I enjoyed a really wonderful Christmas and New Year holiday week, with my family on the West Coast recently…and while it’s back to work and back to reality, I can’t help but continue to bask and smile at how awesome it all turned out! I mean the term “holidays” often conjure up visions of stress, fatigue and even panic – especially as parents, along with all the warm, fuzzy notions of the magic of the season.

Well, this time around we decided to pack it up and fly west for a week to be with my side of the family and friends. We purchased air tickets at a premium (holiday) price, which already had me feeling like is this really worth it, then when it came time to depart, we faced multiple flight delays and a standby fate at our original airport and the one we rerouted to…so when we eventually made it to our desired destination, a full 24 hours later had passed! Talk about a Mommy’s travel nightmare. I kept thinking I was going to run out of milk, diapers and food for my toddlers…not to mention my toddlers had to endure LONG wait times in the gate area of just hanging around while the clocked tick and we waited for our names to be called.

To their credit, my boys did exceptionally well, I think I was more of the wreck, worrying if we’d make it to the family Christmas Eve gathering, disappointed with the lack of info and options on how to get where we needed to be, frustrated at the delays (and layovers) I had hoped to avoid, etc… Luckily when we finally got to where we were going, it was nothing short of an amazing family vacation.

So, here are my top 5 most memorable moments from the 2014 holidays:

Jake and the Never Land Pirates Ship

We stayed with my baby sister Alison during the trip and she pulled out all the stops for my boys to make them feel right at home, starting with a pop up play tent, themed after Jake and the Never Land Pirates! I couldn’t get over how cool this thing was…where were these when I was a kid? My photo probably doesn’t do it justice either…there was even a basketball hoop on the mast!

San Francisco – Pier 39

The day after Christmas we took a trip into the city and did the “tourist” thing at Pier 39. It was a beautiful day, with crystal clear skies and not “cold” at all by San Francisco standards… We attempted a picturesque family photo by the Bay, my two sisters came to hang out….

I mean they have a playground right there too, next to a marina with a view of the SF Bay – it doesn’t get any better, and my boys also got their ice cream fix with Aunties.

Golden State Warriors Game

We had a family outing to a Golden State Warriors game. Basketball is big in our family, we grew up on it, we play it, we love going to games… Right now the Warriors are a top team in the NBA and we got all of us together to go to a game. My family, each of my siblings and their significant other’s and my Mom! These gatherings are rare and it was SO much fun for the boys.

Raef had a huge container of popcorn and loved every minute of eating it…ALL!

New Year’s Eve Slumber Party Shin Dig

For NYE, we got together with some of my closest and oldest (meaning since elementary school) friends to ring in the new year. It was good times with all the families together in one house, the kids running around and taking care of each other, while the adults socialized and enjoyed ourselves too.

Playdates

However, the most memorable moment of the holiday vacay – and technically it’s moments, were the several play dates and visits we had with close friends. It’s so fun and really heartwarming to meet the children of the people I have been friends with since childhood and college….the pre-Mom days. And — to see our children all interact together is THE BEST!!