2015 Birthday CD

I thought I was done making birthday CDs for my sister after I was very low on ideas for last year's. But once again, my husband saved the day by making another surprise playlist for me--6 of his tracks made the cut this year--and I stumbled across other things via Armstrong & Getty, movies I saw, and by occasionally looking around iTunes.  Music makes me so happy; I need to make more time for it.

1) Peg: Steely Dan--with Michael McDonald on background vocals?!  Yes, please.
2) Delirious: Prince
3) Looking for Love: Johnny Lee--I'd only ever heard a parody of this song, from Eddie Murphy on the SNL skit "Buh-Weet Sings," which is hilarious; turns out the original song is really great too 
4) Tin Man: America--my sister is going to freak out over this one if she doesn't know it already
5) Lonely Boy: The Black Keys
6) Rich Girls: The Virgins
7) Signs: Snoop Dog & Justin Timberlake
8) Lay Down Sally: Eric Clapton--especially good after you see crazy, sad Meryl Streep dancing around to it in August: Osage County
9) Biggest Part of Me: Ambrosia--sappy love song goodness
10) Wrecking Ball: Miley Cyrus
11) Shake It Off: Taylor Swift
12) Fever: The Black Keys
13) Hey Nineteen: Steely Dan
14) I'd Really Love To See You Tonight: England Dan & John Ford Coley
15) Girl From Ipanema: Frank Sinatra--I love this one so much.  That samba beat is hypnotizing
16) Can't Get You Out of My Head: Kylie Minogue
17) Hurricane Jane: The Black Kids
18) A Little Party Never Killed Nobody: Fergie
19) These Days: Nico--it's hard to dislike any song associated with The Royal Tennenbaums
20) Riptide: Vance Joy
21) Philomena: Alexandre Desplat

Just what do you think you're doing, Dave?

So the new Amazon Echo has "an array of seven microphones" and is "always on" ready for you to ask it almost anything.  Uh, has anyone seen 2001: A Space Odyssey? Or perhaps read Ray Bradbury's short story The Veldt? (It's only 10 pages long.  Read it, READ IT!).

I like the diagram below put out by The Register in the U.K that has Amazon's suggestions of things you can ask Echo, then their own version at the bottom.

Christmas 2014

We decided to shake things up and take a family vacation to San Diego for Christmas this year from December 23-28.  The Sunday morning before we left, we had a nice Christmas morning-type breakfast and opened gifts from grandparents.  Stocking stuffers and one item from Santa were opened upon our return.  The trip was the main gift for everyone, so that made holiday prep pretty easy.

We spent 2.5 days at Legoland to start things off.  Christmas day was more crowded than Christmas Eve day, and there were lots of Asian and Indian families there who I realized probably don't celebrate Christmas.  We never waited long for any rides though.

Sister liked the Duplo play land and its train:

She was a little creeped out by the snowman in the special snow play area: 

but more comfortable sitting amongst the Lego Friends girls:

Don't let the picture on this tame kiddie ride fool you--2nd Brother rode all the rollercoasters several times with no fear (1st Brother agreed to try one the last day but it didn't open in time).

The boys at the Lego model of their birth place--see the Embarcadero fountain in the bottom right that had to be shut down for awhile because homeless people were pooping in it?:

Were you aware that Lego Simpsons exist?!  I just had to buy a mystery mini figure bag and got Chief Wiggum:

We decided to do the full experience and stay at the Legoland Hotel, which really added to the fun and was all about families with kids.  We swam in the pool Christmas Eve, had a delicious breakfast buffet every morning, enjoyed the disco music in the elevator, the electronic whoopee cushion, the themed room with cool Lego models and separate kids area, early entrance to the park, etc.

The lobby had several pits of Legos to build with and this cool castle to play in:

Our family elf, Midgie, did manage to find us and leave pajamas on Christmas Eve (or in 2nd Brother's case, a robe since he often sleeps only in undies).  We watched the David Archuleta/Piano Guys nativity video that night too so we didn't forget the real reason for Christmas.  Short and sweet and very well done.

Part two of our trip included a reunion with my best friend from college who I hadn't seen in about 6 years.  We visited her family at their house and had a great time.  (Of course, I have no evidence of this because I'm lame about taking pictures.  Should have done that in hind sight).

The next day, it was on to a couple of Mormon sights.  The San Diego temple was jaw-dropping:

And the Mormon Battalion historic site in Old Town was fantastic!  It was inspiring, informative, and the kids got to pan for gold and pump water at the end:

The rest of Old Town was of most interest to me--lots of history, old houses, and Mexican souvenirs and food.  Yes, please.  I humored 1st Brother and went through the Sheriff's Museum where we got to take mug shots:  

I was beyond thrilled to find this Day of the Dead diorama there, and I love the colorful angel ornament:

While she didn't get car sick on the drive down, Sister threw up twice on the way back, even though we gave her medicine beforehand both ways.  We got home and realized we didn't have her most favorite Pink Bear (nooooo!), but the awesome Old Town Inn found her between the sheets of a bed and mailed her back.  

Overall, I didn't miss doing an at-home Christmas, especially since most of our family members were elsewhere this year and it gave us an excuse not to accumulate (much) more stuff.  1st Brother said he likes both types of Christmases, so I think we'll be revisiting the family vacation idea in the future.