Merry Christmas! We enjoyed the holiday down with our family, maybe for the last time since Robbie will know about Santa next year. We had a rough start to our trip, though. Matthew went to fill the van tires and noticed a nail in one of them. Luckily we bought a tire plan when we got the car and the dealer will either repair or replace the tire when it gets a hole in it. We needed a new tire, so that plan sure came in handy! We were on the road later than we planned, but soon we were on our way to Jim and Jean's house. We opened gifts and played with Robbie's new basketball hoop. He loves it, though it's a little too tall for him, but he'll grow into it soon. Robbie did make his first basket last night! We went to a newly opened park and played for a while, then headed to Chick-fil-a for dinner. This Chick-fil-a goes all out decorating with Christmas lights and syncing them to music. We got there a little early, which was probably good because as soon as it got dark it filled up. Robbie loved looking at the lights.
After breakfast Sunday we headed out to have lunch with Barbara and then to her house. That night was the boat parade and it goes right by her townhouse. Barbara had friends and family over to watch, but both boys were in bed before the boats made their way down to us. We knew Alex would never make it, but we did try to keep Robbie awake. Monday morning we opened presents. Robbie likes his new train set and he got a lot of accessories for it. We had to keep him from opening them all up so we didn't lose any of the pieces.
We drove to have lunch at my parents' house. I was excited about seeing my brother, sister-in-law and nieces, but they were visiting my grandmother when we got there. The kids were so cute together. My other brother, sister-in-law and kids came over for Noche Buena. I'm pretty sure there was as much food in Alex's seat as he actually got in his mouth. That night my dad lit the fire pit and the kids played in the back yard. Mia wanted to put on a little gymnastics show for everyone, and then Taylor did some ballet. Robbie's talent was running around and falling on the ground. Hopefully he isn't done with the talent search. :)
Christmas morning was pretty easy. We had breakfast before opening gifts and then Robbie wanted to open every present under the tree, he didn't care who they were for! We also had to keep him from taking every gift out of the package. From there we went to Mimi and Gramps' house for lunch and more presents. Robbie didn't care about lunch, though, he just wanted to eat all of the cookies. My aunt and uncle had everyone over to their house for dinner. I don't know how they managed to fit so many people in their house comfortably. Unfortunately my Grandma got sick that morning and spent a few days in the hospital. Matthew kindly offered to sit with her so my mom could have dinner with everyone. Barbara and Jack had appetizers before dinner, so much food we had enough to feed us all again the next night, and desserts that would make The Cheesecake Factory jealous! It was hard keeping Robbie in his seat because he wanted to be at the other table with his cousins and he had a pretty full appetizer plate before dinner. Barbara had Christmas tree pictures for the kids to decorate with stickers and they also gave each of the grandkids a gift. I told them that if it's like that there every night I'm coming over more often! :)
That night Dad slept on a couch so Alex didn't hear him up in the morning (Alex slept in my parents' room) and Matthew slept on another couch because he was getting up early to go after Christmas shopping with his mom and aunt and didn't want to wake up me and Robbie. My mom went to be with Grandma at the hospital, but came home before Matt left so Matt could take her car and leave the van if we were going out with the kids. Just before my mom came home around 3 am, my dad got up to use the bathroom. When he came back he noticed a light on in the garage, so he stood at the door and heard movement in the garage. When a light turned off he knew there was someone in the garage and grabbed a knife and woke up Matthew. Matt was sure that it was just a squirrel or raccoon, so he went outside with my dad (probably just to humor him). When they were outside, Dad realized that he left the house door open so he left Matthew standing by the outside garage door. Matt thought he saw the window blinds move and was about to call 911 when my dad said "it's just Carole." Whew! My mom had no idea the panic she caused. When she saw the front door open she thought Dad misread the clock and was getting the paper. We had a good laugh at dinner when the 3 of them retold the story. When my aunt asked my dad what knife he had he came back with a paring knife. For some reason that struck me as hilarious and I spit out the juice in my mouth laughing so hard. Glad we were already laughing about it!
Wednesday was hard. We wanted to go to the beach, but just before we got in the car it started raining. None of the kids were happy with the change of plans, but were better after a good nap. We had Christmas dinner, part 2, and I don't think there were much leftovers after that. Robbie got to sit at the kids table. I can't believe that there is a kids table! Mia, Nathan, Taylor and Robbie sat and ate (though Robbie was strapped in his booster seat to keep him at the table), then mostly played back in the bedrooms and the adults were able to relax and talk. Poor Caroline wasn't feeling well and Nick and Robyn had to take her to a walk in clinic and then the ER for a breathing treatment. We packed up our stuff because we were spending the night at Jim and Jean's house. They went to New York for Christmas. Due to the snow in the midwest, flights were being delayed, including theirs. They ended up getting on a flight to Orlando and driving home. They didn't get in until 5 am and Brittany had a flight in a few hours to St. Louis. She already knew that her flight was delayed, but she had to get her bags to the airport before the scheduled departure time. We decided to leave that morning instead of hanging out for the day knowing that they were tired and we were ready to get home. And Alex's other front tooth came through, so I know he was happy about that.
Thursday morning we opened our presents rather than take them and open them on Christmas day. I think since Robbie got to open most of Alex's gifts he thinks they are his, so he is learning about sharing. We are blessed to have an amazing family to spend time with during the holidays.
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