Getting There is Half the Fun? Whatever. We Prefer the Fun.

Our trip out to Cali was disastrous. What should have been about 5 hours of traveling turned into about 15, with a 6 hour layover in Dallas. Thank the dear Lord (and I mean that with all sincerity), we found a Samsung Travel Center (basically a Starbucks w/o the coffee) that had some random cots in the corner. Chris "Macgyver-ed" (his term) a sleeping tent for Mer and she slept for 3 hours. I'm not crazy about the fact that we still use the paci every now and again, but the fact is that it's a miracle sedative for my child and allowed her to get through the day with more grace than her parents. And as my aunt says, she won't take it to college.

Anyway, after arriving in SoCal, all was well.

It's always good to visit Poo, and Meredith truly loves her great grandmother. They shared lots of Christmas Eve secrets.

Auntie Beth coordinated the Santa welcoming committee. As you can see, Mer was pretty excited about writing a letter to Santa. Unfortunately she also used this opportunity to put in her first request EVER for a train and track. Santa didn't get the news in time.

Christmas morning, and Mer was thrilled to see that Santa had not only eaten his snacks, but had also pilfered some chocolate from the jar. Christmas could have ended right here, and she would have been fine with that.

But there was more. And though Santa wasn't aware of her heretofore unmentioned longing for a train, he did think she might like a kitchen. And boy was he right. In this picture, Mer displays her Sugg side (I'm so incredibly excited that I'll stand incredibly still and not let on that I'm about to explode from the excitement). It was also endearing that before really getting excited about the kitchen, she asked if it was for her. Considering she was the only one in the house that was under 14, we thought it was obvious. But we're not three.

And in this picture, Mer displays her Lareau side...while wearing someone's hairpiece.

Good times. And more to come.