I'm behind in my blogging, and nobody wants to hear about Christmas any more, so this will be a quick fly-by of our holidays. Christmas Eve was simple - just the five of us, a slightly overcooked pork roast, a sweet potato casserole, some veggies and champagne. Nobody told me pajamas were the required attire for the evening, so I looked a bit out of place.
Christmas morning, I was set up at my usual spot on the couch, video camera in hand, as I have every Christmas for years, ready to film the girls running down the stairs to discover the Santa gifts. Santa was generous this year, so I couldn't wait to catch their reactions on film. You know where this is going, right? The camera was set on photo rather than video, so I took a single photo of them at the top of the stairs. Nice. It turns out it was for the best anyway though. They ran down to find a huge green box from Santa. When they lifted the lid, a note was carried up by balloons.
Here's a closer look.
A trip to Disney World! The most magical place on earth! Every child's dream come true! No better Santa gift!
Uh. No. Not at all. They opened the box, did not even look at the sign, and headed to their stockings. Then, when J.C. pointed out the sign, Elise gave us a moderately enthusiastic, "Yea! Disney World!", Nina said, "What did Santa bring me?", and Addison kept on heading to the stockings. Their reactions were underwhelming, to put it nicely. Then, they opened their stockings while I murmured under my breath, "spoiled rotten... mumble, mumble, Santa might just send JC and me to Hawaii instead...mumble, mumble... see if Santa ever brings anything extravagant again... mumble, mumble" I think it is fortunate none of that was captured on tape, don't you?
After stockings, the gift opening commenced.
"A new bathrobe... way more exciting than Disney!"
"Mickey Mouse? Who cares? There is Play-doh!"
Then it was off to my in-laws' house for a lovely turkey dinner and more gifts.
"A crochet set! Thank goodness for Grandmamma knowing that a crochet hook would be better than the Magic Kingdom!"
No, I'm not bitter. Really. I'm not. I never even contemplated telling them that Santa revoked his gift. Honest.
The day after Christmas was better. I started my morning off with a peppermint mocha using a Starbuck's gift card and reading a book purchased with an Amazon gift card. Then we grew crystals,
built a treehouse out of Legos,
and played new games. It was a fun day.
A couple days later, Elise's jump rope team performed at half-time of an NCSU basketball game. They didn't have the same type of practice space at PNC Arena that the team has usually had for basketball games, so the performance was not as strong as it should have been. It was fun seeing them up on the big screens though.
On New Year's Eve, we went to Games Night at a friend's house. We played board games, party games, the Wii, and Addie had a ball running around with the other kids her age. It was a fun, laid-back way to ring in the new year.
Overall, the holidays were nice. We had ups and downs, but we all enjoyed the time off of work and school and time spent with family. I have finally come to peace with the fact that the Pez and M&M's had a bigger wow factor than a Disney trip. Lesson learned.
I'm available as a crochet buddy for whoever is learning to do it. I've been doing it since age 10 with a 9 year hiatus during middle school, high school, and part of college.
Posted by: jen | Friday, January 11, 2013 at 01:40 AM
We surprised our kids with a trip too. I like your balloon box idea! We sent the boys on a scavenger hunt to solve puzzles and find clues to the trip. Response was slightly underwhelming at our house too, but we had a good time. Have fun at Disney!
Posted by: Meredith | Friday, January 11, 2013 at 08:59 AM
Jen - she would love a crochet buddy! She can do simple stuff but hasn't quite figured out how to do the squares yet. She is hoping my mom can help her. My mom is more of a knitter than crocheter, but she is left-handed, so a left-handed perspective always helps! I'm hopeless, so no help from me!
Mer - LOVE the scavenger hunt! That would have been fun! Maybe the build up of anticipation would have helped? Where are you headed?
Posted by: Ann | Friday, January 11, 2013 at 09:53 AM