The Holidays

We were able to spend Christmas this year with my family in Michigan. We went from sunny California weather to the bitter cold. The night we arrived in Michigan, it snowed 10 inches and another 5 or 6 inches in the days to come. I don't think we left my parents house at all the next day. It also didn't help that our airline lost both of our bags for the first 2 days of our trip.  Little Paul loved the snow but being a California boy, he never wanted to wear his coat, hat, mittens or boots. We could not keep him out of the snow but as soon as we got him outside he started stripping his clothes. I don't think he liked the restriction of movement that came with warm clothes. Being the only grandchild on the Park side of the family, Paul was spoiled rotten with attention as well as gifts. This Christmas was all about him and I think he immensely enjoyed every minute of it. We weren't able to spend a ton of time outdoors due to the cold weather but we still managed to find some fun things to do with Little Paul. We were able to visit the Detroit Zoo, the Henry Ford Museum and story time at the local library. The rest of the time was spent visiting with family and friends. We had a really fun 10 days in Michigan but it was really hard to say goodbye when our time was up. 

Here is Paul getting ready to face the cold weather. 

Paul and his dad in the butterfly room at the zoo. 

Paul and mom with the polar bears at the zoo.

Happy Paul on Christmas morning. 

New front loader. 

New vacuum. 

New jack hammer. Looks like he is getting ready to do some damage with that thing.

Paul loved the new trains he got from Grandma and Grandpa.

Karaoke on Christmas Day (a Park Family Tradition). 

Dad showing off his mad singing skills.

Playing with the toys at the library.

Dad playing with the puppets. 

The holiday trains at the Ford Museum.

Paul with mom at the Ford Museum.

Paul with dad at the Ford Museum.

Family photo in front of Paul's favorite train.

Paul with his Grandma and Grandpa.

When we got back to California it was in the 80's and Little Paul went right back to playing outside all day long. Paul had 3 weeks off of work so we were able to continue our vacation at home. We received annual passes to Disneyland for Christmas so we renewed our passes on New Year's Day. It was a lot of fun to spend the day there. We also did some hiking as well as visiting all the nearby parks. It was really sad when dad had to go back to work. It was especially hard on Little Paul who was starting to get use to having his dad around all the time. We miss him but still enjoy the time we get to spend with him on the weekends. 

Paul with dad on the carousel. 

Paul on It's a Small World (it finally opened again).

Paul with mom on the train.

Playing in a field of rocks while hiking.

Paul's "special" face.

Here is a video of my brother and Paul singing Karaoke on Christmas Day. Hopefully, most of you will be able to see this video before either one of them finds out I posted it and makes me take it off.  I think it's funny but they might think differently about it.