Poolside Christmas - Day 5

Christmas morning greeted us with sunshine. We all woke up and had a leisurely morning. My mom got the turkey in the oven and then we settled down to watch the kids open their gifts.

My mom brought this wee tree from home to give the house a very small Christmas touch. It was perfect.

Our humble Christmas set-up. One doesn't need masses of gifts under the tree to have a good Christmas. This was a lesson I took home from our holiday and hope to remember.

Liam was most content with his wee little train, car and book. He wheeled that train around and around the ottoman for hours.

We bought the boys a few small gifts. They knew that this trip was their Christmas present this year but they didn't know about one surprise we had up our sleeves.

Thomas the Tank Engine is quite popular with Liam right now.



We gave Nathan and Chad each one very small Lego set and told them that as soon as they built them we would give them their last gift.

And that gift was a trip to Legoland! They were very happy! And they were even happier to hear that Uncle Andrew was going to come along as well. Here they are looking at the map and planning out all they wanted to do and see.

As we waited for the turkey to be finished for our 1 pm dinner we enjoyed the sunny backyard. Liam enjoyed the pool toys just as much on dry land.

Keith acted as pool boy.

I admired the orange tree.

The day was warm and it didn't feel like Christmas one bit until the smell of turkey came wafting through the sliding door. It must be ready soon!

My aunt Carla, uncle Ron and cousin Kristin were staying in Indio at the same time as we were in Palm Springs. It definitely helped to have extended family over for Christmas dinner....it gave it a good feeling. We had a feast fit for a king.

Eating our turkey by the pool in the brilliant sunshine was amazing! I could get used to this :)

Liam certainly enjoyed his dessert of chocolate cake and ice cream. No pumpkin pie for us. We had to throw some traditions out the window!

The boys swam the afternoon away while the rest of us visited and snacked and soaked up the sun. Keith took advantage of the free North America calling and phoned Abbotsford to say Merry Christmas to his family. We knew they really missed us over the holidays.

Eventually it got too cool outside and the party moved indoors. We had a white elephant gift game which was good fun.
The Kamps family rolled out the door around 6 pm and we all just settled down reading or watching TV.

The next day we had a new adventure waiting for us!

Christmas Eve - Day 4

Okay, the weather had finally gotten the message! Today was sun sun sun! And it was toasty warm to boot. We decided to walk to the flea market at the College of the Desert which was about 25 minutes away. I tried to convince Nathan to wear short sleeves but there was no co-operation there. Some battles are best left alone and I know by the time we were home he was plenty hot. He didn't have one word of complaint though!

Blue skies and orange trees. This sums up what California is all about to me.

The flea market was like the street festival but bigger. Loads of booths and merchandise for sale. I had a hard time convincing the boys to save their money (they didn't know about Legoland at the time). They wanted to buy all sorts of knick knacks. Liam happily watched this car drive around a track while Keith shopped for sunglasses.

Once we had walked home we were ready for some pool time. Lounging in the sun was fabulous and we all parked ourselves for the afternoon.

The pool was heated so it was very comfortable for the kids to use just about every day.

The hot tub was always available to warm up in.

A rare shot of busy lizzy not being busy! She deserves a holiday after all the care she puts into her family.

Playing with the pool basketball hoop.

Even Liam had a chance to use it.

After we had supper we headed (minus Liam and Keith) to Christmas Eve services at Southwest Community church. It was similar to Northview in many regards. It was a good service but I was perplexed as to why they had to bring an Elvis impersonator on stage to sing 'Blue Christmas'. Just a wee bit tacky in my opinion :) The service ended with us singing Silent Night with lit candles! Being the good firefighter wife that I am, I was uncomfortable with 1000+ people holding fire! Just one spark on the bouffant hairdo of a done up lady could have been disastrous. Anyhow....Keith was aghast to hear of it and told me that they have the same fire regulations as us and that was completely illegal. Those rebellious desert-dwellers!

After we got home, the boys assembled their gingerbread house with a little assistance from Nana.

The men played billiards. I took photos and ate snacks!

And the completed project.

It didn't quite feel like Christmas Eve but it was close enough.

Glorious Sunshine - Day 3

On this day we woke up to bright sunshine. Yes! This is what we had come down south for.

It was warm and there was no wind. Perfect.

Here's Liam enjoying his breakfast toast. He didn't really have a place to call his own at mealtimes. My parents had brought his eating chair that can hang off of a table but the round glass table could not support it's weight. So he just sat where ever we could manage. He thought it was fun to have more freedom to move around at mealtime but we did not!

The view from the sidewalk to the front of the house. Our plan for the day was to head to Salton Sea which is a salt water lake about 45 minutes from Palm Desert. On our way we stopped at a date farm.

Do you like dates? I like them....just a few are plenty enough for me though. The sampling area was neat. It was interesting to taste the different varieties of dates. We bought a package and headed on our way.

