As I mentioned earlier, Ellen is very fortunate. We all travelled to Chicagoland and Santa Barbara to see both sides of the family this holiday season. We also visited with good friends while in Chicagoland. Our first stop while in Chicagoland (after arriving on the red eye and getting a few hours of sleep) was to go and visit Santa. This trip however, didn't go as well as the ones in Boston. We attributed it to a couple of things, Ellie was thrown off from the travels (as we all were) and the little boy in front of us in line, well, he threw a total fit during his time. Because of his fit, Ellie spent some time smiling and waving to Santa and I think she decided she had said hi and didn't need to sit on his lap for a photo.
Also while in Chicagoland, we visited with good friends and their son (Alex is just a few months older than Ellie). We went to a place called Monkey Joes, which was several bounce houses contained in a single place. Some of the bounce houses were for under 3years only, which was nice. However, Alex is adventurous and Ellie doesn't like to be left out, so we climbed ladders, went down slides, and had all sorts of fun. Ellie and Alex both had a blast. Afterwards, we all took the toddlers out for pizza! 
Sunday the 19th in Chicagoland was reserved for Christmas #2. Aunt Cindy (whom Ellie recognized from pictures we have at home), Uncle Mike, and Great-Grandma Kost came to Grandma and Grandpa's house in the morning for some presents. Then we all travelled to Nick's Aunt Pat's house to visit with all the aunts, uncles, and cousins, and enjoy great food! Ellie liked playing with her cousin William (14 months old and walking), sharing her snacks with her Great-Grandma, and chasing her aunt and uncle and Grandma around the house. It was so great to get to see everyone. 
Monday, we took he red-eye out to California. Thanks to approximately 1.5" of snow, our plane was delayed three hours. Ellen decided she didn't want to sleep in her stroller in the noisy airport, and stayed up till we got on the plane after midnight! That was an adventure. But she slept the whole way, which allowed us to catch a few winks. After a stop at Randy's donuts, we were in Santa Barbara by 5:30am. After a couple hours sleep, we were all up and running to enjoy all that Santa Barbara has to offer. 
Despite the heavy rains which continued while were were in CA, we were able to stroll State Street and do some shopping and go to the zoo. Ellie loved the zoo. Especially the elephants, which we made several stops to see. She also enjoyed the giraffes. We also made sure to take Ellie to our favorite Mexican restaurant. She also enjoyed some fresh lemons off if Great-Grandma Dolly's tree in her backyard. We even tried again to visit Santa. Ellie decided that she didn't want any of this visit at all. However, we did enjoy a stroll, outside, in the sun. 
We spent quality time with the Great-Grandparents, pretty much everyday we were there. Ellie loved Great-Grandma Van's Santa collection. Aunt Susie came out just before Christmas and Ellie was so excited to see her. Ellie was very helpful with wrapping of presents. But she was even more helpful with carrying presents out to the car to go to Great-Grandparental Van's house for Christmas Eve. She was so excited and willing to help with Aunt Susie asked her, she took off outside with only one shoe on (good thing it was a warm day!)
Christmas Eve we all participated in the traditional VB Christmas Eve. We had pizza for dinner. Opened presents with all the family present. Despite several tries and urging, Ellie wasn't quite ready to be Santa, so Susie still took on her role (as the youngest member of the family, Santa has to pass out presents). Ellie was helpful and helped pick up wrapping paper with Great-Grandpa Van. 
Christmas was exciting. Ellie was so happy to see presents under the tree. She loved her tea set that Santa brought her. Family came over for a traditional dinner of garlic bread, beans, tri-tip, and cheesy potatoes. 
The blizzard of 2010 that hit the Northeast the day after Christmas caused us to delay our trip back to Boston by one day. We got another day to spend time with family while out in SB. When we arrived home (on the red eye so we got in bright and early in the morning), we were greated with about 12 inches of snow. We had to dig out to get to and open our front door. 'Tis the season.
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