Holiday travel and family time
Here we are…2024. Wow. Where did 2023 go? Don’t we still deserve a rain-check from 2020? Happy New Year to everyone following along with us on the blog. Getting off schedule for a minute for a quick recap of the holiday season.
We wrapped up 2023 with a quick trip into Greensboro to visit Jon’s family for Christmas. A one-nighter to give the kids much needed family time and a chance to open their mountain of gifts at Nana’s house. This also allowed for our annual competition of the ‘saran wrap Christmas ball’ game, or whatever it may be called. Regardless of the name of the game - it is a blast and a hoot, or frustrating, depending on how you end up (looking at you, Hannah). They wrap all sorts of trinkets, gifts, whoosits and whatsits, gift cards, CASH MONEY, and of course lottery scratch-offs, all tightly pressed inside a GIANT ball of plastic wrap (don’t tell Greta…). The goal is to unwrap as much as possible, thereby exposing and releasing as many prizes as possible, all while your neighbor to the right is rolling dice in an attempt to land doubles. Once doubles are rolled, you collect your winnings then pass the plastic ball to your right and the dice move onward. So on and so forth until the plastic is strewn across the kitchen, all prizes are claimed, feelings are severely and utterly damaged, and everyone is exhausted from being yelled at for “ripping the plastic.” It truly is a lot of fun. Needless to say, the kids are in bed for this game. The weight of the plastic wrapped ball would do some serious damage to the head of a toddler, and nobody wants a trip to the ER thanks to a rogue flying lottery ticket.
Then came the next morning. The kids, who shared a room for the first time since Disney, were up and awake before 7AM. This may not be early for a lot of y’all, but for us, it is incredibly early for BOTH to be awake. They were singing and making up Christmas stories. It was cute. But we needed coffee. A lot of coffee. After coffee and breakfast, the kids were finally able to open gifts. Wrapping paper went everywhere along with boxes and bows. Finally, all presents were unwrapped and the kids had so many more toys than when the day began. They went down for their daily “quiet time” (normally a time for quiet play in their own rooms) that was anything but quiet on this particular day. A wonderful early evening dinner marked the end of our Christmas visit in Greensboro. With the car packed and stomachs full, we said our goodbyes and buckled the kids before heading home to Raleigh for the remaining days of Christmas.
Christmas Eve morning had me running to Lowe’s in Wake Forest for bags of sand and rock. Why? Because Taylor volunteered us to organize the luminaries for our neighborhood. Very holiday-spirited of her to do so. In all honesty, I knew about this for a long time but put off going to get the rest of the supplies until the day of the event. Bags of sand & rock in the car and home I go just in time to load the kids & head to Bass Pro for a quick visit with Ol’ Kris Kringle. Keaton froze when it was our turn, so Tenely very happily took the opportunity to have Santa’s sole attention on her. She promptly asked him for a gift that wasn’t on our radar, to which he assured her his workshop would be able to churn out. Then a quick visit to the kid favorite fish tank (aquarium?) and we were on our way. That afternoon found us counting out luminary bags and stacks of candles. Hundreds of them. Around 4PM, neighbors began showing up to make their luminaries and spread holiday cheer. It was truly great to meet some new neighbors, catch up with others, and seeing all of the kids running around. All of Taylor’s efforts and organization paid off beautifully. Those who did participate created a breath taking visual along our streets - shimmering lights that seemed to grow brighter and brighter as the sun went down. Lines of luminaries seemed to stretch beyond the streets and houses, further into the woods to extend Christmas joy to everyone around. Many neighbors started driving around just to look at the lights, with a handful stopping by our driveway to shout appreciation for organizing the event. Quickly up the stairs, baths, in bed and ready to read The Night Before Christmas before tucking them in for the night…
Christmas Day started as you’d expect…kids up early and ready to unwrap! Down the stairs they go into a rather organized chaos of presents, cinnamon rolls, and wrapping paper. Their excitement grew as the removal of each piece of paper revealed the secrets once hidden underneath. What new toy would appear next? After all was opened, our son donned his brand new rain boots, grabbed his new John Deere weed trimmer (a toy, of course, he’s only 3!), and took off to the porch to play. Tenley was thrilled to have her new camera (she loves taking pictures of everything) and immediately set upon documenting the haul from Santa.
Taylor’s family arrived in the early afternoon to share the wonderful gift of time, more presents, and delicious food. The kids were, as expected, beyond thrilled to see MORE PRESENTS stacked in front of the fireplace. There was even a four foot long stuffed unicorn waiting on our daughter, and a ukulele awaiting Keaton. More wrapping paper. More boxes. More laughter and innocent joy with the opening of each gift. Another great haul of toys and books. What Christmas would not be complete without un-packing as many toys as possible? So, out of the boxes they went. Onto the porch to play. Football on in the background and toys blaring, only laughing children could be heard both inside the home and out.
Finally, it was time to EAT. And what a spread. Ham. Shrimp. Potatoes. Green bean casserole. Desserts galore. In all honesty, the food and conversation passed by way too quickly. These moments, while great when they happen, never seem to last long enough.
We hope you had a wonderful holiday season. We look forward to sharing so much more in the year to come!
