Holiday Fireworks

Alternate title: The Day We Finally All Left The House!

By Saturday, December 4, Dec was on his last day of quarantine. He had been stuck in the house for three weeks and one day. Boyfriend was over.it! His spirits were greatly lifted, however, when he came downstairs to find our elf Tyler had returned and brought his annual North Pole breakfast. Neither D nor Q lasted very long before they came to wake up the rest of us for breakfast.

Tyler brought donuts, strawberries, hot cocoa, matching buffalo plaid pjs, and tree ornaments for each of them. Declan got a baseball glove, Fiona got the Hogwarts school crest, and Quinn got a beautiful hand-blown set of hockey skates. 

Approximately, 45 seconds after admiring them, Q's skates got knocked off the table onto the hardwood floor. Want to know what hand-blown glass does when it meets wood? It shatters. So do Q's feelings. But don't worry, Tyler brought her a new ornament a couple days later that was significantly less breakable. [Sweet D offered to let Q hang his glove ornament on the tree. He felt so sad for her.]

That night was the annual (except for last year) town Christmas tree lighting. Instead of the usual parade, there was a "walk through" parade. And there would be fireworks. Since Dec was on his final hours of quarantine and everything was outside, we decided to go to the festivities, mask up, and keep our distance from people. The parade was pretty much done by the time we got downtown, but we walked through what was left. Then we grabbed a great spot to see the tree lighting. 

Hannah and Cheryl joined us for fireworks and the four kiddos had so much fun watching them. There is something so magical about winter fireworks (especially since they go off at 5:30pm!). We had a great debate about the best fireworks (complete with sound effects ... as that is a factor in which fireworks are the best!) and thoroughly enjoyed the finale!

We grabbed takeout on the way home and then settled in for a a Christmas movie. It was the perfect way to welcome the Christmas season - and to finally all leave the house together. That felt just a magical as Christmas!