Lake Tahoe

We just got back from spending Thanksgiving week in Lake Tahoe with friends.  While it didn't snow, we managed to find a small amount on top of a mountain.  It didn't take much snow to impress Violet.

Snow fight with Nana.

Hot cocoa to warm up.

Then there was the day we went on the hike from hell.  That's defined by taking a three year old on a 2 mile hike who decides less than halfway through that she doesn't want to walk.  Violet made the hike torture for all of us. 

Miserable.

Hanging out with a friend by the lake.

Downtime.

Dentist and Dance

Another trip to the dentist.  Violet actually let the dentist inspect her teeth this time.  I made a comment that he got farther then the dentist did last visit and he commented "Yeah I read the notes."  I wonder what those notes said?  "Patient won't stop screaming when I tried to count teeth?"

Recently Violet had a second dance recital.  This one was a tap number to Jingle Bell Rock.  About halfway through the number she thought it would be fun to pretend to fall.  She pretended to fall three or four times.  The first time the teacher picked her up.  The last few times they just left her on the floor.

Before the show:

Warming up:

Dancing:

After it was all done, chilling at Target.

And the dance itself.  

Count the times she "falls".

That's my kid!

Halloween

This was a great year for Violet for Halloween.  This was the first year she really "got it".  Last year it was fun to get candy but she didn't put it all together.  This year she was excited weeks in advance for trick or treating and getting free candy was just amazing to her.

We went to an early Halloween celebration at Irvine Great Park.  Violet was a blue butterfly princess again because her Elsa costume was ripped and mommy hadn't fixed it yet.  Oops.

Looking for the perfect pumpkin.

Violet got to wear her costume to dance class Halloween week.

Tap dancing is hard work.

And then there was Halloween night itself.  We started by carving pumpkins.

Eric's jack o lantern.

Violet and my jack o lantern.

Then dressed up as Elsa from Frozen, it was time to trick or treat.

Making snow!

Exhausted and enjoying her spoils.

Recently enjoying a hike with Daddy.

Wearing a new dress from Aunty Deanna:

Hawaii, yes again...

Violet and I went to Hawaii again to visit my friend Jenee and her family.  We spent another couple of nights at the Disney Aulani resort which was awesome yet again.  We pretty much stayed at the pool all day.

One of the best parts was that Violet was old enough to go to Auntie's Beach House (AKA Disney babysitting) which was open until 9:30 p.m. at night and included in the cost of the room.  We tested it out the first day when Jenee and I booked spa appointments.  I can't say I was at all surprised when someone was waiting for me between appointments to let me know that I needed to call Auntie's Beach House because there was some kind of problem.  I was sure Violet was probably having some kind of melt down or needed a change of clothes--something that would necessitate me leaving and missing my massage.  Luckily they just called to let me know she didn't eat her lunch but then had a fit when they took it away at the end of lunch time.  I think my response went something like "Oh she didn't eat lunch?  Do I need to come get her?  No?  Excellent, off to my massage."

Roughhousing with Nick.

 We had breakfast with the characters again.  The wait for pictures took forever.  It felt like we were really at Disneyland.

Waiting to meet Mickey.

Waiting some more.

That night it was back to Aunties Beach House for Violet and Nicholas while the adults enjoyed a nice dinner and tropical Mai Tai's at the resort restaurant.  Low alcohol tolerances made for a fun meal with excellent food without the kids.

After leaving Aulani we headed back to Jenee's house.  Violet loved going upstairs to visit Jenee's parents.

Hopefully they didn't mind her random visits.

The flight home was a bit rough.  With a 3+ hour delay and a 5 hour flight, Violet was literally rolling on the ground towards the end.  But it was all worth it and I'm sure we will be back next year.

Beach Camping

A couple of weeks ago we did our second and last camping trip of the season.  We thought we would brave two nights with Violet but I had some doubts we would make the second night.  Violet did surprisingly well, other than waking everyone up the second the rose.  We stayed two nights at Carlsbad State Beach.

Violet pretended to ride her horse.

The campground was on a bluff overlooking the beach and which was pretty deserted except for campers.

View from our campsite.

There wasn't a lot of nature other than the beach, but I think Violet had a blast.  We made smores both nights and Aunty Jenny joined us the second night.  Violet swam all day at the beach.

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A recent hike with daddy: