Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR. We had a fantastic trip to California for Christmas. So much happened, where to start? Before we left we made our usual pilgrimage to Zoolights. As you can see, it's hard to find a singe square foot left unlit. Probably not the greenest thing. The snow storm of the century (OK, 1/3 century) was expected to show up on the day of our departure. We made it a priority to get on the road ASAP. As it was, we passed a few spin-outs and one roll-over crash on the way out of town. But, as soon as we left the metro area the roads improved. After that it was smooth sailing to Redding (big box sprawl), CA. The next day we drove to Marin and spent the day/evening with our wonderful friends and their kids. As usual, a great time with killer food and amazing beers. The next morning we met Gigi, Pappy, Kathleen, Brian, and Ellen at the Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park. Check out the pics of the living roof! The rest of our trip was spent in Menlo Park, playing with the kids. We hit the playground every day. Sam learned how to ride his bike, with a few choice crashes thrown in. The Wii got a lot of action. Brian scored Guitar Hero for Christmas. I think playing a real guitar is easier than that game! And I earned my keep by hoisting Pappy to the top of his boat's mast 3 times to fix it. Gigi kept us all well fed with red beans and rice, crab, and a huge standing rib roast. We all got everything we wanted for Christmas and more.

These were created before our trip to California during one of the snow storms. We had a little too much time on our hands, not to mention cabin fever was setting in. Sam's Christmas program was rescheduled because of the snow storm. Here's what we came up with. This was Sam's idea.