyond Tiago's comprehension, it took a few seconds for him to absorb the news.  (He was happy  to simply have a new wristband.) But, when he finally made the connection between his new wristband, and the news, he had himself a nice little celebration dance, uttering, "Yeah-yeah-yeah."

To further the celebratory mood, the kids put on a nice Karaoke performance, while breakfast was being prepared. After breakfast, the table became Toy Assembly Station.  We put together dolphin mosaics, pirate ships and Star Wars Legos...

After the toys were assembled and ready to play with, we took a moment to get dressed up and have a nice Christmas dinner. Say, "Familia!"

!FELIZ NAVIDAD!

Savannah! (trip 4 of 5)

According to the official Savannah government page: If Savannah’s Trees Could Talk…

They’d tell you about pirates, cotton, and a revolutionary town plan dating to 1733.

So, Korah (who had read Gone With The Wind 2x by age 14) requested a stop in Savannah en route to Orlando.  After all, this was the city that she once almost called home (after being offered a scholarship to Savannah's College of Art and Design).  Savannah was calling!

And Savannah did not disappoint.  We certainly enjoyed the old, Spanish Moss-adorned, trees, the historical "Herb House" aka "The Pirates' House" built in 1734, and the beautiful waterfront:

 We couldn't help but run through this park muttering, "Life is like a box of chocolates..."

This historical site had some very old stairs down to the waterfront...

 ...which was bustling.

 And, for dinner, tia Jill recommended we walk to the old Herb House establishment, once the dwelling of seafarers, and later, a rendezvous spot for blood-thirsty pirates.  In fact, it was told that a very rare copy of the book Treasure Island is housed there, in tribute to the author Robert Louis Stevenson, who often resided there.  The ghost of Captain Flint is said to roam the house on moonless nights!  

 We had ourselves some fantastic fare, followed by a fun tour of the grounds...

 Our little pirates definitely enjoyed this meal.  Great recommendation, tia Jill!

 They met Anne Bonnie--fearsome female pirate, with a real sword!

 Them be real pistols, the boys are holding (yikes)!

 We had such a wonderful time in Savannah that we arranged to stay there again, on our way back up from Orlando!  

Until next time, Savannah!

Disney in December!

Christmas at Disney World, started at Hollywood Studios, where we saw Disney Characters, rode the Star (Wars) Tours, watched Indiana Jones stuntmen...

 ...witnessed race-car "extreme" stunts, and we ended the evening with a fantastic light show!

 The next day, we woke up bright-eyed and ready for Magic Kingdom!

During our 15 hour day, and with a little team-work, we hit everything on our wish-list.  It's great to have an organizer like tia Jill for these things!  We rode Snow White's Mines, Dumbo, Pirates of the Caribbean, Splash Mountain, the Jingle Saffari (Jungle ride at Christmas), Peter-Pan, Tom-Sawyer's Island (that one is great for when everyone falls apart and needs a little break); we even convinced the kids to go into the Haunted House (incidentally, not a great ride to get stuck in).  The sun is certainly a little brighter when you've been inside of a dark haunted house for several extra minutes!

 The merry-go-round is also another nice way to relax the feet (and stretch your aching back).

As the sun started to set, we made our way back over to Main Street

 It's about to get Magical!

Before calling it a (late) night, we stuck around for the magical lighting of the castle, followed by the electric parade --they don't do that at Disneyland!  We even got to see Tinkerbell fly across the sky!  The kids rallied.  Tiago had his first try of Coke-a-Cola! Magical, indeed.

Somehow, the next morning, we managed to pull ourselves out of bed for a 3rd day of extraordinary fun!  Epcot, here we come!

(after clocking 13,500 steps the day before, my legs were wobbly at the mere thought of doing it all again)

But, we did it. The 3 Caballeros were still best of friends (no huge tantrums, no major tears, no bloodshed).  Success!

 (Donald, a Disney favorite gave the kids an awesome interaction!)

 Tiago was running on fumes (next up: a trip to the sodas of the world station).  So, we took a family picture with our favorite nephew, Mateo, instead (same shirt as Tiago, at least). Hahaha.

 We tried one more group shot.  At least we weren't looking directly into the sun, this time!

 Look at that smile on Nate's face!  He was definitely our surprise rallier.  Prompting us to squeeze in extra rides at Magic Kingdom, and to march on at Epcot.

 (The kids' love was easily bought with the light-up magical wands/light-sabers.  Tia Korah for the win!)  

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!