We finally arrived at the park. Paid our parking fee and headed down to the beach. Oh the stench! The beach which went on forever was littered with millions of dead and decaying fish! Num. But the sun was warm so we headed for a walk.

The beach was made up of barnacles instead of sand. The ground was soft and walking turned out to be a work out.

We stopped for a photo op while my brother and dad kept going to get pictures of pelicans and cranes.

We turned around eventually and headed back to the picnic area for a snack. Keith dug into his dates which were stuffed with walnuts.

The boys decided that gnawing on a bird bone would be preferrable to eating dates.

We headed back home after a while and stopped for lunch in Indio. We had to introduce my parents to In 'N Out since they had never eaten there before! Thankfully they agreed it was delicious! You just never know. What you might find delicious might not be what others find delicious! We had to eat outside as the restaurant was packed.

We put Liam down for a much needed nap once we got home and spent the rest of the afternoon lounging around the pool. Suntanning, reading and swimming.

After supper of pizza and salad we all headed down to 'old' Palm Springs to enjoy the street festival that is held every Thursday evening. It was a very fun atmosphere with plenty of street vendors, performers, shops, restaurants and charming ambience. Liam was happy to be in the backpack for the first little while and then got really cranky. We bought him some kettle corn to distract him and I'll tell you that was the most incredible kettle corn I've ever had! I'd like to eat some right now as a matter of fact! That big bag lasted us several days.

The window shopping was fun. Maybe unique little shops I would have loved to explore sans children.As we neared the car we ran into Hamburger Mary! Just couldn't pass up a picture with this saucy waitress!

After we arrived back at the house we tossed the children to bed and wrapped Christmas presents.

Settling In - Day 2

Good golly this house is fab! I'll give you a little tour of our home for the next 10 days or so. All furnishings, dishes, towels, bedding etc was of great quality. This was so far beyond a 'rental'. You felt like you were in someone's home...which we were :) My dad got connected to this place through some customers of his. The customers have kids who own this place and rent it out when they aren't using it. They are definitely not short on the cha-ching as was evidenced by the very luxurious vehicle left in the garage for when they are down here.


Here is the great room which was the hub of all activity. It was spacious and perfect for the eight of us.



The eating nook. We managed to all find places to eat. The boys on some outdoor wicker chairs we brought inside and some of us would use the island as a table as well.
There was a main bathroom with a seperate room for toilet and shower. We are all good at sharing so there wasn't much in the way of conflicts in this regard. My parents also had a full ensuite they shared.

The very large two piece bathroom just down the hall near the laundry room.

The laundry area with state of the art washer and dryer. I want some of these magnificent machines! I have appliance envy.

There was a great little fridge for all our beverages in the pool table area.

Looking from the entry of the house into the great room.

Looking from our room into the pool table area.

And the view from our room. Not too shabby hey? Okay just one teeny tiny complaint. We had an east facing bedroom and the morning sun woke up dear Liam very early each morning. Oh well...it's a small price to pay and we survived to tell.

The boys really enjoyed the pool table. Keith and I played a few games as well which reminded us of our dating days when my dad had a table in our basement.

So after we woke up on our second day our boys headed off to the Air Museum with my dad, brother, uncle and cousin (who were staying in Indio). Keith and I left Liam with my mom and headed to Toys R Us to get the kids some gifts for Christmas. This is a picture in the parking lot of the store. The clouds had started to clear a bit and the rain let up.

As we were out over the lunch hour we decided to stop at In N Out for a bite. Just so delicious are these burgers!!!

After lunch we stopped at Albertson's for a few groceries. It's about equivalent to a Safeway and in my opinion a bit pricey but it was close to our house. The people in that store (not the employees) were some of the crankiest seniors I have ever come across. I guess they resent tourists or perhaps the rain was addling with their brains.

We came home and watched it rain once again for the afternoon. We tried not to be too discouraged as we knew the forecast was for clear skies the next day. The pool was beautiful and salt water too. Such a great thing for one's skin and sure saves the swim suit fabric.

There is a pool guy who comes twice a week to clean and adjust the levels of the pool. Oh and a gardener who came once a week to do the lawn and flower beds. Must be nice to have 'people'!

My parents brought their laptop and as tempting as it was to use it I did my best to refrain. I only checked emails once a day. No facebook or blogging!

The boys came home from the museum just as we came home from our errands. They busily got straight to building their wooden models they had bought themselves.

That evening we climbed into the hot tub and saw that the stars were shining! No clouds!

And there's nothing like time in the hot tub to get the kids drowsy and ready for a good sleep. They shared a room with Andrew. The room had a set of double bunks for them.

Nathan opted for the pull out single bed for a few nights and then moved back 'upstairs' with Chad. He said he was too cold down there.
We knew tomorrow would be sunny and had plans for a much more exciting day.