I’ll let the photos tell the story.

This year Santa was especially good to us. And now we are in San Francisco, which makes the holiday feel even longer. But I will be sad when we head home and I have to pack away the ornaments on our dead Christmas tree.

There’s nothing like watching the magic of Christmas through the eyes of your child. Only too soon he’ll be a teen we have to wake up at noon to begrudgingly come down to open his presents. I can wait. Really I can.

photo by stock.xchng user Ewucha. Royalty free.

We fill the box with holiday treats and cultural tidbits from our respective countries. She sends almond-flavored candy; I send marshmallows (which she loves, by the way; apparently they don’t make them in Spain).

Every year, we both thrill to see what’s in store. I won’t give away what I sent her this year, as she likely is reading this post (Hi!). I love shopping, trying to see the Christmas-packed stores from the perspective of someone from another country. Is reindeer-poop candy funny if you’re not American?

Through this tradition, we’ve learned about one another’s cultures. Last year, we were lucky enough to go to Spain and hang out with our dear friend. In Spain, Christmas isn’t as big a deal as El Dia de los Tres Reyes. I still think back to the amazing parade we attended as well as the arrival of the three wise men by boat.

Having a pen pal as an adult is rare. Fortunately, email and Facebook make it easier.  I love that Max sees our tradition and looks forward to her box with me!

I’m excited that we’ll be at home for Christmas (last year we were in Paris), so that we can enjoy the decorations and treats here. The tree is up and everything’s decorated.

Today I did the bulk of the holiday shopping for friends and family. Thought I got some pretty good deals.’til I realized I forgot Max’s toys! Big Fail.

I hope to wrap up my holiday cards this weekend. I’ll feel pretty much done if I can order what I forgot and wrap everything this weekend!

Photo: Flickr user paparutzi. Creative Commons 2.0.

To me, the holidays are about wearing hats, scarves and gloves. Stamping the occasional snow out from your shoes. Picking out a Christmas tree from a place where Christmas trees could feasibly grow (I still don’t know where they come from here!). Putting up snowmen decorations because you’ve actually built a snowman.

Here, everyone decorates with reindeer and snowflakes, but kids have no idea what they mean! I’m glad Max has seen snow (though he was terribly unimpressed by it).

I don’t know why I complain. I hate the cold. That’s why I’m here. But growing up in Arkansas, I attached certain weather with the holidays, and I guess I’ve never gotten over that!

Growing up, my mom worked at a hospital, which meant she was either off Thanksgiving or Christmas. Not both. So one or the other, we put off the meal by a few days until she was off. It wasn’t a major holiday for us, as we lived several hours away from our family.

To this day, Thanksgiving is my least favorite holiday. Don’t tell my mother-in-law. She lives for making a feast for 100 of her closest relatives. The food’s amazing, but I don’t think I have it in me to carry on the tradition.

When we haven’t visited family, we’ve gone the non-traditional route. Like last year, when we spent the holiday in San Francisco. I gladly traded in turkey and dressing for sushi and cream puffs. We are, you could say, not your traditional family. In more ways than one.

As I get older, I cling to traditions that I once eschewed (look that one up). But I’ve tried to imagine cooking a turkey for grown up Max, and I just can’t see it. But I’ll certainly take him out for sushi to celebrate!

Photo: Flickr user quinn.anya. Creative Commons 2.0.

Last weekend was Birthday Weekend. Because The Hub’s birthday is a day before mine, we usually combine them and celebrate. For days. We opted out of going out and leaving Max with a babysitter (he’s got issues there these days) and instead ate and drank ourselves into comas. Twice.

The celebration continues all week long for me. I’m a fan of the prolonged birthday celebration. Went shopping with one friend Monday and took off work completely (something I’m still recovering from, work-wise). Then yesterday I got to hang out with another friend who was taking a mental health day. And this Sunday, I’m having brunch with all my girlfriends. Yay me.

We went to Max’s school carnival. And we’re doing soccer every week. There just doesn’t seem to be any time to do the fun things like the Boo Parade or Halloween at SeaWorld. Where does the time go?

I know the rest of the year will be the same flurry of activity. I’m looking forward to it, and not, at the same time.

PS After talking about it for years, I am dressing up as Wonder Woman at my Halloween party. GO me. No, no pics will be posted!!

Photo: Flickr user somebox. Creative Commons 2.0.

I know everything, so I was shocked when I started seeking my mom’s advice about raising Max. But she’s raised three kids, so she’s a bit more of an expert in that area than me. Whenever I call with something that’s going wrong with him, she reminds me that he’s just a kid, and that he’s been through a lot of changes in the last few years, and that he’ll be fine. I so need to hear that.

After my dad died, she was at a loss as to what to do with herself. When you’ve shared the greater part of your life with someone, who are you afterward? But she’s shown fierce independence at carving out a new life, filling it with volunteering, friends, music and food. I love learning from her that it’s okay to morph into a new kind of butterfly.

Something else I’ve learned from my mom is how rewarding giving can be. She gives and gives (’til there’s nothing left), and she’s known for always helping people. I’m not quite there yet, but I’m finding ways to give.

We’ve really gotten closer over the years, and I cherish our relationship as mother and daughter. I love you Mom! Happy Mother’s Day and birthday!

But now I really like it, because we can travel when others don’t, and we don’t have to travel when everyone does in the summer (and it’s too hot). That’s how we were able to go to Paris for a month.

Max is wrapping up his Spring Break now. We’ve done so many things this year:

• Aquarium
• Disneyland
• Play with friends
• Museum of Man
• Homework
• Crafts

In fact, I feel like we haven’t had enough time!

Anyway, that’s the scoop on year ’round school. I really love the school he goes to, The Language Academy. But that’s another post.

They’ve got a special where you pay for a day and stay all year. And I am all about getting cheap season passes here, so bonus!

One thing I’m adamant about, having lived in now Orlando and San Diego theme park-ridden towns is this: never, ever, ever go to the theme park in the summer. Right now, February is the perfect time to go. It’s warm enough and the parks are dead. Dead. No lines. No whiny kids (besides your own). It’s a totally different experience from waiting 2 hours to ride Pirates of the Caribbean.

This Seaworld seemed to have fewer rides than the one in Orlando. Max was a little big for the Bay of Play, but he loved riding up the Skytower and seeing all of the bay and San Diego (so did I).

The animals here are amazing. I’m always reading in the paper how Seaworld rescued a local sea lion. We saw dolphins playing with their toys, sea lions and the cutest otter ever performing for applause, moray eels (they’re weird) and my favorite: rays. They’re so affectionate.

Now that we have passes, we can go back any time. I always try to limit us to 2 hours so that we have just a taste but not enough for a meltdown (though Max did crash at 4 pm when we got home).

Enjoy the pics.