Really, its not bad! We could see out the back, did not require the car top carrier, and we had a play kitchen in there! The drive went ok, I think it helped that Annabelle was provided the privilege of facing forward in her carseat for the first time! There was traffic on the way, rain on the way home. The kids didn't sleep well on the return trip, but we got home early enough that we were all able to get three hours of sleep in our own beds before the kids decided we were all awake for the day.
Enough about the drive, what about the big day? Of course, that starts the night before...
We managed to get a decent family picture before Christmas Eve church this year. So fun to be able to shop for pretty Christmas dresses for my sweet girl. Maybe one day Sam will agree to wear a pair of dress shoes...
The kids had a bit of a hard time sitting through the service, but they loved the candles at the end. Annabelle kept looking at hers, wondering why hers wasn't working. After they were extinguished, she kept dipping it into other candles trying to get it to work. So cute!
They did, however, really well waiting for a late dinner after church, which all 8 of us were able to enjoy together! Of course there were things to keep busy with while we waited. We had to spread our reindeer food on the front lawn...
This year Sam and I did some real baking for Santa's drivers - what you see there is Oats, red food coloring and sprinkles toasted to a nice crisp in the oven. It actually smelled pretty good! I guess its basically a boxed cereal at this point.
We laid out cookies for Santa and some carrots for Rudolph. We all dawned our Christmas PJs and read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas and the real Christmas story for Luke. True Story: combine a boy that TOTALLY believes in Santa and wants him desperately to come with one who can't yet tell time and you have the quickest to bed ever!
And then it was Christmas morning! We opened stockings from Santa on Mommy and Daddy's bed before heading to the tree to open the mound of gifts with the whole gang. In contrast to years past, Sam ripped through his stack in record time, or at least it would have been if we hadn't encouraged him to play with his things a bit. Annabelle was a bit more patient (shocking) and spent time with each of her things. We did stop for breakfast, but it was noon before we finished the unwrapping! And then we did presents from my siblings and stockings from my parents via facetime later that day. Ridiculous! Fun!
The kids spent hours and hours playing with their new stuff for the rest of the trip. They truly enjoyed everything they received, and I think they both seem more grown up now at home as I watch them play with their new things.
Now to find a home for all those new things - Cue the annual January Toy Organization Project!
No comments:
Post a Comment