Sea World

December 27, 2025

Saturday we all went to Sea World. With twenty four of us wandering around the park I was surprised at how well we managed to stay together for most of the day.

It was very crowded however and some of the rides were closed. As usual, mom was able to get us all some very cheap tickets.

One of my favorite shows at Sea World is the dolphin show. Unfortunately it is being renovated right now so the show was held at another pool that has no seating. The pool is also much smaller so the show was mostly dolphins jumping and I couldn’t see much anyway. It will be nice once they have the main pool renovated though. I can’t wait to see what it is going to be like.

It wasn’t exactly a warm day so I didn’t want to get wet but I had to go on the Atlantis ride. If a big guy like me sits in the front of these cars you push the nose of the car down and a wave of water washes over you. That is great on a hot summer day but on a day in December I sat in the back with Z. I only got a little bit wet. I could tell that Z was a little disappointed sitting in the back but she was quite glad when she saw how wet she got even sitting in the back.

Mom is a magnet for little kids. They follow her everywhere and they fight over who gets to hold her hand or sit on her lap. It was no different today. Everyone loves Grandma.

At the end of a long day there was still time for cuddling.

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Killer whales and dolphins often team up to hunt. Killer whales are normally very vocal but they go silent and allow the dolphins to use echo location to find the prey and then the whales go in for the kill. Prey that dolphins can't take down by themselves.

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Boxing Day

December 26, 2026

Boxing day was when everyone else who was coming arrived. Justin and his kids got here around 1:00. Kira drove Landon back to his home and then hit some traffic so she got here about an hour after Justin.

Ben and his gang got here around 3:00 and then Alycia finally pulled in around 5:00. They were delayed quite a bit by traffic. The road between Vegas and LA can be crazy.

Since we had plenty of time to get dinner ready, we sat down and ate pretty much as soon as Alycia got here.

Friday was a rather eventful day however. I guess Adelaide was down for a nap but at some point she climbed out of her crib and got into Princess Lisa’s makeup. They found her asleep in the corner of the room with makeup all over the walls and the carpet around her. 

She was laying in the middle of tubes and bottles of make up. Alex and Lisa did what they could at the time but after everyone was gone Lisa and I spent a good hour or more trying to get it all clean. I think we did an OK job.

While dinner was cooking we took another trip back up to Black Mountain park and fired some more rockets with Ben and Kira’s kids. 

Ben got this amazing shot of Freddie and me shooting a rocket off. Freddies expression is one of pure joy.

After the kids were all in bed, the adults sat down and played the game Alex had prepared for us. I don’t even know how to explain it. Basically, you had to spin a dial and you were assigned various challenges and restrictions. For example, some of the restrictions were that if you spoke, you had to speak in a sing song voice. Every once in a while, a timer went off and you had to go look at yourself in a mirror. It was fun, but I am not very good at that kind of thing so I was definitely the loser.

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J K Rowlings origional title for "Goblet of Fire" was "Doomspell"

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Christmas Day

December 25, 2025

Christmas morning I woke up and found a reindeer in my front room.

We called the kids down and the fun began. With just the six of us, the morning went fast and smoothly. Mom cooked her traditional monkey bread and we ate and enjoyed each others company. As always, we started with the Jesus box and then the gifts.

Lets see if I can remember all my gifts. If I forgot someone I am sorry and please let me know.

Nuts – Kelly, Mom works with Kelly and I just replace her brake shoes for free so she was feeling extra grateful.

Picture of Lisa – Lisa

Tie down straps – Jeff & Tiffany

Slippers – Lisa

Come Follow Me – Brandon & Ally

Fire Blanket – Brandon & Ally

Candle – Brandon & Ally

Grill Temperature Probe – Lisa

Jesus Painting Book – Lisa

Jump Starter – Lisa

Klingon Bird of Prey – Alex

Home made salsa – Ben

Princess Lisa cooked up some amazing ribs for dinner and we had the missionaries over. It was an amzing dinner. While dinner was cooking we ran up to Black Mountain Park and shot off the rocket a few times.

