It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like ...

Christmas! Wow, the holiday feels like it was a year ago (ha!). We headed north on Christmas Eve eve. Fiona was a car champion. Put hours of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on, hand her some food occasionally, and she’s good to go. Quinn is less enthralled with shows (although she did watch a little). She took a nap, did some coloring, read a couple books, watched some scenery, did some crying … the usual 1-year-old-in-a-car-for-four-hours routine.

We arrived in a flurry of gear and settled in for some lunch. After we stretched and played for a while, naps were in order. Then … the magic began. Grandma had sugar cookies ready and each girl was given her own bowl of icing and a knife. Fiona even got a bottle (or two) of sprinkles. So much fun! Quinn focused the entire time on a single cookie and then decided to eat her creation. Fiona did a fairly good job of not licking everything and her cookies were put in the public consumption area. They were works of sugary art!

Christmas Eve itself started off very relaxing. Fiona went on a brunch date with Auntie in the morning. Q basked in the attention of all the rest of the adults. We decorated Grammy’s tree. During nap, I schooled. SCHOOLED, I say. the rest of the family (minus mom) in Yahtzee. Between Dad, Mike, and me, we had SEVEN yahtzees! And I had FOUR OF THEM! I’m sorry. This is a once-in-a-lifetime Yahtzee game that must be bragged up. FOUR YAHTZEES in one game. For a total score of 641. Holla! My sister landed in fourth place with a score that will often win the game (somewhere around 250) and my dad – who started the game with two yahtzees – was behind me by over 200 points. One more Holla! for the red head!

We celebrated with my extended family on Christmas Eve evening, opened presents in the morning at Grammy and Grampy’s, and then spent Christmas day at Mike’s sisters with her family and his parents. All were good times, the girls enjoyed themselves very much (and behaved!), and they were not too overwhelmed by the amount of gifts. Fiona even somehow sweet-talked Auntie Tracey into a chocolate-covered marshmallow pop. Thanks for the sugar high, Auntie!

The downside of the travel was that Quinn didn’t sleep very well, and thus, neither did Mike nor I (especially me). So by Thursday, we were dragging. We saw some friends in the morning, visited with my cousin Anna over lunch, and packed up to head home. The ride home was much like the ride north (see first paragraph) with a bit more emphasis on the crying and less on the watching, reading, coloring, sleeping. Even Bugs lost it about seven minutes from home. So Mike dropped the girls, Yog, and me off. I got everyone pottied and freshened up while Mike ran out for some chicken. By the time he got back, we were ready for dinner.

After dinner and a very needed bath, we headed downstairs to see what Santa left at our house. Lo and behold, it was the giant playhouse they asked for! Who would have guessed?!?!

Other than breaking Buggy’s sweet little heart when I took all the decorations down, Christmas was deemed a rousing success by all. So much so that Fiona is still asking me if “Christmas is tomorrow again.”