So as we prepare to fly back to NYC tomorrow and visit friends before heading up to CT for a good old fashioned Family Christmas (minus Jim and Alyson) we take a moment to catch you up on our Christmas in Southern California so far...
明日、ニューヨークに向けて出発し仲の良い友達に会ったりコネチでいつもの家族で過ごすクリスマスをしたりの予定ですが、その前に南カリフォルニアでの初めてのクリスマスシーズンの報告...
It started by having two couple friends from church and our new minister over for dinner followed by a trip to Naples, which is about ten minutes from our place. There the incredible houses that line the canals are all decked out in Holiday lights...it was really cool and then cool was taken up a notch when Nick, one of our friends who worked the canals as a Gondolier used his connections to get us out on a Gondola...it was so nice! Madison cried for a second, attempted to say bye and then settled in and loved it...almost as much as her parents!
２組の友達夫妻と新しく教会で働き初めた牧師を招待して夕ご飯を食べた後、家から１０分の所にある豪華住宅が並ぶ所まで豪華に飾られたクリスマスデコレーションを見に行きました。そして、友達の一人、ニックがゴンドラの舵をしていたお陰で無料でゴンドラに乗って飾りを見る事が出来ました！最初は少し怖がっていたマディソンだけど直ぐに慣れたみたいで綺麗な飾りを見ながら楽しんでいました！
The pictures don't do the houses justice, but this one in the middle made a smiley face...
写真ブレッちゃっているけど真ん中の家、サンタの顔だったんだ...
On our gondola ride...
ゴンドラに乗って...
Then we hit Shoreline Village on its Annual Snow Day...unfortunately for the snow it was near 80 degrees, so it became mush day real quick, but it was a good try...
そして、近くにあるショアラインビレッジで毎年ある雪の日へ...でもその日はとても暖かくてせっかくの雪が溶けっぱなし...
After our snow day we walked over to the aquarium where this mascot was there to greet us...of course Madison wanted nothing to do with him (or her)...
溶けてる雪で遊んだ後、水族館へ...そこに居たラッコのぬいぐるみとクリスマスツリー、もちろんマディソンはやだやだって...
Then a package from Jim and Alyson arrived in the mail and since one of the gifts was Madison's Christmas Eve PJs she got to open it early...
そして、ジムとアリソンからの荷物が届いたので、マディソンにクリスマスパジャマを開けさせてあげる事に...
At night that Saturday we headed back towards Naples to watch the boat parade in the harbor...afraid of the traffic we stayed away from the canals and just watched the bigger boats from the shore...
土曜日の夜、この前行った豪華住宅の近所であるクリスマスボートパレードを見に行って来ました...混雑している所に行きたくなかったので少し離れている浜辺で大きなボートを見る事に...
Knowing we only had a few weekends to work with before flying back East we decided to visit the Grove and the Beverly Center, two malls in the Beverly Hills area after worship on Sunday...
ニューヨークに行くまであんまり週末が残っていなかったので日曜日のミサの後、ビバリーヒルズにあるグローブって言うお店が連なるモールに行く事にしました。
The Grove boasts a tree that is taller then Rockefeller Center's and Santa's Workshop with a four hour wait to see Santa (at least you get to pick a number and return)...
そこにあったのはロッカフェラーセンターにあるクリスマスツリーよりも大きなツリーと４時間待ちしてやっと会えるサンタ...
The Beverly Center had Santa in the Ice Palace with fake snow falling from the ceiling...Madison wasn't a big fan, so we had Mommy pose for us...
ビバリーセンターにあったナルニアの氷の城...マディソンは怖がって一緒に入ってくれなかったのでママだけ...
Later in the week we decided to decorate Sugar Cookies...Madison got pretty into the eating part...she started with just the sprinkles...
そして、毎年クリスマスに家族でする伝統の一つ、クッキーの飾り付けです...でも食べてるだけじゃん...まずはスプリンクル...
And then helped herself to an entire cookie...
そして、クッキー丸ごと... ペロペロ、モグモグ...
Then Yesterday, when Anna went off to a cookie swap party with our friend Grace, her husband Chris, Madison and I headed for downtown L.A. to see L.A. Live and its LED Christmas Tree...
そして昨日の夜、アンナがグレースと一緒にクッキーパーティーに行っている間に、僕はクリスとマディソンと３人でダウンタウンLAへLEDライトで出来たクリスマスツリーを見に行く事にしました...
There is even a little ice skating rink in the middle of the square...
小さいけどスケートリンクも発見...
And the Staples Center (home of the Lakers and Clippers) is across the street...
そしてその向かい側にはレイカーズとクリッパーズのアリーナ、ステープルズセンターが...
Lastly, tonight we let Madison open up one of her big gifts from Mr. and Mrs. Clause, mainly because we thought it might entertain her while Anna and I packed...
そして最後に、ニューヨークの出発の前にマディソンにクリスマスプレゼントの一つを開けさせてあげる事に... もちろん良い子に遊んでいる間に荷造りをすると言う計画...
Christmas is sure going to be fun this year as Madison is so much more into her gift opening...Christmas will also be very lengthy this year as Madison is extremely slow at opening her gifts and will probably driver her cousins crazy!!
今年のクリスマスはとっても楽しくなりそう！マディソンもプレゼントを開けるの楽しいみたい...でもゆ〜っくりビリビリ破くから時間がかかりそうだけどね！
It's a slide...
滑り台で〜す...
Unfortunately after a fall backwards and a fall forwards Madison would not go down without someone holding her hand, so our plans to keep her occupied were foiled, but she did seem to love the slide!!
残念ながら前後に何回か落っこちた後、誰かに手を握って貰っていないと滑らなくなったマディソン...僕達の計画は台無しだけど気に入ってくれたからいいや!!
So that is Xmas in SoCal...now onto NYC and CT for more Xmas excitement!!
これで報告はお終い...ニューヨークとコネチのクリスマスの報告をお楽しみに!!
Yes, this is how Japanese do stockings in Japan! Buying pre-packaged snack filled stocking bucket...:-)
Cute pair of boots for next year... since I gave my parents wrong shoe size for Madison:-P
Taking a quick nap on her gifts (not actually sleeping :-)...
Enjoying Mudgy and Millie book she got from our Idaho family:-)
And a pair of Crocs we found cheap through an Amazon Lightning Deal that Madison loves to try putting on herself...
Unwrapping her gift from Daddy...RODY!!!!
Rody fun!!!
And that concludes our Christmas'...We will fill you in on New Year's Day tomorrow as the work week starts and we go back to life as usual.
