Having just arrived, Megan and Jack took their shoes off and had an exuberant time running around the nearly empty infield.  Note how beautifully green the grass was.  No Photoshop saturation trickery here; it was all natural.

Below, Uncle Josh gets bowled over by Megan, McKenna and Jack.  Note Liz in the background saving Josh’s beer at the last second.

A posed shot and overexposed, but it was about the only time the three stood still together long enough to take a pic.

Love this shot of Megan running, chasing Jack.

Pure happiness …

Josh lifting the whole group.

Another favorite shot … towards the end of the day, and most of our energy was spent.

McKenna had a blast too.

Didn’t know whether I’d actually get a shot of the horses in motion.  Like this, but don’t love it.  Wish I could have been closer (heard Canon just announced they’re working on a 200-400 F4L IS … that would definitely help).

Really love the shot below.  Think this might be wall-worthy.

Finally, opening presents.  Well, present (singular), actually.  Now we just have to load it up with fun stuff!

Two dollars an hour seems a little steep, and have I just been asleep for the last decade?  Do all parking meters take credit cards now?  (FWIW – I wish the note on the left-hand meter was legible in the photo.  We saw the couple that left it.  It is something along the lines of “Dear Officer, We don’t have any change and the meter did not accept any of our credit cards.”  Good luck with that.)

No charge for uncorking your own bottle.

Gail and Josh.

Protecting the fruit plate.

Ahhhh … V is for victory.

Nana and Jack.

McKenna slept through the birthday presents.

Looking out over the ocean.

Laguna Beach, a place where kids can run around.  Literally.

More running.  (Was that the box with the GPS?  I thought it was cool.  )

Opening birthday presents was capped off with a few more late Christmas presents.

The end.

Nana and Poppy taught Megan about snowball fights and making snowmen.  (Unfortunately, I didn’t capture a shot of Dora the snow-lady before she melted away.)

Snow play with Nana was lots of fun.  Notice the snowball in the right hand – she’s aiming at Daddy who is holding the camera.

Having fun:

Look at that beautiful blue sky.

Annual deck shots.  Below, Megan looking like a superstar.

The Clatfelter girls, Megan and McKenna.

The whole family, ready for a new year.

Nana and Poppy posing with the grand-daughters.

And finally, ending our days with fabulous sunsets.

Ladera Ranch had a pretty good looking Mr. and Mrs. Claus this year.

Of course, if you’ve never met them before, they’re a pretty scarey pair.  Let’s face it, if you didn’t know who they were and you ran into them, say in front of a Taco Bell, you’d give them a pretty wide birth.  Notice how Megan is pretty much trying to bury herself into her mother.  That’s what I’m talking about.

Can’t open presents until we finish breakfast.  On her plate, coffee cake, eggs and potatoes.  The coffee cake was the main staple, she gave the eggs and potatoes just enough token attention to move onto the next round of activities.

Enjoying coffee cake …

The rainbow colored stamp pad was cool, but definitely wasn’t the hit of the morning.

Nor was the deluxe two-person red wagon, with canopy, in the big box on the right of the picture.

Mom got a blanket …

There was also food for Megan’s refrigerator.

Gotta love Melissa and Doug …

The present of the day, though, was Dora’s house, with a full set of accessories.  (Thanks Stacey & Mike!)

Although there were a few bumps in the road, a wonderful time was had by all!