Christmas Morning

Christmas morning the Lopezjoneses made their way back home to San Francisco to see what Santa left under the tree and in their stockings.

It's always a nice tradition of just the 4 Lopezjoneses sitting together enjoying each other's company...

And their gifts.

Leter that evening the their Christmas dinner guests arrived. Inlcuding Kamui, Kaana's friend form Japan.

Happy Christmas!

Christmas Eve (ie. Mexican Christmas)

On Christmas Eve there was plenty of free time because the tamales were made the day before. So the Lopezjoneses and Marky went bowling. DaddyQuique, PapaJason and Navi bowled strikes when a random red pinned appeared and won free games!

After some fun bowling the younger ones got to choose a game to play in the arcade before heading back home.

 Christmas was yet again hosted by Jessica's mom Dalila at her home.

Everyone was there! It was a very crowded room at times.

 Meanwhile outside, DaddyQuique hosted a game of Loteria Mexicana.

The next morning the twins and Marky awoke to many presents.

Salinas For The Holidays

The Lopezjoneses' holidays began with a weekend trip to Salinas. Where upon arriving Navi went straight to the garden and up a tree.

Marky was very excited to see his cousins and have them there for the next few days.

The next morning DaddyQuique and PapaJason too the twins and Marky on a hike in Toro Park. A childhood park of DaddyQuique growing up in Salinas.

It was a really beautiful day and the kids were excited to be out running and climbing. It really brought back great memories to DaddyQuique and he was happy to share this hike with them.

This time around they hiked farther than DaddyQuique ever did as a kid and that led them to some pretty good vistas.

They also spotted plenty of wildlife. Ada and Marky would go off chasing California Ground Squirrels.

At one point Ada convinced PapaJason to chase down some cows.

Annual Downtown Christmas Walk

With school out and just a couple days before heading to Salinas for the holidays, the twins and DaddyQuique went on their annual holiday walk downtown to see the decorations. First stop was the Hyatt at Embarcaderos, the decorations were very minimal this year, but still a fun start to the walk.

DaddyQuique always loves to stop for this picture. The beauty of the tile work with the juxtaposition of the fern is always a dazzler.

The main attraction was the picture with these giant ornaments. Ada and Navi have taken this same pictures for the past... maybe 5 years.

Up California street to check out 555 California's giant tree, real tree. But first a little play in the hedges.

After the walk, Navi came up with the brilliant idea to get lunch at The Bird, fried chicken sandwiches - YUM!!!!

Gingerbread Houses

The Adriani kids came down to the bay area for a special weekend. Of course to burn off some energy they all went down to the playground.

Where they found Linda on her way to do some holiday shopping.

For lunch the twins treated Elio and Ave to a special sushi meal, SUSHI BOAT! The Adriani kids loved it, especially since they can see the food and choose whatever they like.

Later they all headed to Corte Madera for gingerbread houses.

GrandmaAnnie and AuntyKendra hosted again. This year it was a challenge since three of the kids are on candy diets (they are not eating candy for a year). So they had to get creative with rice treats and cookies.

Then afterwards they all went outside to play in Nonna's garden, which is overgrown with poison oak. Joy for the parents!

Christmas Tree

The Lopezjoneses finally got a tree up. Thanks to Nonna who donated her tree. The twins were great at decorating and this year needed very little direction.

DaddyQuique set up the ornaments and they did all the work.

The 2018 Lopezjones Family tree.

Grandparent's Day & Winter Concert

Thursday was a special day at La Scuola. The students had Grandparents & Friends day.

Each student can invite a grandparent or a special friend for the morning part of school. Abue and Nonna always look forward to this day because they get to see their grand-kids in a school environment.

Later that evening the twins headed downtown for their winter concert. Navi refused to wear pants again and to be fair he does not own a pair - as of publishing.

The concert was really nice. It was much longer this year as there are two kindergarten classes, but beautiful nonetheless.

Here's a sample of one of their songs. Ada playes the mandolin and Navi the bass guitar.

Busy Sunday

Sunday morning DaddyQuique took the twins out for a walk. Finally they have learned that going down for a walk on Valencia Street can mean a treat.

In this case hot chocolate, European style, that is so thick it's like drinking a melted chocolate bar.

That afternoon they headed to Corte Madear to have lunch with Nonna and Grandpa. The twins kept busy with some of grandpa's mobility devices.

Grandpa is always happy to host people for a meal in the comfort of his home.

Later in the evening the twins went to Noe Valley for their classroom Holiday Party. Lucky for them the host had a great yard for the kids to play in.

Saturday Outing

Saturday morning the Lopezjoneses set out for an urban hike. They hopped on the J-Church and at the Ferry Building started their walk.

They walked all along the Embarcaderos to the ball park.

Navi did make a stop at the ATM to take out some cash.

Their destination was the bowling alley. They were there 5 minutes early and had to wait a bit, but a random robot patrolling the block made the wait worth it. Everyone had fun bowling, this time there were no side bumpers. Ada hit the pins twice, only twice, so she needs a little more practice.

After bowling they walked to the Design District for lunch. DaddyQuique wanted to try a giant Xiao Long Bao (soup dumping) at a new restaurant. It was delicious and it came with it's own straw to slurp up the soup.

After lunch they walked all they way back home, but did make a stop for some ice cream.

Dinner Guests

Nonna and Grandpa came over for dinner with the Lopezjoneses one night. The kids were thrilled to show her what game they have come up with. It was a little bit like bowling.

The twins are off to a late start with their Holiday decorations, but did manage to get the outside decorated with lights.

Rainy Day Weekend

The weather in San Francisco has gotten cold and some well needed rain has come. Unfortunately the rain has come on the weekend and no one was really up for rainy activities. So the Lopezjoneses stayed indoors.

And played games.

During one break in the rain the twins did manage to make it to the movie theatre to watch the second "Fantastic Beast" movie. Ada and Navi found the film a little boring and DaddyQuique did not think it was that great.