Happy Birthday, Edward!

Today is Edward's birthday, and so we spent the weekend doing fun stuff for him. We started with a lovely breakfast at home on Saturday, and then we got in the car and headed north. We had originally planned on heading to a bridge north of Laytonville that we had seen under construction back in April, but after getting just north of Fort Bragg and realizing how long the trip would take and how unhappy Vivian would be in the car, we decided to just do a couple things in Fort Bragg and Mendocino and then head home.

We went to Seaside Beach, between Fort Bragg and Westport on Hwy. 1, and Vivian loved the sand! She had handfuls of it and loved the feel of it between her fingers. Edward climbed up on a big rock to take some pictures of the sea. Unfortunately, he had the camera, so I have no pictures of him up there! Everything was going great until Vivi discovered the ocean! I let her put hands into the surf as it came up on the beach, and she loved it. But that wasn't enough for her. She wanted to get in and play! (Keep in mind it was about 35 degrees outside!) Obviously, we didn't want her to go swimming just then, so I kept trying to redirect her to the sand farther up the beach. That just made her furious, and she kept trying to run back to the ocean. Edward was still up on the rock, and I don't move as fast as I used to, so I was starting to get mighty nervous. Luckily, Edward came down to help out and show Vivian the waves from a safer vantage point. She still wanted to throw herself into the surf, so we decided to head back to the car. I think I'll be vacuuming sand out of her car seat for months!

Vivian & Mama check out Seaside Beach, 12/13/08

Papa shows Vivian the waves, 12/13/08

Today, we headed to church as usual, and on the way over the hill, we got to see the beautiful snow that had fallen! It wasn't much, but it was enough to make everything white! We were running a bit late, so we didn't stop to take any pictures, and unfortunately, it was all gone by the time we headed home this evening. I'm hoping it will snow again over the next few days, and that we'll be able to take Vivi out to play in it!

After church, we went to Edward's parents' house for a yummy turket dinner. After opening his presents, we had some chocolate cake and ice cream, which Vivian fully enjoyed!

Edward makes a wish!

Vivian decides she really likes this stuff called ice cream!

We also had the chance to get our Christmas tree this weekend, and decorate it. Wisely, we bought shatterproof Christmas balls so that when Vivian gets ahold of them, we don't have to make a trip to the emergency room! She thinks it's just another toy for her to play with! (We're working to divest her of that opinion.) We also picked up a tiny tree for Vivian to decorate. It sits on the dining room table, and she gets to pick a little decoration for it out of her advent calendar everyday.

Our tree and stockings, 2008

Vivian's tree

Our gingerbread house

Edward has his final tomorrow for one of the classses he's taking at SSU, and then he's got a break until January. I'm looking forward to having him home during our two-week break from school! Merry Christmas to each of you!