Girls In Black Dresses With Red Satin Sashes!

We have had a busy few days here! On Saturday, we went up to Santa Barbara.



First up on the agenda, we headed to a friend's Christmas party in Montecito. The party was pretty awesome, and needless to say, Paprika said it was, and I quote, "The best night of her life so far."

She got to go sledding in 70 degree weather...



make a snowman...



decorate gingerbread cookies...



and strike up a long chat with Mr. and Ms. Claus...



She also danced the night away on the dance floor to an awesome swing band, got to see a puppet show, eat amazing food, and stayed up wayyyy past her bedtime. Ginger, on the other hand, stayed home because we thought she was just a little too little to fully enjoy the party (and well, we wanted to enjoy ourselves and not chase after her all night- ha!)

Paprika had the best time and is still talking about the party and the little girl she met there. So cute!

The next day, we had plans to take Paprika to see The Nutcracker Ballet put on by the Santa Barbara Ballet Company. Mr. Mustard stayed home with Ginger while Mr. Mustard's mom, Pat, and I took Paprika to the show.



We were sure she would love it. She has always loved going to the theater since she was 2 years old (the first time we took her to the ballet). She has always been mesmerized by the stage, and sat still for 3 hours of Mary Poppins at the Ahmanson when she was three years old, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat when she was four...not to mention when she saw Annie and The Wiz, and a bunch of others I'm forgetting now.



Well...Paprika was having an off-day, I guess, because she did not want to stay at the show. She wanted to go home as soon as we got there, and made it through intermission...but then we decided enough was enough. It was time to leave.

I was sad for Pat mostly (okay, and myself!) because we were so excited to take Paprika, but honestly, I think she was just spent from the night before (when we were at the party).

But, I know that The Nutcracker isn't going anywhere, and we can go again next year (and hopefully we can all go soon enough when Ginger is a little bigger!)



We got home and had an early Christmas dinner (since we won't get to see eachother on Saturday). We opened presents and everyone had a great time.



It rained buckets all weekend, so Ginger was stuck inside. She was going stir crazy not being able to get out. She was having such a fit because all she wanted to do was eat her bagel on the floor. And I swear, I was so tired, I didn't even care. I was like, "Go on. Eat that bagel on the floor." And what do you know, all of a sudden she was the happiest girl on Earth.



That night we decided to stay up in Santa Barbara because the weather was too bad to drive, so Mr. Mustard and I snuck out on a date to a movie of his choosing while Pat babysat! We saw Tron, which was ummmm...okay, but would not have been my choice. But it was just cool to get out, and seeing a 3D movie is always fun no matter what. I am easily amused like that. Ha!

So, that was our weekend. And now we're back in LA, and you know what...it still hasn't stopped raining!