Princess Eva reigns in Norcal

We traveled north in the middle of our winter California journey to visit Cat's family in Redwood City, Pleasanton and Santa Cruz, while catching up with a few old friends along the way.

Eva also indirectly helped to keep the Disney Store in the black this year after being coronated with an abundance of royal clothing and accessories, all of which she continues to be absolutely delighted by. Even now, days later, the common greeting "Hello, Eva!" can reliably prompt the matter-of-fact response "I not Eva, I princess." Us commoners can hopefully be forgiven for making such an error.

After a fabulous party with the entire K. family, we traveled northeast to visit the P-M house, then southwest to tour the Santa Cruz Boardwalk (or, what's open at the Boardwalk on a rainy evening in December) and to spend some time getting to know her Great-Grandpa BZ. We were then able to enjoy a little more quality hanging-out time with Grandma, Grandmama and Grandpapa before heading back south again.

Our little holiday elf, entertaining Grandmama and Grandpapa K.



Caught here admiring her royal ensemble, though the look does get a little complicated when one refuses to remove one's long-sleeved fairy shirt before putting on the dress.



All the ladies, including our littlest lady with a large piece of popcorn in her open mouth. Classy!



Casually trimming the tree, as a mermaid. Predictably, the "tail" did get in the way a bit.



As every modern princess knows, connectivity is key. Thankfully, her new phone seems to connect only to other princesses, which should hopefully cut down on calls from telemarketers.



Cuddles with Grandma K.



Enjoying the ducks, chickens and other assorted wild animals (Jon and Shayn included) with Aunt Sofia.



Always a lady, showing off her belly while out to dinner with the P-Ms.



Quality time with Grandpa P-M, unimpeded by a little pesky rain.

Christmas sunshine in La Mirada

We escaped what would have been a very white Christmas by flying out to LAX on the 24th, where Eva was treated the next morning with a visit from Santa Claus! (Poppy unfortunately missed the visit, as he'd left for an early morning run to the store. Such bad timing!) We then proceeded to have a wonderful day, including a delicious dinner with the Ouelettes and dessert with Rick, Mimi and AJ.

We returned later in our journey to celebrate New Year's before flying back to Boston, our trip punctuated by several trips in glorious weather to the local playground, one critical visit to In-n-Out, and lots of quality time spent together with Grammy, Poppy and Tio Loco.

Eva meets St. Nick.



Apparently taking her balmy surroundings as a cue, Eva insisted upon a swimsuit as proper Christmas morning attire (after demanding the red velvet dress in the first picture be removed).



Delighted by her first gift of jewelry - from Daddy, of course.




Climbing trees in the park with Daddy and Tio Tod (good thing there were responsible adults around!)


Hard at work sorting tanbark with Poppy at the playground.




Touring the La Mirada playground with her new BFF, Tiana the frog (sorry, Trudie!)



Delighted by her new swing buddy (and her long-time swing pusher)



A rare sighting of the legendary Dancing Toddler before a stunning California sunset.