It was supposed to rain all week long but as it turned out the weather was amazing. The kids were in and out of the back yard all week long and the door to the backyard was never shut.

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The apples from the trees that Johnny Appleseed planted were not very edible. They were used to make apple cider. Apple cider was slightly alchoholic, stored well, and was safer to drink than the water of the day.

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Christmas Eve

December 24, 2025

Christmas Eve was much like the first part of the week. That is up until the Pig Out Paloosa began. We all put in our orders and as it turned out, two of the places closed at 3:00 and three of them were open until 5:00. We adjusted the orders so that one trip would catch the 3:00 fast food places and those were orders that would be ok to reheat or that would stay good until 5:00 we would then make a second trip to pick up the food from the 5:00 fast food places.

At around 2:30 Alex and I headed out to Chic-Fil-A and Cotijas but when we got home both of the Lisa’s were hungry and they decided they couldn’t wait until 5:00 so they started eating right away. Alex and I looked at each other and wondered what we were waiting for so we headed out again to get our food. We went to Panda Express, In N Out and a Mexican restaurant calle Mi Ranchitas. It was good but we should have done everything in one run so we could eat together.

After dinner it was time for the annual talent show. It was a bit of a bust since no one was actually prepared. Alex claimed that the game he had planned for tomorrow when everyone was here would count as his talent (it was a fun game) and Queen Lisa claimed that her baking would have to be her talent and Princess Lisa bowed out so the only e real talents performed turned out to be me and James. James showed us all how to fight

and I demonstrated my newly acquired CAD skills.

It was then time to open the Christmas Eve pajamas and then we sent the little ones to bed. The four adults then watched a new movie that recently came out. It was called “Eternity”. It was weird but it was good. I guess it could be called a romantic comedy.

It is always so peaceful on Christmas Eve after everyone else has gone to bed.

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Frost flowers form under very specific conditions and rarely last for more than a few hours

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Tuesday before Christmas

December 23, 2025

Tuesday mom and Lisa continued to cook and get ready for the crowds to arrive and Alex and I helped where we could. That evening Alex, James and I headed out to watch the new Avatar movie. Avatar, Fire & Ash. It was a good movie. James was entranced by the whole movie but by the end of the three hours he was starting to get a bit antsy.

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E-bikes are cutting demand for oil by a million barrels per day — four times as much as all the world’s electric cars, but, inuries have risen ten fold.

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Monday Before Christmas

December 22, 2025

Monday was a relaxed day. This week California was predicted to be the wettest place on earth. So far we had lucked out and had decent weather.

There was this little elf who kept showing up at Alex’s house and somehow he managed to start showing up at my house. One day he even went for a ride on the Star Ship Enterprise.

The Elf wasn’t the only one who was somewhat fascinated by the Enterprise.

I think every one of our grandkids want to make lemonaide as soon as they arrive at our house. It has become a rather fun tradition.

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A recent review of 45 studies that included almost 10 million people suggests that diets high in ultra-processed foods are linked to more than 30 health conditions including depression, type 2 diabetes, cancer, and other health conditions.

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Sunday before Christmas

December 21, 2025

Sunday morning we all headed to church and then we were invited to the Odenwalders for dinner and to make gingerbread houses using graham wafers. It was a rather ingenious idea.

James and I made a pretty good house if I say so myself. James ate all the peanut butter shingles on the roof and left me with the candy corn shingles.

It is always good to see Mandy and her family. Alex and I went and picked Princess Lisa up from the airport around 8:30 in the evening.

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Many large companies such as Amazon and JPMorgan are requiring their employees to be in the office five days a week. This really annoyed many of the younger employees who started their careers working from home. However, they are starting to change their tune as they are watching their "in office" colleges get the lions share of raises and advancements.

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