The final day of 2009.

It's December 31 and the final day of 2009. I can't think of anywhere I'd rather spend today, which is really nice to be able to say. We started our day with breakfast at an outdoor cafe on Coronado Island. I managed to even eat avocado and salsa for breakfast! We then went to the beach. I think the high today at home is 4 degrees, which makes me appreciate our last day here all the more.

The girls built sandcastles again today and just loved playing in the sand. They swam in the pool later in the afternoon and, even though the pool was warm, it was only in the 60s outside and way too cold for swimming in my opinion. I laid on a lounge chair under two towels while Eric played lifeguard to the girls.

We went out to dinner tonight and were all asleep long before midnight. Eric and I did wake up briefly at 12:00 a.m. to the sounds of happy revelers on the beach outside our hotel room but the girls slept right through the festivities.

Happy New Year! I hope you're celebrating somewhere fabulous with people you love.

Skating by the Sea

Today we went ice skating. Outside. At the beach.

This is the very first time the girls have been ice skating and they loved it. They did a lot more holding on to the person beside them than they did actual skating but that didn't seem to matter a bit. And you simply can't beat ice skating and looking at the Pacific Ocean at the same time.

After ice skating the kids all played Duck-Duck-Goose. It was hysterical to see the big kids running after my little kids.

La Jolla Cove

Today was our first full day in San Diego. We ate breakfast outside and then spent the rest of the morning at La Jolla Cove building sandcastles and playing in the waves. The weather is absolutely beautiful -- sunny and in the high 60s -- and it's so fun to see flowers blooming all over the place.

We stopped at a drug store to buy some sand toys but all I could find was .33 purple plastic tumblers. They seemed to do the trick! The girls added shells and feathers and built Ariel's Grotto and a castle.

Hello California.

Today is my birthday.

This is where you can find me this morning.

For the love of guacamole.

We spent the day today with Eric's family. We had lunch and then went back to our hotel where we commandeered a table for a few hours so we could play Spite and Malice. Eric's younger brother Jason, that's him with Eric above, managed to beat us all soundly. And me? Well, I think I may have just managed to get the highest score I've ever had. But since we ate guacamole and chips, chicken quesadillas and chocolate cinnamon cookies with homemade vanilla ice cream while playing, I didn't mind losing one bit.

Baking Cookies with Grandma Jan

I am absolutely positive that my mom has never had so much "help" baking cookies.

The look on Michal's face absolutely cracks me up. She was trying to decide which cookie cutter to use.

A plate of frosted cookies before being coated with red, green and sparkly sprinkles. At one point more sprinkles were making their way into Michal and Kenna's mouths than were ending up on the cookies.

Oh those funny leaping-hopping-jumping girls!

The Phoenix Zoo

We spent the day at the Phoenix Zoo today riding camels, feeding goats and riding the carousel . . . and of course looking at animals.

The highlight for the girls though was the seven-ride card for the carousel that Grandma and Pa Pa bought for each of them. There's just something amazing about getting off the carousel and then being able to get right back on! They also were incredibly excited about their new zoo-gift-shop sunglasses that they decided were "real glasses" and insisted on wearing at all times so "they could see clearly."

This goat was so funny. He was standing on a log so Michal and Kenna stood on a log beside him and brushed him. As they were brushing him his head started to droop and then he just kind of melted down on to the log and laid there with his eyes closed. I think he would have been perfectly content to just lay there and let them brush him all day long.

This was somewhere around ride number four!

And look who followed us to Arizona. The girls were ecstatic when they woke up this morning and found Eloise waiting for them in our hotel room.

And the winner of the sixteenth day is . . .

Congratulations Cara! You've won a Ming Karito Kids doll. To claim your prize, please e-mail me!

Congratulations again!

And the winner of the fifteenth day is . . .

Congratulations Love Letters to China! (I'm sorry that I couldn't figure out your first name.) You have won a $100 shopping spree from Matilda Jane! To claim your prize please e-mail Sam at Matilda Jane and she'll take care of you.

Congratulations again!

Ten Reasons Why I Love Arizona in December

10. It smells really good outside. I think it's the sweet acacia blossoms.

9. There is citrus hanging on the trees and my parents' backyard looks like a fruit orchard.

8. It stays light past 4:30 p.m.

7. People are complaining that it's cold when it's 61 degrees outside, which makes me feel like a hearty Midwesterner since I think it feels downright warm.

6. No winter coat. No hat. No scarf. No gloves. No boots.

5. Endless blue skies that give way to beautiful pink sunsets.

4. Christmas lights that look strangely out of place and completely appropriate all at the same time. I cannot however say the same thing about blow-up snow men or inflatable snow globes.

3. Stars you can actually see in the night sky.

2. I can show Michal and Kenna my childhood bedroom, even though it has been turned into an office completely without my permission.

1. Mexican food. Mexican food. Mexican food.